Rhene curta

Like many in the genus, Rhene curta resembles a beetle.^[11] It is a small hairy flattened spider with a body is divided into two main parts: a cephalothorax and an abdomen. The female's carapace, the hard upper part of the cephalothorax, is typically 1.8 mm (0.071 in) in length, 1.9 mm (0.075 in) in width and 0.8 mm (0.031 in) in height.^[12] It is brown and covered in grey and brown bristles with a distinctive pattern of small punctures in the middle. At the front of the carapace is a large and trapezium-shaped eye field with long, thin bristles visible near the eyes themselves. The back of the carapace is plain. The underside of the cephalothorax, or sternum, is brownish-grey. The part of the spider's face known as its clypeus is very low and brown. Its mouthparts, including its labium and maxillae, are brown with lighter edges and its chelicerae are brownish with a single visible tooth.^[13]

The spider's abdomen is typically 2.2 mm (0.09 in) long and 1.8 mm (0.07 in) wide.^[14] Greyish-brown on top, with a pattern of three faint yellowish stripes crossing the back and an obvious circular indentation, or sigilla, it is covered with dense brown and greyish hairs, At the front, which overlaps with the carapace, there are a few thick brown bristles. The middle of the bottom is dark grey while the back is brownish and there is a pattern of light dots that form two lines that run from the front to the back. The spider's spinnerets, used to spin webs, are grey. Its front legs are short and dark brown with a thick spine visible on its tibia. The remaining legs are lighter, shorter and thinner with some darker segments and orange tarsi. They have thin brown leg hairs.^[13] The hairs on the front leg's tibia, as well as the pattern on its abdomen, distinguish the spider from the otherwise similar Rhene konradi.^[14]

The female's epigyne, the external visible part of its copulatory organs is large and shows evidence of strong sclerotization. It has two shallow depressions towards the front, a broad notch at the back, and copulatory openings that are hidden in sclerotized cavities, where accessory glands run into the seminal ducts. The spider's insemination ducts are long and thin, leading to bean-shaped spermathecae, or receptacles.^[15] Compared to the related Rhene konradi, the pocket in this spider's epigyne is wider.^[14] The male Rhene curta has not been described.^[1]

Although Dendryphantine spiders are predominantly found in the Americas, species of Rhene live in Africa and Eurasia.^[5] Rhene curta is endemic to Ethiopia.^[1] The holotype was discovered in 1986 near Hawassa, other specimen being found near Lake Langano. It lives near water, being found near a stream living in lush grass and in short grass under stones, at altitudes of between 1,600 and 1,900 m (5,200 and 6,200 ft) above sea level.^[14]

• Maddison, Wayne P. (2015). "A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)". The Journal of Arachnology. 43 (3): 231–292. doi:10.1636/arac-43-03-231-292. S2CID 85680279.
• Prószyński, Jerzy (2017). "Pragmatic classification of the World's Salticidae (Araneae)". Ecologica Montenegrina. 12: 1–133. doi:10.37828/em.2017.12.1.
• Su, K.F.; Meier, R.; Jackson, R.R.; Harland, D.P.; Li, D. (2007). "Convergent evolution of eye ultrastructure and divergent evolution of vision-mediated predatory behaviour in jumping spiders". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 20 (4): 1478–1489. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01335.x. PMID 17584241.
• Thorell, Tamerlan (1869). On European Spiders, Part 1: Review of the European Genera of Spiders, Preceded by Some Observations on Zoological Nomenclature. Uppsala: E. Berling. OCLC 769306868.
• Wesołowska, Wanda; Tomasiewicz, Beata (2008). "New species and records of Ethiopian jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)". Journal of Afrotropical Zoology. 4: 3–59.
• Wesołowska, Wanda; Russell-Smith, Anthony (2022). "Jumping spiders from Ivory Coast collected by J.-C. Ledoux (Araneae, Salticidae)". European Journal of Taxonomy (841): 1–143. Bibcode:2022EJTax.841.1943W. doi:10.5852/ejt.2022.841.1943.