Thiratoscirtus monstrum
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| Thiratoscirtus monstrum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Genus: | Thiratoscirtus |
| Species: | T. monstrum |
| Binomial name | |
| Thiratoscirtus monstrum Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2011 | |
Thiratoscirtus monstrum is a species of jumping spider in the genus Thiratoscirtus that lives in Nigeria. The species was first described in 2011 by Wanda Wesołowska and Russell-Smith. Only the female has been described. It is a medium-sized spider, with a wider cephalothorax that is typically between 3.4 and 3.6 mm long and an abdomen that is 2.6 and 3.5 mm in length, both oval in shape. It is generally dark brown and grey on top and yellow and orange underneath, apart from its legs, which are light yellow. It has particularly unusual copulatory organs that enable it to be distinguished from other spiders in the genus, particularly the design of its epigyne, which is recalled in the species name. The epigyne looks like a large triangle and has a triangular depression in its middle. It has a single copulatory opening and gonopore, one insemination duct and small tube-like spermathecae, or receptacles.
Thiratoscirtus monstrum is a species of jumping spider that was first described by Wanda Wesołowska and Russell-Smith in 2011.[1] They allocated the spider to the genus Thiratoscirtus, first circumscribed in 1909 by Eugène Simon. The genus is very diverse and contains many monophyletic groups.[2]
Thiratoscirtus is a member of the subtribe Thiratoscirtina in the tribe Aelurillini.[3] The genus is closely related to Nimbarus.[4] In 2012, Mellissa Bodner and Maddison proposed a subfamily Thiratoscirtinae for the genus and its related genera.[5] This overlapped with a group of genera named Thiratoscirtines after the genus, created by Jerzy Prószyński in 2017.[6] Phylogenetic analysis has shown that the genus is related to the genera Alfenus, Bacelarella, Longarenus and Malloneta.[7] It is likely to have diverged between 16.3 and 18.7 million years ago.[8] Wayne Maddison allocated the tribe to the subclade Simonida in the clade Saltafresia in the clade Salticoida.[9] The species is named for the structure on the female epigyne.[10]