Brancus muticus Simon 1902
Creators: name: Azarkina, Galina N.
name: Foord, Stefan H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Araneae
Salticidae
Brancus
Brancus muticus

description: Brancus muticus Simon, 1902
Figs 1, 18–35
Brancus muticus Simon, 1902: 400 (3, examined).
B. muticus: Simon 1903: 709; Berland & Millot 1941: 332; Prószyński 1976: 156; 1978: 7 (3); Wesołowska & Russell-Smith 2011: 567 (syn.).
Brancus bevisi Lessert, 1925: 356, fig. 17 (3, examined).
B. bevisi: Berland & Millot 1941: 331; Prószyński 1976: 156.
Type material: Holotype Brancus muticus 3 (MNHN, #7546) Congo [date and collector unknown]; Holotype Brancus bevisi 3 (NMSA, #NM 17060) Amanzimtoti, L. Bevis [= Republic of South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Amanzimtoti, 30°03'S, 30°53'E, date unknown (L. Bevis)].
Other material: RSA: 1Ƥ (NCA 97/120) KwaZulu-Natal, Richards Bay, ca. 28°49'S, 32°02'E, sweep net, 11– 12.1995 (T. Wassernaar); 1Ƥ (probably lost) Limpopo, 23°30'S, 30°15'E, 374 m a.s.l., branch beating, vegetation: Colophosperme mopane and Androstachys johnsoni, woodland, 16.02.2008 (V. Gelebe); 13 2Ƥ (probably lost) exact locality and date unknown (A. Russell-Smith).
Diagnosis. This species resembles B. verdieri Berland & Millot, 1941. The two species differ in the shape of the tibial apophysis (straight in B. muticus and bent at a right angle in B. verdieri) and position of tegular lobe (prolateral in B. verdieri and basal (Figs 18–20) in B. muticus). The embolus is coiled forming one loop and contrasts with other Brancus species where the coil has two loops the (B. blaisei) and half a loop (B. occidentalis).
Description. Male (holotype of B. bevisi,). Carapace: 2.59 long, 2.32 wide, 1.40 high. Abdomen: 2.88 long, 1.58 wide. Eye field: 1.18 long, anterior 1.65 wide, posterior 1.65 wide. Cheliceral length 0.86. Clypeal height 0.10. Diameter of AME 0.57. Length of leg segments: I 1.40+0.97+1.36+0.68+0.57; II 1.18+0.79+1.00+0.57+0.50; III 1.18+0.72+0.90+1.00+0.57; IV 1.54+0.68+1.00+1.11+0.60. Leg spination: I: Fm d 0-1-1-3; Tb v 1 -0-0-2-1-0; Mt v 0-2-2ap. II: Fm d 0-1-2-4; Pt pr 1; Tb pr 0-1-1, v 1 -0-2-2ap; Mt v 0-2-2ap. III: Fm d 0-2-1-4; Pt pt and rt 1; Tb pr 1-1, rt 1-1-1, v 1 -0-1ap; Mt pr and rt 1-0-2, v 1 -0-2ap. IV: Fm d 0-1-1-3; Pt pr and rt 1; Tb pr 0-1-1 or 0-2-1, rt 1-1-1, v 1 -0-2ap; Mt pr and rt 0-1-2ap; v 0-0-2ap. Carapace yellow-brown to brown, ocular area is yellow with brown rings around eyes, central part of ocular area with brown patch (Figs 29–30). Laterally ocular area with bunch of long dense bristles. Clypeus very low, yellow with brown line among lower rim, covered with one row of brown bristles (Fig. 32). Chelicerae brown. Sternum yellow. Abdomen yellow, dorsum yellowish-brown, medially with band of white scales, covered with brownish-yellow hairs. First pair of legs robust, bigger than others. Femora of all legs brown, distally yellow. Coxae I brownish, coxae of the remaining legs yellow. Patellae and tibiae I–II ventrally with rather dense brown hairs. Palpal structure as in Figs 18–23.
Female (KwaZulu-Natal, NCA 97/120). Carapace: 2.40 long, 2.10 wide, 1.45 high. Abdomen: 4.50 long, 2.50 wide. Eye field: 1.10 long, anterior 1.60 wide, posterior 1.65 wide. Cheliceral length 0.80. Clypeal height 0.10. Diameter of AME 0.55. Length of leg segments: I 1.40+0.95+1.05+0.60+0.50; II 1.25+0.90+0.90+0.55+0.50; III 1.60+1.00+0.90+0.90+0.50; IV 1.55+0.90+1.10+1.20+0.50. Leg spination: I: Fm d 0-1-1-3; Tb v 0-0-0-1-1; Mt v 0-2-2ap. II: Fm d 0-1-1-4; Tb v 0-0-1-0-0 or 0-0-0-0-0; Mt v 0-2-2ap. III: Fm d 0-2-1-4; Pt pr and rt 1; Tb pr 1-1, rt 1-1-1, v 1 -0-2ap; Mt pr and rt 1-0-2, v 1 -0-2ap. IV: Fm d 0-1-1-2; Pt rt 1; Tb pr 1-1 or 0-1, rt 1-1-1, v 0-0-2ap; Mt pr 0-1-2 or 0-0-2, rt 1-1-2; v 0-0-2ap. Carapace brownish-yellow with brown rings around eyes, central part of ocular area with brown patch (Fig. 34). Laterally ocular area with bunch of long dense bristles. Clypeus and cheeks yellow covered with white hairs (Fig. 33). Chelicerae brownish-yellow. Sternum yellow. Abdomen pale yellow, dorsum with two parallel brown bands, laterally and apically with wide bands of brown patches and strokes (Fig. 34). Spinnerets brown-yellow. Book-lungs pale yellow. Legs I robust, larger than others. All legs yellow. Femora I prolaterally with brown transversal lines. Palps yellow. Structure of epigyne and spermathecae as in Figs 24–25, 27–28.
Distribution. Western, Central and Southern Africa.
Comments. In 2008 one of us (GA) studied 1 Ƥ collected by V. Gelebe and 13 2Ƥ collected by A. Russell- Smith in the Republic of South Africa. Unfortunately this material seems to be lost. GA kept figures of the specimens collected by A. Russell-Smith as it represents the first record of males and females of Brancus muticus that were collected together.
description: Published as part of Azarkina, Galina N. & Foord, Stefan H., 2013, Redescriptions of poorly known species of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from South Africa and Namibia, pp. 165-182 in Zootaxa 3686 (2) on pages 169-171, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3686.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/247680