Aelurillus
Aelurillus is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae.
Distribution
Species of the genus Aelurillus occur in the Palaearctic and Africa, with a few species known from India and Sri Lanka. Aelurillus subfestivus is found in Japan.Description
Species of the genus Aelurillus are typically about 7 mm long in females, and up to five mm in males. They are stout, squat-shaped and rather furry, with females often uniformly mottled sandy brown, while males are often black, sometimes with a pattern and with light, annulated legs.Habits
Spiders in this genus mainly catch and feed on ants.A Southeast Asian species of the genus Aelurillus has been observed to jump around 30-40 times its body length straight onto the back of a large gnaphosid spider and kill it.
They like hot, dry, stony places or small bare open areas with dead twigs or similar amongst low vegetation.
Species
, this genus includes 72 species and two subspecies:- Aelurillus aeruginosus – Mediterranean
- Aelurillus afghanus Azarkina, 2006 – Afghanistan, Pakistan
- Aelurillus alboclypeus Azarkina & Komnenov, 2015 – Turkey
- Aelurillus ambiguus – Libya
- Aelurillus andreevae Nenilin, 1984 – Turkmenistan, Tajikistan
- Aelurillus angularis Prószyński, 2000 – Israel
- Aelurillus ater – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
- Aelurillus balearus Azarkina, 2006 – Canary Islands, Spain
- Aelurillus basseleti – Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
- Aelurillus blandus – Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Morocco
- Aelurillus bokerinus Prószyński, 2003 – Israel
- Aelurillus bosmansi Azarkina, 2006 – Spain
- Aelurillus brutus Wesołowska, 1996 – Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan
- Aelurillus catherinae Prószyński, 2000 – Egypt
- Aelurillus catus Simon, 1886 – Senegal
- Aelurillus cognatus – Lebanon
- Aelurillus concolor Kulczyński, 1901 – Greece, North Macedonia, Turkey, Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Iran, Central Asia
- Aelurillus conveniens – Egypt, Israel, Syria
- Aelurillus cretensis Azarkina, 2002 – Greece
- Aelurillus cristatopalpus Simon, 1902 – South Africa
- Aelurillus cypriotus Azarkina, 2006 – Cyprus
- Aelurillus deltshevi Azarkina & Komnenov, 2015 – North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan
- Aelurillus desertus – United Arab Emirates
- Aelurillus dubatolovi Azarkina, 2003 – Kazakhstan, Central Asia
- Aelurillus faragallai Prószyński, 1993 – Saudi Arabia, Yemen
- Aelurillus galinae Wesołowska & van Harten, 2010 – United Arab Emirates
- Aelurillus gershomi Prószyński, 2000 – Israel, Jordan
- Aelurillus guecki Metzner, 1999 – Greece, Turkey
- Aelurillus helvenacius Logunov, 1993 – Mongolia
- Aelurillus hirtipes Denis, 1960 – North Africa
- Aelurillus improvisus Azarkina, 2002 – India
- Aelurillus jerusalemicus Prószyński, 2000 – Israel
- Aelurillus khorasanicus Azarkina & Mirshamsi, 2014 – Iran
- Aelurillus kochi Roewer, 1951 – Greece, Israel, Syria, United Arab Emirates
- Aelurillus kopetdaghi Wesołowska, 1996 – Turkmenistan
- Aelurillus kronestedti Azarkina, 2004 – India, Sri Lanka
- Aelurillus laniger Logunov & Marusik, 2000 – North Macedonia, Kazakhstan
- Aelurillus latebricola Spassky, 1941 – Tajikistan
- Aelurillus leipoldae – Greece
- Aelurillus logunovi Azarkina, 2004 – Afghanistan, Pakistan
- Aelurillus lopadusae Cantarella, 1983 – Italy, Algeria
- Aelurillus lucasi Roewer, 1951 – Canary Islands, Salvages
- Aelurillus luctuosus – Mediterranean to Turkmenistan
- Aelurillus lutosus – Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
- Aelurillus m-nigrum Kulczyński, 1891 – South-eastern Europe, Russia, Caucasus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China
- Aelurillus madagascariensis Azarkina, 2009 – Madagascar
- Aelurillus marusiki Azarkina, 2002 – Iran
- Aelurillus minimontanus Azarkina, 2002 – India
- Aelurillus minutus Azarkina, 2002 – Syria, Eritrea
- Aelurillus mirabilis Wesołowska, 2006 – Namibia
- Aelurillus monardi – Mediterranean
- Aelurillus murphyorum Azarkina, 2022 – Kenya
- Aelurillus nabataeus Prószyński, 2003 – Israel, Jordan
- Aelurillus nenilini Azarkina, 2002 – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
- Aelurillus numidicus – Algeria
- Aelurillus plumipes – Algeria, Tunisia
- Aelurillus politiventris – Greece to Israel
- Aelurillus quadrimaculatus Simon, 1889 – India, Sri Lanka
- Aelurillus quercussuber Wunderlich, 2023 – Portugal
- Aelurillus rugatus – Tanzania
- Aelurillus russellsmithi Azarkina, 2009 – Ivory Coast, Ghana
- Aelurillus schembrii Cantarella, 1982 – Italy, Malta
- Aelurillus simplex – Hungary
- Aelurillus spinicrus – Morocco
- Aelurillus steinmetzi Metzner, 1999 – Croatia, Greece
- Aelurillus subaffinis Caporiacco, 1947 – Eritrea
- Aelurillus subfestivus Saito, 1934 – Japan
- Aelurillus thailandicus Azarkina, 2019 – Thailand
- Aelurillus tumidulus Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz, 2008 – Ethiopia
- Aelurillus unitibialis Azarkina, 2002 – Iran
- Aelurillus v-insignitus – Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China
- * A. v. morulus – France
- * A. v. obsoletus Kulczyński, 1891 – Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania
- Aelurillus westi Azarkina & Zamani, 2019 – Iran