Trichothyse africana
Creators: name: Sankaran, Pradeep M.
name: Haddad, Charles R.
name: Tripathi, Rishikesh
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Gnaphosidae
Trichothyse
Trichothyse africana

description: ‘ Trichothyse ’ africana (Tucker, 1923)
Figs 14, 20, 76–89
Latonigena africana Tucker, 1923: 383, plate XI, fig. 83 (holotype ♀: SOUTH AFRICA: Western Cape: Ceres [33°24’S, 19°17’E], I.1917, leg. R.W. Tucker, SAMC B3448—not examined).
‘ Latonigena ’ africanus Murphy, 2007: 52, figs 358–359.
Trichothyse africana Ott et al., 2012: 238; Lissner & Chatzaki, 2016: 17, figs 2D, 4F; Dippenaar-Schoeman et al., 2021: 27, figs 1–4.
Material examined. SOUTH AFRICA: Free State: Fouriesburg district, Wyndford Guest Farm, 28°41’17’’S, 28°13’44’’E, 1826 m a.s.l., 7.VI.2014, leg. P. Webb (hand collecting), 1♂ (NCA 2016 /1194); Wepener district, Farm Dereham, 29°52’45’’S, 27°04’47’’E, 1515 m a.s.l., 2.I.2021, leg. C. Haddad (in grass tussocks, grazed grassland), 1♀ (NCA 2021 /1602). Northern Cape: Rooipoort Nature Reserve, 28°40’40’’S, 24°18’14’’E, 18–23.III.2013, leg. R. Lyle, P. Lyle, P. Webb & M. Stiller (night collecting), 1♀ (NCA 2016 /1210).
Remarks. A widespread species recorded from seven of the nine South African provinces, as well as Mozambique (Dippenaar-Schoeman et al. 2021), T. africana was originally described from the Matroosberg Mountains near Ceres in the Western Cape (Tucker 1923). The relationships of the species remain obscure as the male has not yet been described, although we provide images of it (Figs 76–83). Even though the species shares a variety of characters with other members of Trichothyse, including a male dorsal abdominal scutum (Fig. 76), the scopulated anterior parts of metatarsi and tarsi (Figs 80, 88), and females with a keel on the cheliceral promargin (Fig. 87), males differ in several respects: 1) cheliceral promargin with distinct teeth and not a keel (Fig. 79); 2) absence of a curved distal membranous conductor (Figs 82–83); 3) palp with a simple RTA without an additional protuberance on its dorsal surface (Figs 82–83); 4) clearly different embolus shape, with sharp and angular sclerotisations terminating apically (Figs 82–83); 5) presence of a distinct hooked median apophysis, positioned close to the embolus (Figs 82–83); 6) lack of a tooth on the cheliceral retromargin in females (Fig. 87), although present in males (Fig. 79); 7) narrow sperm duct in the male palp (Figs 82–83); and 8) habitus of yellow-brown colouration (Figs 76, 84).
Considering the groupings proposed by Murphy (2007), T. africana clearly belongs to the “ Echemus group” of genera, but its affinities and possible placement remain unclear. If it represents a new genus, such a description would wait pending further taxonomic investigation, including related undescribed species, and stronger support, including molecular data.
description: Published as part of Sankaran, Pradeep M., Haddad, Charles R. & Tripathi, Rishikesh, 2025, A review of the ground spider genus Trichothyse Tucker, 1923 (Araneae, Gnaphosidae), pp. 39-70 in Zootaxa 5583 (1) on pages 56-58, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5583.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/14798099