Menemerus meridionalis

Menemerus meridionalis is a small spider. The male has a dark brown flattened carapace that is typically 2.8 millimetres (0.11 in) long and 1.9 millimetres (0.075 in) wide. It has a scattering of white hairs on it and white hairs making up lines on its edges and a stripe down the middle. There are long brown bristles around the nearly black eye field. The spider has brown chelicerae, labium, maxilae and sternum. The spider's abdomen is typically 3.3 mm (0.13 in) long and 1.9 millimetres (0.075 in) wide. It has a wide dark brown stripe down the middle of the top, white hairs on its sides and a wide brownish stripe on its underside. It has brown spinnerets and legs. The spider's copulatory organs are distinctive. The pedipalp is light brown and covered in white hairs. It has a large palpal tibia.^[11] The spider has what looks like two embolus, with a lamella of nearly the same size closely matching the actual embolus. It also has a lumpy retrolateral tibial apophysis and very small spiked ventral tibial apophysis.^[12] The female has not been described.^[1]

Spiders of the Menemerus genus are difficult to distinguish from each other.^[13] It is the copulatory organs of this species that are distinctive and enable it to be identified. The male's palpal bulb resembles Menemerus tropicus but the retrolateral tibial apophysis is smaller.^[14]

Menemerus spiders are found throughout Africa and Asia, and have been identified as far as Latin America.^[15] Menemerus meridionalis is endemic to South Africa.^[1] The holotype and other examples were found near Mogwadi in Limpopo during 1967. It is only known from that area of the country.^[11]