Abracadabrella elegans

Abracadabrella elegans is a species of jumping spider in the genus Abracadabrella. Its common name is Elegant Fly Mimic. It is reasonably common in coastal Eastern Australia, mostly Queensland. It appears to mimic a large fly with two black raised, rounded mounds on the rear of the abdomen, which look like eyes, and its spinnerets which resemble a fly's mouthparts. It walks backwards apparently to enhance the mimicry. Abracadabrella spp. are found on or under bark or on foliage from coastal north Queensland south to at least the central coast NSW.[1]

Abracadabrella elegans, Townsville 2012, body length 3.8mm.

Abracadabrella elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Abracadabrella
Species:
A. elegans
Binomial name
Abracadabrella elegans
L Koch, 1879

It was first named Marptusa elegans by L. Koch in 1879 when he described the female, then changed to Ocrisiona elegans by Simon in 1901. The genus name Abracadabrella was created by Zabka in 1991 when he also described the male.[2]

  • Abracadabrella gallery
  • Abracadabrella elegans (Elegant Fly Mimic) from Townsville QLD an Australian Jumping Spider. Male, body length 3.8mm
  • Abracadabrella elegans (Elegant Fly Mimic) from Grafton NSW an Australian Jumping Spider. Male, body length 3.8 mm Composite picture showing spider from above and a view of the eyes from rear
  • Abracadabrella elegans (Elegant Fly Mimic) from Townsville QLD an Australian Jumping Spider. Female, body length 4 mm Composite image showing spider side on and facing
  • Abracadabrella elegans (Elegant Fly Mimic) from Townsville QLD an Australian Jumping Spider. Male, body length 3.8 mm

References
  1. Whyte, Robert; Anderson, Greg (2017). A field guide to spiders of Australia. Australia: CSIRO Publishing. p. 225. ISBN 9780643107076.
  2. Bern, Natural History Museum. "NMBE - World Spider Catalog". www.wsc.nmbe.ch. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
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