Arachnologische Mitteilungen 58

Arachnologische Mitteilungen / Arachnology Letters 58: 4-5 Karlsruhe, September 2019 The family Salticidae Blackwall, 1841 is the species-richest spider family containing 6108 species in 636 genera (World Spider Catalog 2019). In Egypt, 74 species from 33 genera are recorded (El-Hennawy 2017).The genus Mexcala was es- tablished by Peckham & Peckham (1902) for M. rufa Peck- ham & Peckham, 1902 from South Africa. Later, they includ- ed M. elegans Peckham & Peckham, 1903 from Zimbabwe (Peckham & Peckham 1903) and the third species M. agi- lis Lawrence, 1928 was described from Namibia (Lawrence 1928). From all of them only males were described. Cur- rently, the genus Mexcala includes 21 species, recorded from Africa, the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Of these, only Mexcala nigrocyanea (Simon, 1886) is known from Egypt from the Siwa Oasis (El-Hennawy 2017). Mex- cala monstrata Wesołowska & van Harten, 1994 is hitherto known only from Yemen (Wesołowska 2009, World Spider Catalog 2019). Mexcala monstrata was described from a single adult female (Wesołowska & van Harten 1994).Wesołowska & van Harten (2007) first described the male and redescribed the female from Yemen. Wesołowska (2009) provided a revi- sion of the genus Mexcala .The aim of the present paper is to report newly found specimens of M. monstrata from Egypt. Material and methods The specimens in this paper are part of the Ph.D. thesis col- lection by Amr El-Gendy. All specimens were collected by hand aspirator, are preserved in 75% ethanol and deposited at the Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Egypt. For study an OPTIKA SZM-2 Stereomicroscope was used. Digital photographs were taken using a ToupCam S3CMOS Microscope camera. The identification of M. monstrata is based on the de­ scriptions, drawings and photographs in Wesołowska & van Harten (1994, 2007) and Wesołowska (2009). One male pe- dipalp was removed for study. Terminology follows Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman (2006). Length of prosoma, legs and opisthosoma were measured (Tabs 1-2). All measurements are given in millimetres. Taxonomy Family Salticidae Blackwall, 1841 Genus Mexcala Peckham & Peckham, 1902 Mexcala monstrata Wesołowska & van Harten, 1994 (Figs 1-5) Specimens examined. EGYPT, Menoufiya, El-Sadat City, Al-Azhar University, Farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Or- chards of peach and pomegranate (30.42028°N, 30.54296°E, 29 m a.s.l.), 20. Nov. 2016: 1 ) , 25. Dec. 2016: 1 subadult ) (died before moulted to adult), 15. Jun. 2017: 1 ) , 12. Mar. 2017: 1 ) , leg. A. El-Gendy. Description of male. General appearance as in Fig. 1a slen- der spider with long legs. Prosoma pear-shaped, widest pos- teriorly, coloured dark brown, clothed with delicate short brilliant hairs as in Fig. 1c. Opisthosoma elongated, point- ed posteriorly, orange with a brown anterior margin and a narrow transverse band halfway along its length, sometimes opisthosoma blackish at posterior margin (Fig. 1). Spinnerets orange-brownish. Legs thin and very long, legs IV longest, femora brown, tarsi whitish-yellow, remaining segments or- ange with brown lines along lateral surfaces. Palpal organ as in Figs 2-5, and measurements as in Tabs 1-2. Distribution Mexcala monstrata was known only fromYemen (Wesołowska 2009, World Spider Catalog 2019). This is the first record of the species for Egypt and for Africa.Twenty of the 21 species First record of Mexcala monstrata (Araneae: Salticidae) from Egypt Abdel-Sattar Metwally, Mohammad Mohafez, Mohamed El-Danasory & Amr El-Gendy doi: 10.30963/aramit5802 Abstract. The jumping spider Mexcalamonstrata Wesołowska & van Harten, 1994 is recorded for the first time from Egypt and Africa. The record is based only on male specimens. It is the second species of the genus Mexcala in Egypt after Mexcala nigrocyanea (Simon, 1886) known from the Siwa Oasis. Keywords: Africa, jumping spiders, taxonomy Zusammenfassung. Erstnachweis von Mexcala monstrata (Araneae: Salticidae) in Ägypten. Die Springspinne Mexcala monstrata Wesołowska & van Harten, 1994 wird erstmals für Ägypten und Afrika nachgewiesen. Es wurden nur Männchen erfasst. Es ist der zweite Nachweis einer Mexcala -Art in Ägypten nach Mexcala nigrocyanea (Simon, 1886), die von der Oase Siwa bekannt ist. Abdel-Sattar METWALLY, Mohammad MOHAFEZ, Mohamed EL-DANASORY, Amr EL-GENDY, Department of Agricultural Zoology and Nematology, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, P.O Box 11751, Cairo, Egypt; E-mail: met- wally844@gmail.com ; d.mohamedmohafez@yahoo.com; dr_ma_danasory@yahoo. com; amr.abdrabou@azhar.edu.eg submitted 16.1.2019, accepted 26.3.2019, online 18.6.2019 Tab. 1: Measurements of Mexcala monstrata TL = total length, PL = prosoma length, PW= prosoma width, OL = opistho­ soma length, OW = opisthosoma width TL PL PW OL OW MAX 5.22 2.82 1.91 2.40 1.99 MIN 4.58 2.46 1.63 2.13 1.74 Tab. 2: Measurements of leg segments of Mexcala monstrata Wesołowska & van Harten, 1994 Leg Femur Patella Tibia Meta­ tarsus Tarsus Total length I 1.52 0.74 1.15 1.00 0.51 4.92 II 1.39 0.68 1.02 0.91 0.58 4.58 III 1.43 0.63 1.07 1.19 0.67 4.99 IV 2.28 2.23 0.86 0.94 0.70 7.01