Langona warchalowskii

Langona warchalowskii is a jumping spider first described by Wanda Wesołowska in 2007.[1] It is one of over 500 species identified by the Polish arachnologist during her career.[2] The species was placed by Wesołowska in the genus Langona, first described by Eugène Simon in 1901.[3] It was listed in the subtribe Aelurillina in the tribe Aelurillini by Wayne Maddison in 2015. These were allocated to the clade Saltafresia.[4] In 2017, the genus was grouped with nine other genera of jumping spiders under the name Aelurillines.[5] It is particularly closely related to the genus Aelurillus, after which the subtribe, tribe and group are named. The different Langona species generally cannot be distinguished from each other or from other members of the group by either their colours or the patterns that appear on their bodies, but by the structure of the copulatory organs.[6] The species is named after the Polish etymologist Andrzej Warchałowski.[7]

The spider is large and hairy.[3] The male has a typical body length of 5.6 mm (0.22 in).[8] It as a carapace that is between 3 and 3.4 mm (0.12 and 0.13 in) in length and 2.1 and 2.5 mm (0.083 and 0.098 in) in width. It is low and oval, and two parallel lines of white setae run from the back of the eyes all the way to the end of the carapace. The head is black and the thorax dark brown, and the whole is covered in very small grey hairs. The short eye field has a dense covering of long brown bristles. The abdomen is brown-black with a one or three stripes of white setae down the middle. It has long brown bristles around the edge and the underside is yellow-grey. It is between 2.4 and 3.2 mm (0.094 and 0.126 in) long and between 1.8 and 2.5 mm (0.071 and 0.098 in) wide. The clypeus is low and hairy, and the chelicerae are brown, toothless and bristly. The spinnerets are brown, and the legs are short, brown and hairy with many spikes. The pedipalps are brown and have a stumpy outgrowth. The palpal bulb and cymbium are very dark, almost black, and has long tufts of hair around the base and much of the bulb. The tibial apophysis is short and is fringed with a tuft of long setae.[7][9]

The female is significantly larger than the male, with a typical body length of 8.9 mm (0.35 in).[8] It has a carapace that measures between 3.9 and 4 mm (0.15 and 0.16 in) long and 2.8 and 2.9 mm (0.11 and 0.11 in) wide and an abdomen that is 5.8 mm (0.23 in) in length and between 3.8 and 4.0 mm (0.15 and 0.16 in) in width.[7][9] It is lighter in colour, with a grey abdomen that has a single light stripe with a dark border. Otherwise, it is similar is general appearance to the male. The epigyne is unlike any other Langona species in external appearance. It has a two small depressions on the back, the rims forming a sort of shield above the gonopores. The copulatory ducts are short.[10] The wide seminal ducts are slightly sclerotised and lead to heavily sclerotised, multi-chambered spermathecae.[11] It has distinctive accessory glands that protrude from the main copulatory organs and give them a more complex appearance.[12]

Like other Lagona spiders, the chelicerae are toothless. and there is a single apophysis, or appendage, on the pedipalp tibia, which enables it to be distinguished from other Aelurillinae.[13] The male has a characteristic short and blunt tibial apophysis. It closely resembles the related Langona improcera, but the palpal bulb is wider and the rearmost lobe smaller. The female is similar to other species in the genus, the obvious accessory glands being the most distinctive feature.[7]

Langona warchalowskii is endemic to South Africa.[1] The holotype was found in 1989 in Central Karoo, Western Cape, 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Prince Albert.[7] It has been found near Middelburg, Eastern Cape, Griekwastad, Northern Cape, Florisbad, Free State and in other areas of the country.[14] It is a ground-dwelling spider that thrives in arid and semi-arid environments.[10]