Jumping spiders (Salticidae) of Uganda – revised list, new species and distributional data

Abstract

The spider fauna of most African regions is severely understudied, there is a need for revision of old data and publishing new records. The previous list of jumping spiders (Salticidae) of Uganda contained merely 25 species. The presented survey, which is based on material from several museum collections, provides new faunistic and taxonomic information. The data already available in the literature are critically reviewed and an updated checklist of jumping spiders from Uganda is published. Two new genera are established: Phintellosa gen. nov. with type species Maevia comosissima Simon, 1886 and Ruwenzorek gen. nov. with type species Ruwenzorek evansi gen. et sp. nov. Thirty-three species are newly described: Asemonea wagneri sp. nov. (♂), Dendryphantes ruwenzori sp. nov. (♂♀), Dendryphantes sasa sp. nov. (♀), Enoplomischus pulcher sp. nov. (♂♀), Evarcha degeni sp. nov. (♂), Finger minor sp. nov. (♂♀), Hermosa yurai sp. nov. (♂♀), Hermotimus cornutus sp. nov. (♂♀), Hyllus formosus sp. nov. (♀), Icius entebbensis sp. nov. (♂), Icius hortensis sp. nov. (♂), Longarenus mpanga sp. nov. (♀), Massagris budongo sp. nov. (♂♀), Mexcala inopinata sp. nov. (♂♀), Myrmarachne corusca sp. nov. (♀), Phintella bella sp. nov. (♂♀), Phintella jucunda sp. nov. (♀), Phintella nilotica sp. nov. (♂), Plexippoides dentatus sp. nov. (♂), Rhene amabilis sp. nov. (♂♀), Rhene eximia sp. nov. (♂♀), Rhene hexagon sp. nov. (♂♀), Rhene sororis sp. nov. (♀), Rhene ugandensis sp. nov. (♀), Ruwenzorek evansi gen. et sp. nov. (♀), Thiratoscirtus africanus sp. nov. (♂♀), Thiratoscirtus bwindi sp. nov. (♀), Thiratoscirtus magnus sp. nov. (♀), Thiratoscirtus spinifer sp. nov. (♂), Thyene masindi sp. nov. (♂♀), Thyene perfecta sp. nov. (♂), Tusitala ugandensis sp. nov. (♀) and Vicirionessa ignota sp. nov. (♀). Five specific names are synonymized: Enoplomischus spinosus Wesołowska, 2005 with Enoplomischus ghesquierei Giltay, 1931, Evarcha elegans Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2000 [removed from synonymy of Evarcha werneri (Simon, 1906)] with Hyllus dotatus (Peckham & Peckham, 1903), Myrmarachne mussungue Wanless, 1978 with Myrmarachne evidens Roewer, 1965, Plexippus fibulatus Dawidowicz & Wesołowska, 2016 with Schenkelia modesta Lessert, 1927 and Vicirionessa prenanti (Berland & Millot, 1941) with Vicirionessa fuscimana (Simon, 1903). Two new combinations are proposed: Phintella chopardi (Berland & Millot, 1941) comb. nov. ex Cosmophasis and Phintellosa comosissima (Simon, 1886) gen. et comb. nov. ex Maevia. The as yet unknown females of nine species are described for the first time: Alfenus calamistratus Simon, 1902, Baryphas scintillans Berland & Millot, 1941, Dendryphantes elgonensis Wesołowska & Dawidowicz, 2014, Depreissia myrmex Lessert, 1942, Mikrus ugandensis Wesołowska, 2001, Phintella brevis Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2022, Phintellosa comosissima (Simon, 1886), Thiratoscirtus patagonicus Simon, 1886 and Thyene verdieri (Berland & Millot, 1941). The resulting list of salticids from Uganda now contains 141 species, of which 116 are recorded in this country for the first time. There is little overlap in the species list of Uganda and that of the neighbouring countries, not exceeding 40%.