Pochyta tendicula

Pochyta tendicula is a small spider with a body that is divided into two main parts: an oval cephalothorax and a thinner abdomen.^[11] The male has a cephalothorax that has a typical length of 2.4 mm (0.09 in) and width of 1.9 mm (0.07 in). The carapace, the hard upper part of the cephalothorax, is high and generally light brown with darker edges. It is covered in short colourless hairs, apart from the fovea, or central depression, which has a few white hairs on it. It has black rings around its eyes and there are some long bristles and fawn hairs between some of them. The sternum, the underside of the cephalothorax, is light brown. Its mouthparts are brown with whitish tips and its chelicerae are large with two teeth to the front and one to the back.^[3]

The spider's abdomen is an ovoid that measures typically 2.2 mm (0.09 in) long and 1.3 mm (0.05 in) wide. The upper side is greyish-beige with a scattering of brown bristles and a pattern of round grey patches in the middle and white chevrons to the rear. The underside is generally grey. The spiders's spinnerets are greyish, Its legs are yellowish-brown with brown hairs and spines. The front pair of legs are longer than the others and have very long spines that are characteristic of the genus. The pedipalps, sensory organs near the mouth, are hairy, brown and slender.^[3]

Pochyta tendicula has distinctive copulatory organs. The male has a relatively large cymbium that nearly encloses a noticeably smaller palpal bulb. The bulb has a bulbous section that leads to a long embolus that projects out to the side, curls in a loop over the top of the bulb and then extends outwards following the profile of the cymbium. The palpal tibia is small and has a small retrolateral tibial apophysis, or curved spike that projects towards the cymbium.^[3] The shape of palpal organ enables the species to be distinguished from the related Pochyta fastibilis.^[12] The female has not been described.^[1]

Pochyta spiders generally live in Western equatorial Africa and are particularly common in area around the Gulf of Guinea.^[13] Pochyta tendicula is endemic to Gabon.^[1] The holotype was found in the Waka National Park in 2007 at an altitude of 420 m (1,380 ft) above sea level.^[11]