Malayan Tree Trunk Jumper
It is a fairly large, flattish, and dully coloured salticid that camouflages itself effectively on tree trunks. It belongs to the subfamily Spartaeinae, which includes genera with a pair of unusually large PME. The male has characteristically large and black palps with a prominent outgrowth known as "retrolateral tibia apophysis".
Although this species name means "from Malaya", the type specimen was actually collected in Singapore, by H.N. Ridley, a former Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, in 1898.
| Length | ♀ 9 mm; ♂ 8–9 mm |
| Distribution | Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra), Brunei, China. |
| Habitat | Tree trunks in gardens, secondary forests, and mangrove swamps. |
| Biology | This species is an ambusher, rather than an active hunter as in most salticids. It assumes an ambush position by remaining stationary and concealing itself from potential prey by pressing the body and legs against the tree trunk. The diet includes other spiders and reportedly also moths. |
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Suborder Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
Holotype
British Museum of Natural History (BMNH)/Natural History Museum (NHMUK), London, UK; ♂ (1980.4.9.1) (Wanless, 1981b)
Paratype
British Museum of Natural History (BMNH)/Natural History Museum (NHMUK), London, UK; 1♀ (1980.4.14.1) (Wanless, 1981b)
Phaeacius malayensis (Original description ♂♀)
Wanless, 1981b A revision of the spider genus Phaecius (Araneae: Salticidae): 205, f. 6A-E, 7A-C
Phaeacius malayensis (♂♀)
Zhang & Li, 2005 Four new and one newly recorded species of the jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae: Lyssomaninae & Spartaeinae) from (sub)tropical China: 223, f. 2A-E
Phaeacius malayensis (♂♀)
Peng, 2020 Fauna Sinica, Invertebrata 53, Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae: 285, f. 203a-d
* Retrieved from the World Spider Catalog.
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra), Brunei, China.