Fonteferrea

Fonteferrea is a genus of araneoid spiders that contains only one species, Fonteferrea minutissima. It is the sole member of the family Fonteferreidae.
The family is only known from one male specimen, which was found in the Algarve in southern Portugal by Jörg Wunderlich in 2023. The generic name references the locality where the holotype was collected, Fonte Ferrea, in the Faro District.

Description

These are extremely small spiders, with a body length of 0.75 mm. The species is notable for the hairs present on the tegulum, a characteristic which very few spiders have.

Name

The original author spelled the family name "Fonteferridae", which was standardized to "Fonteferreidae" by the World Spider Catalog.

Taxonomy

Wunderlich suggests further species might be found in tropical Africa, as members of the "fairly related" family Synaphridae were first found in southern Europe and later in Madagascar.