Aelurillus kopetdaghi

Aelurillus kopetdaghi is a jumping spider species first described by Wanda Wesołowska in 1996.[1] It is one of over 500 species identified by the Polish arachnologist during her career.[2] She placed it in the genus Aelurillus, first described by Eugène Simon in 1885.[3] The genus name derives from the Greek word for cat and the species name is derived from the Latin for strange.[4][5] It was placed in the subtribe Aelurillina in the tribe Aelurillini, both named after the genus, by Wayne Maddison in 2015. These were allocated to the clade Saltafresia.[6] In 2017, the genus was grouped with nine other genera of jumping spiders under the name Aelurillines.[7]

The spider is medium-sized. The male has a dark brown, nearly black, carapace that is 3.4 mm (0.13 in) long and 2.1 mm (0.083 in) wide, that has many long brown bristles. The bristles are especially common on the eye field. The abdomen is also dark brown, elongated, 3.2 mm (0.13 in) long and 2.4 mm (0.094 in) wide and covered with dense long brown hairs. The base of the abdomen is dark. The chelicerae are brown with a two small tooth at the front and another at the back. The spinnerets vary in colour, with the forward ones darker than those towards the back. The legs are orange and hairy, and the pedipalps are brown and hairy.[8] The palpal bulb is rounded and has a hooked embolus.[9] The shape of the copulatory organs differentiate the species from others in the genus.[10]

The female is similar to the male in shape but slightly larger. It has a carapace 3.5 mm (0.14 in) long and 2.3 mm (0.091 in) wide and an abdomen that is 4.1 in (100 mm) long and 31 mm (1.2 in) wide. The carapace is higher and has a darker eye field. The abdomen is more rounded, with a pointed end, with golden hairs visible amongst the darker ones as found in the male. The legs are orange-brown with patches of darker hues, and the hairs are longer. The pedipalps are orange. It has many similarities to the related Aelurillus affinis and Aelurillus v-insignitus, particularly in the shape of the epigyne. This is rounded with two diagonal copulatory openings. However, the internal structure is more complex than either the other two species.[8]

The spider is endemic to central Asia.[11] The holotype was found in Turkmenistan around the mountains of the Kopetdagh in 1985, along with other examples.[3] It was subsequently identified in the Magtymguly District, particularly the Karaelchi Mountain Range, in 1992.[11]