Taxon:
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
- Family: Salticidae
- Genus: Pellenes
- Species: P. modicus
Female
Unknown.
Male
Around 6mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 12mm diagonally.
Cephalothorax:
Carapace greyish light brown, lighter posterior with faint dark line in centre, thin black line on margins. Dark line from posterior lateral eyes to anterior, darkening at “face”. Anterior median eyes with red ring. Clypeus high and white. Chelicera dark with white stripes. Sternum oval and light grey. Pedipalps whitish, slightly darkened and swollen tarsi.
Abdomen:
Abdomen small, tapered oval. Dorsal light brown with dark leaf-like pattern and light pattern within, centre from anterior to posterior, light stripes down either side. Ventral pale and mottled.
Legs:
First leg pair noticeably longer, darker, and thicker, thin white hair ventral from femur to metatarsi, dark inner femora. Legs light brown, faintly mottled. 1, 3, 4, 2.
ABOUT THE GENUS
The spiders of this genus are one of the few jumping spiders that don’t show a stark difference between males and females, also known as sexual dimorphism. Another interesting feature of these spiders is the many fine setae on their first leg pair in both sexes. Not much is known about the South African species and the genus in Africa is poorly studied.
Spiders in & around Orania 