Helafricanus
| Helafricanus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| female H. demonstrativus | |
 | |
| male H. pistaciae | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Salticidae |
| Subfamily: | Salticinae |
| Genus: | Helafricanus Wesołowska, 1986 |
| Type species | |
| Heliophanus patellaris | |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
Helafricanus is an African genus of the spider family Salticidae (jumping spiders).
Distribution
[edit]Most species in this genus are endemic to Africa, with two species reaching the Arabic Peninsula and one Iran.[1]
Life style
[edit]These are free-living spiders found on the ground or plants, collected from a broad range of habitats.[2]
Description
[edit]The genus Helafricanus comprises small to medium-sized spiders, measuring 2.5 to 4.5 mm.[2]
Males have a black carapace, in some species with a thin whitish median streak. The abdomen is black, usually with a white leaf-like pattern or a median stripe, sometimes also featuring a thin white line along the lateral edges of the body.[2]
Females have mottled brown and black colouration and an abdominal pattern comprising a light central stripe composed of several pairs of merging spots. Notably, some males exhibit an abdominal pattern similar to females.[2]
Light streaks and patches are composed of white hairs. The diagnostic character of Helafricanus males is the presence of a large palpal patellar apophysis. The structure of the female genital organs is similar in all congeners, with the copulatory openings usually placed at the posterior part of the epigyne.[2]
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus Helafricanus was elevated from a subgenus of Heliophanus C. L. Koch, 1833 by Wesołowska in 2024. The type species is Helafricanus patellaris (Simon, 1901). Fourteen species are known from South Africa.[2]
Species
[edit]
male H. debilis
female H. insperatus
female H. nanus
female H. trepidus
As of October 2025[update], this genus includes 46 species:[1]
- Helafricanus aethiopicus (Wesołowska, 2003) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus alienus (Wesołowska, 1986) – Cameroon
- Helafricanus anymphos (Wesołowska, 2003) – Kenya
- Helafricanus bisulcus (Wesołowska, 1986) – Namibia, South Africa
- Helafricanus bolensis (Wesołowska, 2003) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus brevis (Wesołowska, 2003) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus butemboensis (Wesołowska, 1986) – Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Rwanda
- Helafricanus congolensis (Giltay, 1935) – Nigeria, Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe
- Helafricanus crudeni (Lessert, 1925) – Tanzania
- Helafricanus debilis (Simon, 1901) – DR Congo, Tanzania, Angola, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho
- Helafricanus decempunctatus (Caporiacco, 1941) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus demonstrativus (Wesołowska, 1986) – Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho
- Helafricanus dux (Wesołowska & van Harten, 1994) – Yemen
- Helafricanus edentulus (Simon, 1871) – Nigeria, Mediterranean to Iran
- Helafricanus erythropleurus (Kulczyński, 1901) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus fascinatus (Wesołowska, 1986) – Ghana, Sudan, DR Congo, Rwanda, Botswana, South Africa, Yemen
- Helafricanus furvus (Wesołowska & Haddad, 2014) – Lesotho
- Helafricanus giltayi (Lessert, 1933) – Kenya to Angola
- Helafricanus gloriosus (Wesołowska, 1986) – Angola, Botswana
- Helafricanus hastatus (Wesołowska, 1986) – South Africa, Lesotho
- Helafricanus heurtaultae (Rollard & Wesołowska, 2002) – Guinea
- Helafricanus imperator (Wesołowska, 1986) – Kenya, Malawi
- Helafricanus insperatus (Wesołowska, 1986) – DR Congo, Angola, Zimbabwe, South Africa
- Helafricanus jacksoni (Wesołowska, 2011) – Kenya
- Helafricanus kenyaensis (Wesołowska, 1986) – Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania
- Helafricanus kilimanjaroensis (Wesołowska, 1986) – Tanzania
- Helafricanus kovacsi (Wesołowska, 2003) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus leucopes (Wesołowska, 2003) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus marshalli (G. W. Peckham & E. G. Peckham, 1903) – South Africa
- Helafricanus megae (Wesołowska, 2003) – Zimbabwe
- Helafricanus minutissimus (Caporiacco, 1941) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus modicus (G. W. Peckham & E. G. Peckham, 1903) – South Africa, Lesotho, Madagascar
- Helafricanus nanus (Wesołowska, 2003) – Namibia, South Africa
- Helafricanus papyri (Wesołowska, 2003) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus patellaris (Simon, 1901) – South Africa, Lesotho (type species)
- Helafricanus paulus (Wesołowska, 1986) – Nigeria, Botswana
- Helafricanus pauper (Wesołowska, 1986) – Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa
- Helafricanus pistaciae (Wesołowska, 2003) – Zimbabwe, South Africa
- Helafricanus proszynskii (Wesołowska, 2003) – South Africa, Lesotho
- Helafricanus rutrosus (Wesołowska, 2003) – Ethiopia
- Helafricanus saudis (Prószyński, 1989) – Saudi Arabia, Yemen
- Helafricanus transversus (Wesołowska & Haddad, 2014) – Lesotho
- Helafricanus trepidus (Simon, 1910) – Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa
- Helafricanus undecimmaculatus (Caporiacco, 1941) – Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania
- Helafricanus validus (Wesołowska, 1986) – Kenya
- Helafricanus xanthopes (Wesołowska, 2003) – Ethiopia
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Genus Helafricanus". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Walt, V. van der; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2025). The Salticidae of South Africa. Part 3 (He-Iran). Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 1. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17103454.
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