Mexcala formosa is a species of jumping spider in the genus Mexcala that is endemic to Ethiopia. The spider was first defined in 2008 by Wanda Wesołowska and . It mimics ants, living alongside and preying upon them. Only the male has been described. It is a medium-sized spider, with a cephalothorax typically 2.9 mm (0.11 in) long and an abdomen typically 3.5 mm (0.14 in) long. The carapace is dark brown and the eye field black. The spider is similar to the related Mexcala agilis and Mexcala elegans, but can be distinguished by its thinner tibial apophysis and the white scales on its cymbium.
| Mexcala formosa | |
|---|---|
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| A spider of the Mexcala genus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Subfamily: | Salticinae |
| Genus: | Mexcala |
| Species: | M. formosa
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| Binomial name | |
| Mexcala formosa Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz, 2008
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Taxonomy edit
Mexcala formosa is a jumping spider that was first described by the Polish arachnologists Wanda Wesołowska and Beata Tomasiewicz in 2008.[1] They allocated the species to the genus Mexcala, first raised by George and Elizabeth Peckham in 1902.[2] The genus was a member of the tribe Heliophaninae alongside Pseudicius and Cosmophasis, which was absorbed into Chrysillini by Wayne Maddison in 2015.[3][4] The tribe is a member of the clade Saltafresia within the subfamily Salticoida.[5] A year later, in 2016, Jerzy Prószyński allocated the genus to the Heliophanines group of genera, which was named after the genus Heliophanus. The genera share characteristics, including having a rather uniform, mainly dark appearance.[6] The species is named after a Latin word meaning shaped like a well and refers to the spider's body shape.[7]
Description edit
Like all Mexcala spiders, the species is slender and medium-sized.[8] The male has a cephalothorax with a typical length of 2.9 mm (0.11 in) and width 2.0 mm (0.079 in). The spider has a dark brown pear-shaped carapace with a dark line running along its edges. The black eye field has a scattering of brown bristles. It has a low, dark clypeus. The chelicerae are long with very short spike-like bristles. The remaining mouthparts and sternum are dark brown. The abdomen is brownish with an indistinct pattern of dark patches in the centre. It is typically 3.5 mm (0.14 in) long and 1.7 mm (0.067 in) wide. The underside is yellow with a tint of grey. The spinnerets are brownish. It has long thin brown legs.[9] The pedipalps are brown with a some white scales visible on the surface of the cymbium.[10] It has a straight tibial apophysis, or spike, that has a wider base than other species. The palpal bulb is triangular in form with a large lobe to the back. The embolus is short and slightly bent.[11] It is fixed to the tegulum.[4]
The spider is similar to others in the genus. It is related to Mexcala agilis and Mexcala elegans, but can be distinguished by its thinner tibial apophysis and the white scales that can be seen on the cymbium.[7][12] The female has not been described.[1]
Behaviour edit
Like many jumping spiders, Wesołowska and Tamás Szűts noted that Mexcala spiders mimic ants, particularly members of the Camponotus genus.[8][13] The spiders live amongst the species of ant that it mimics, and preys upon.[14][15] Like other jumping spiders, it is mainly a diurnal hunter that uses its good eyesight to spot its prey.[16] It attacks from the front and captures its prey behind the head.[17] It uses visual displays during courtship and transmits vibratory signals through silk to communicate to other spiders.[18]
Distribution edit
Mexcala spiders can be found across Africa and the Arabian peninsula.[19] Mexcala formosa is endemic to Ethiopia.[1] The species was first discovered in the Awash National Park, the holotype being collected in 1988. The spider lives in grass and gravel.[7]
References edit
Citations edit
- ^ a b c World Spider Catalog (2017). "Mexcala formosa Wesolowska, 2009". World Spider Catalog. 18.0. Bern: Natural History Museum. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- ^ Wesołowska 2009, p. 149.
- ^ Maddison, Bodner & Needham 2008, p. 57.
- ^ a b Maddison 2015, p. 252.
- ^ Maddison 2015, p. 278.
- ^ Prószyński 2017, p. 29.
- ^ a b c Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz 2008, p. 24.
- ^ a b Wesołowska 2009, p. 152.
- ^ Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz 2008, p. 25.
- ^ Wesołowska 2009, p. 163.
- ^ Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz 2008, p. 26.
- ^ Wesołowska 2009, p. 164.
- ^ Wesołowska & Szűts 2001, p. 523.
- ^ Pekár & Haddad 2011, p. 133.
- ^ Pekár, Petráková Dušátková & Haddad 2020, p. 6.
- ^ Richman & Jackson 1992, p. 33.
- ^ Pekár, Petráková Dušátková & Haddad 2020, p. 5.
- ^ Richman & Jackson 1992, p. 34.
- ^ Wesołowska 2009, p. 153.
Bibliography edit
- 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.
- Maddison, Wayne P.; Bodner, Melissa R.; Needham, Karen M. (2008). "Salticid spider phylogeny revisited, with the discovery of a large Australasian clade (Araneae: Salticidae)". Zootaxa. 1893: 49–64. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1893.1.3.
- Pekár, Stano; Haddad, Charles (2011). "Trophic Strategy of Ant-Eating Mexcala Elegans (Araneae: Salticidae): Looking for Evidence of Evolution of Prey-Specialization". The Journal of Arachnology. 39 (1): 133–38. doi:10.1636/Hi10-56.1. JSTOR 23048790. S2CID 54702906.
- Pekár, Stano; Petráková Dušátková, Lenka; Haddad, Charles R. (2020). "No ontogenetic shift in the realised trophic niche but in Batesian mimicry in an ant-eating spider". Scientific Reports. 10 (1250): 1250. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-58281-3. PMC 6985134. PMID 31988373.
- Prószyński, Jerzy (2017). "Pragmatic classification of the World's Salticidae (Araneae)". Ecologica Montenegrina. 12: 1–133. doi:10.37828/em.2017.12.1.
- Richman, David B.; Jackson, Robert R. (1992). "A review of the ethology of jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)". Bulletin of the British Arachnology Society. 9 (2): 33–37.
- Wesołowska, Wanda (2009). "A revision of the spider genus Mexcala Peckham and Peckham, 1902 (Araneae: Salticidae)". Genus. 20 (1): 149–186.
- Wesołowska, Wanda; Szűts, Tamás (2001). "A New Genus of Ant-Like Jumping Spiders from Africa (Araneae: Salticidae)". Annales Zoologici. 51 (4): 523–528.
- Wesołowska, Wanda; Tomasiewicz, Beata (2008). "New species and records of Ethiopian jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)". Journal of Afrotropical Zoology. 4: 3–59.