Taxon:
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
- Family: Philodromidae
- Genus: Tibellus
- Species: T. sunetae
Female
Around 5mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 10mm diagonally.
Cephalothorax:
Long and pale yellow carapace with thick darker yellowish brown band down centre, faint bands near edges, and dark spots all over. Dark setae on cylpeus and around eyes. Darker yellow tarsus on pedipalps.
Abdomen:
Long, thin, creamy abdomen that tapers to spinnerets, with thick brownish-grey line down centre, faint lines on sides, and brown spots all over dorsal side.
Legs:
Yellow with scattered dark spots and dark setae. Metatarsus and tarsus darker yellow. Leg formation of 2, 1, 4, 3.
Male
Unknown.
ABOUT THE GENUS
This genus of running spider is rather unique among the South African known genera. With their long, thin bodies, and their legs not being too long, Tibellus spiders are masters of camouflage. They live on and make their egg sacs in grass where they’re most protected.
For this lady, it was a matter of the long body and the leg formation typical of running spiders that pointed me to the genus Tibellus. Then it was off to the literature to find her species.
And, thanks to a revision in the Afrotropical species of Tibellus, I was able to narrow it down using the drawings, then reading through the descriptions of each species to find the one that fit. And that is Tibellus sunetae mainly for the dorsal markings, the spots, and the leg formation along with colouration.
Spiders in & around Orania 