| Anyphops lesserti | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Selenopidae |
| Genus: | Anyphops |
| Species: | A. lesserti
|
| Binomial name | |
| Anyphops lesserti (Lawrence, 1940)1
| |
Anyphops lesserti is a species of spider in the family Selenopidae.2 It is endemic to South Africa.3
Distribution
Anyphops lesserti is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa. The species is known from a few localities including Touws River, Gouritsmond, and Swartberg Nature Reserve.3
Habitat and ecology
The species inhabits the Fynbos biome at altitudes ranging from sea level to 1405 m above sea level. These are free-living cryptozoic nocturnal ground living spiders.3
Description
Known only from the male. The carapace is orange-yellow with the thoracic striae visible, and the chelicerae are much darker than the carapace, being reddish brown.3
The opisthosoma is light yellow-brown above with minute scattered black dots and a wavy transverse black stripe above the spinnerets. The legs apparently lack markings or bands of any kind. The anterior tibiae have 5 pairs of inferior spines.3
Total length is 10.2 mm.3
Conservation
Anyphops lesserti is listed as Data Deficient due to taxonomic reasons. The species has a small range and more sampling is needed to collect females and determine the full extent of its distribution. It receives some protection in Swartberg Nature Reserve.3
Taxonomy
The species was originally described by Lawrence in 1940 as Selenops lesserti from Touws River.1 It was later transferred to the genus Anyphops by Benoit in 1968.3
References
References
- Lawrence, R.F. (1940). "The genus Selenops (Araneae) in South Africa". Annals of the South African Museum. 32: 581. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.5227.
- "Anyphops lesserti (Lawrence, 1940)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
- Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2020). The Selenopidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 31. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7162139.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.