Stenaelurillus albus

The spider is medium-sized. The male has a body length that varies between 4.61 and 5.89 mm (0.181 and 0.232 in).^[7] The black cephalothorax is an oval that typically measures 2.98 mm (0.117 in) in length and 2.08 mm (0.082 in) in width. It has two white thick stripes that stretch from the front to the back, another weaker one that marks the spider from side to side, and two more bands on the thorax. The abdomen is also oval, typically 2.91 mm (0.115 in) long and 1.98 mm (0.078 in) wide, and uniformly shiny black. The eye field is similarly black with hairs around the rearmost eyes. The clypeus is also covered in hairs. The chelicerae are short, vertical and brown, with one large and one small tooth at the fore and another behind, while the fangs are short. The legs are generally yellow, although there are areas with other colours and the hairs are black. The pedipalps are yellow and hairy.^[8] The spider has a brown palpal bulb that has two creamy-white areas at the back where the tegulum is found. The embolus is short, blunt and curves towards the front of the spider.^[9]

The female is very similar to the male in colouration and shape. It is slightly larger, measuring between 5.43 and 6.82 mm (0.214 and 0.269 in) in body length.^[7] It has a larger cephalothorax, typically 2.997 mm (0.1180 in) long and 2.29 mm (0.090 in) wide, that is black with dull yellow bands that cross the back and two strikes that extend back from the thorax. The abdomen, which can be 3.83 in (97 mm) long and 2.84 mm (0.112 in) wide, is also black but three pronounced yellow patches that make the shape of a triangle and several others which are duller. The clypeus and eye field are similar but the chelicerae are yellow and the legs more dull yellow, with black patches, than the male.^[10] The epigyne is small, with wide copulatory openings and small C-shaped spermathecae.^[7] The species has a distinctive mating plug, which covers the entire left copulatory opening and surrounding part of the epigyne.

Stenaelurillus albus is very similar to many other species in the genus. The spider is similar to Stenaelurillus abramovi in the size of the copulatory openings but size and shape of the spermathecae enable the two be differentiated.^[11] The species can be distinguished from Stenaelurillus arambagensis by the shape of the embolus and the shape of the spermathecae.^[12] More obviously, it can be told apart from Stenaelurillus belihuloya by the presence of the lateral stripe, variety of colours in the pedipalps and the shape of the embolus.^[13] It differs from Stenaelurillus shwetamukhi in the lack of patterns on the male abdomen and the narrowness and bluntness of the embolus.^[14]

The spider is endemic to India.^[1] The species was first identified in the Ernakulam district of Kerala based on a collection of fifteen examples, the holotype and six other males plus eight females.^[11] The species has subsequently seen near Bhoothathankettu and in the Kodanad elephant training centre, Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve and Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala. It was also found on the campus of Kuvempu University and the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka.^[15][16] The spider is restricted in its range to south India.^[17] The spider lives in rocky areas in deciduous forests, preferred to live in leaf litter.^[7]