Pseudicius ridicularis

Pseudicius ridicularis is a medium-sized spider. The female has a cephalothorax that is between 2.1 and 2.2 mm (0.083 and 0.087 in) long and typically 1.5 mm (0.059 in) wide. It has a flat oval, dark brownish carapace covered in short greyish hairs, with two large white spots over the eye field and light stripes of white hairs on the edges. The chelicerae are brown, with one tooth at the front and two to the rear. The labium are also brown. The sternum is oval and brownish. The abdomen is between 2.6 and 3.1 mm (0.10 and 0.12 in) long and 1.4 and 1.9 mm (0.055 and 0.075 in) wide. It is elongated and light, with an indistinct pattern of brown patches in the middle and a light band to the front. The spinnerets are greyish with long hairs. The legs are light yellow, except for the front legs, which are more brown and longer. The front legs also have longer hairs. The spider has bristles that it uses to stridulate. The epigyne has two rounded centrally located copulatory openings and a wide pocket in the epigastric furrow. There are small accessory glands that lead to insemination ducts and strongly sclerotised elongated spermathecae.^[11]

The male is similar to the female with a carapace typically measuring 2.2 mm (0.087 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.059 in) wide and an abdomen that is typically 2.6 mm (0.10 in) long and 1.4 mm (0.055 in) wide. The yellowish-brown abdomen is covered in short delicate colourless hairs. The spinnerets are yellowish-grey. The spider has similar stridulatory bristles. The pedipalps are yellowish with two long spines. The spider has a very large tibial apophysis that has a distinctive bend to the tip and a short thick embolus. The spider is most easily distinguished by its copulatory organs. The male has a particularly large and bent tibial apophysis and the female longer receptacles than others in the genus.^[11]

Pseudicius spiders can be found across Afro-Eurasia and the Eastern hemisphere.^[12] Pseudicius ridicularis is endemic to Ethiopia.^[1] The holotype was found in Bishoftu during 1988. Other examples have also been identified in the area. The spider is tree-dwelling. It is particularly found on trunks of Ficus sycomorus.^[10]