Stenaelurillus pilosus

The spider is medium sized. The male has a cephalothorax that measures between 2.6 mm (0.10 in) in length and 2.1 mm (0.083 in) in width. It has a brown pear-shaped carapace which is edged with dark iridescent bristles.^[7] It has two stripes of white scales that run down the thorax. The abdomen is oval, black-brown, 2.3 and 2.6 mm (0.091 and 0.102 in) long and 1.65 and 2.0 mm (0.065 and 0.079 in) wide.^[8] The shape of the abdomen differs from other species of Stenaelurillus, which are typically oblong.^[9] The eye field is black, with distinctive long orangish brown hairs.^[10] The spinnerets are brown and the legs are yellow.^[11] The palpal bulb is similar to Stenaelurillus hirsutus, Stenaelurillus glaber and Stenaelurillus striolatus.^[12][13] However, the embolus is distinct as it is straight.^[14] The spider can also be distinguished from these species by the fact that the clypeus has a dark brown band.^[15]

The female is similar in size to the male, with a cephalothorax 2.6 and 2.8 mm (0.10 and 0.11 in) long and 2.0 mm (0.079 in) wide and an abdomen 3.4 and 3.6 mm (0.13 and 0.14 in) long and 2.7 and 2.8 mm (0.11 and 0.11 in) wide.The carapace is similar to the male, but the abdomen is brown with an indistinct pattern of three spots and two lines. The epigyne has two fissure-like openings.^[14] It has a narrow shallow pocket and copulatory openings that are widely separated slits.^[11] These features of the epigyne distinguish it from other spiders.^[16] Otherwise, the spider is very similar to Stenaelurillus iubatus, with one of the original examples of Stenaelurillus pilosus later being recognised as a paratype of the other species.^[10]

The species is endemic to Nigeria.^[17] The holotype for the species was collected near Ibadan in 1973 along with other examples that were living nearby. The spider has been found in both fallow bush and on roadside verges.^[18]