Hermacha brevicauda
| Hermacha brevicauda | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Mygalomorphae |
| Family: | Entypesidae |
| Genus: | Hermacha |
| Species: | H. brevicauda |
| Binomial name | |
| Hermacha brevicauda | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Hermacha brevicauda is a species of spider in the family Entypesidae.[3] It is found in South Africa.[3]
Distribution
[edit]Hermacha brevicauda was originally described from two males found at the foot of "Devils Mountain" near Cape Town.[1] Zonstein described both genders as Pionothele capensis (Pycnothelidae) in 2016.[2] These were collected in 1991 at Muizenberg in the Western Cape Province, where it has been recorded at an altitude of 6 m above sea level.[4]
Habitat and ecology
[edit]The species is a ground dweller that inhabits dunes north of Muizenberg in the Fynbos biome.[4] Known only from several records sampled at the type locality in 1991.[4]
Description
[edit]![[icon]](/restyle/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (September 2025) |
Conservation
[edit]Pionothele capensis is listed as Data Deficient due to limited sampling and the need for identification of museum material to determine the species' range.[4]
Etymology
[edit]The species name brevicauda comes from Latin meaning "short tail".
Taxonomy
[edit]The species was originally described by William Frederick Purcell in 1903.[1] In 2016, Zonstein described Pionothele capensis, which was later synonymized with Hermacha brevicauda by Ríos-Tamayo, Engelbrecht & Goloboff in 2021.[3] This taxonomic change transferred the species from the genus Pionothele back to Hermacha.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Purcell, W.F. (1903). "New South African spiders of the families Migidae, Ctenizidae, Barychelidae Dipluridae, and Lycosidae". Annals of the South African Museum. 3: 69–142.
- 1 2 Zonstein, S.L. (2016). "New data on the spider genus Pionothele (Araneae: Nemesiidae), with description of a new species from South Africa". Israel Journal of Entomology. 46: 31–42. doi:10.5281/zenodo.56928.
- 1 2 3 "Hermacha brevicauda Purcell, 1903". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- 1 2 3 4 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Pycnothelidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 6.
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