Salticidae Ligurra

Ligurra latidens (Doleschall, 1859)

Bronze Angular Jumper

Spiders of the genus Ligurra include short and squat jumpers with a broad and flat cephalothorax. In both sexes, iridescent scales adorn the legs and cephalothorax. Legs I are longer and more robust than the remaining legs, notably among the males.

L. latidens males are easily recognised. Their chelicerae are divergent and strongly developed. The clypeus has a distinctive pair of long white hairs. conjuring an image of a comical figure with bushy beard. [This feature differentiates them from Rhene. another genus of squat jumpers, whose males do not have such long hairs on the clypeus.] Viewed from above, the male cephalothorax has angular corners, while the female cephalothorax appears more rounded. Unlike Rhene whose PLE are located at the posterior half of the carapace, the PLE in both sexes of L. latidens are positioned nearer the mid-point of the lateral edges of the carapace.