Palfuria

Palfuria is a spider genus of the family Zodariidae with nine described species from southern Africa.

Distribution

Five species (P. retusa, P. spirembolus, P. gladiator, P. panner, P. harpago) are known from the southwestern part of the continent, the other species (P. gibbosa, P. helichrysorum, P. hirsuta, P. caputlari) from the eastern part. The last species is from as far north as northern Tanzania.

As in many other genera, there is a tendency for the embolus to increase in length. Both the most basal (Palfuria panner) and the most derived species (Palfuria spirembolus) are found in Namibia.

Species

, this genus includes nine species:

• Palfuria caputlari <small>Szűts & Jocqué, 2001</small> – Tanzania, South Africa
• Palfuria gibbosa <small>(Lessert, 1936)</small> – Mozambique
• Palfuria gladiator <small>Szűts & Jocqué, 2001</small> – Namibia
• Palfuria harpago <small>Szűts & Jocqué, 2001</small> – Namibia
• Palfuria helichrysorum <small>Szűts & Jocqué, 2001</small> – Malawi
• Palfuria hirsuta <small>Szűts & Jocqué, 2001</small> – Zambia
• Palfuria panner <small>Jocqué, 1991</small> – Namibia
• Palfuria retusa <small>Simon, 1910</small> – Namibia, South Africa (type species)
• Palfuria spirembolus <small>Szűts & Jocqué, 2001</small> – Namibia, South Africa

References