Cembalea

Cembalea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Cembalea
Wesolowska, 1993[1]
Type species
C. pulmosa
(Lessert, 1925)
Species

5, see text

Cembalea is a genus of African jumping spiders that was first described by Wanda Wesołowska in 1993.[2]

Life style

Apparently Cembalea is an exclusively ground-dwelling genus.[3]

Description

These are small spiders with a large eye field. The members of the genus have a high carapace. The first legs of males have long, bushy setae on ventral surface of the femora, with similar setae and scale-like hairs on the ventral surface of the metatarsi.[3]

This genus is characterized by the structure of the pedipalp and epigyne. A characteristic feature of males is the long embolus that easily breaks off in preserved specimens and is sometimes missing as a result.[3]

Species

As of October 2025, this genus includes five species:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Gen. Cembalea Wesołowska, 1993". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  2. ^ Wesolowska, W. (1993). "On the genus Tularosa Peckham et Peckham, 1903 (Araneae, Salticidae)". Genus. 4: 33–40.
  3. ^ a b c Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Van der Walt, V.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2025). The Salticidae of South Africa. Part 1 (A-Den). Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 44. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15222559. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.