Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of the Ndumo Game Reserve, Maputaland, South Africa

Abstract

Salticids from the Ndumo Game Reserve (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) are described. In total 72 species of 38 genera were found, of which one genus Aenigma gen. n. and 14 species are described as new: Aenigma incognita sp. n., Bianor eximius sp. n., Evarcha mirabilis sp. n., E. striolata sp. n., Habrocestum africanum sp. n., Icius nigricaudus sp. n., Massagris natalensis sp. n., Phlegra arborea sp. n., Ph. certa sp. n., Pignus pongola sp. n., Pseudicius venustulus sp. n., Rhene pinguis sp. n., Thyenula fidelis sp. n., and Th. magna sp. n. Three specific names are synonymised: Cyrba armata Wesolowska, 2006 with C. lineata Wanless, 1984; Pellenes pulcher Wesolowska, 1999 (junior homonym of P. pulcher Logunov, 1995) with P. tharinae Wesolowska, 2006; and Thyene strandi Caporiacco, 1939 with Th. natalii Peckham & Peckham, 1903. A new combination, Evarcha annae (ex Habrocestum annae Peckham & Peckham, 1903) is proposed. Twenty species are recorded from South Africa for the first time: Asemonea stella Wanless, 1980; Cyrba boveyi Lessert, 1933; Evarcha elegans Wesolowska & Russell-Smith, 2000; E. ignea Wesolowska & Cumming, 2008; E. prosimilis Wesolowska & Cumming, 2008; Goleba puella (Simon, 1885); Heliophanus fascinatus Wesolowska, 1986; H. pauper Wesolowska, 1986; Hispo georgius (Peckham & Peckham, 1892); Menemerus minshullae Wesolowska, 1999; Modunda staintoni (O.P.-Cambridge, 1872); Myrmarachne lulengana Roewer, 1965; Nigorella plebeja (L. Koch, 1875); Pellenes epularis (O.P.-Cambridge, 1872); P. bulawayoensis Wesolowska, 1999; P. tharinae Wesolowska, 2006; Pseudicius alter Wesolowska, 1999; Schenkelia modesta Lessert, 1927; Thyene bucculenta (Gerstaecker, 1873); and Th. semiargentea (Simon, 1884). The rich diversity of Salticidae collected in this study, and the proportion of new species relative to the total jumping spider fauna (19 %), highlight the need to maintain conservation efforts within Maputaland protected areas with management plans that also take invertebrate taxa into consideration.