Phintella parva

In 1981, Wanda Wesołowska described a new species of jumping spider, which she named Icius parvus, one of over 500 species identified by the Polish arachnologist over her career.[1][2] The species name is the Latin for small. The species was originally ascribed to the genus Icius. first described by Eugène Simon in 1876, but was transferred to Phintella in 1983 by Jerzy Prószyński.[1] The genus Phintella was raised in 1906 by Embrik Strand and W. Bösenberg. The genus name derives from the genus Phintia, which it resembles.[3] The genus Phintia was itself renamed Phintodes, which was subsequently absorbed into Tylogonus.[4] There are similarities between spiders within genus Phintella and those in Chira, Chrysilla, Euophrys, Icius, Jotus and Telamonia.[5] Genetic analysis confirms that it is related to the genera Helvetia and Menemerus and is classified in the tribe Chrysillini.[6][7] After being transferred to the new genus, the gender of the species name was changed, from parvus to parva.[8]

Phintella parva is a small spider, measuring between 3.5 and 4 mm (0.14 and 0.16 in) in length.[9] It is typical of the genus, closely resembling the related Phintella popovi, but differing in the shape of the sexual organs.[10] The spider has a yellow carapace with circular markings to towards the back.[8] The area around the mouth is similarly yellow, as are the spinnerets, legs and the abdomen, which also has two broad stripes running down it and along the sides.[10]

The female is slightly larger than the male, with a cephalothorax which has a length of between 1.78 and 2.05 mm (0.070 and 0.081 in) and a width of between 1.28 and 1.55 mm (0.050 and 0.061 in), and an abdomen that is between 2.98 and 3.08 mm (0.117 and 0.121 in) long and 1.8 and 2.18 mm (0.071 and 0.086 in) wide. The male cephalothorax is between 1.73 and 1.9 mm (0.068 and 0.075 in) long and between 1.25 and 1.38 mm (0.049 and 0.054 in) wide, and the abdomen between 1.83 and 2 mm (0.072 and 0.079 in) long and 1.05 and 1.2 mm (0.041 and 0.047 in) wide. The male has a short curved embolus and straight appendages that form part of the pedipalp, while the female has a pocket in the epigyne and long straight insemination ducts. The curved embolus and length of the ducts are particularly characteristic of the species.[10]

The holotype for the species was discovered in the valleys around Mount Myohyang, North Korea by Bohdan Pisarski and Jerzy Prószyński in 1959.[11] Female specimens were also seen near to the city of Pyongyang and in the South Hamgyong Province. Wesołowska also identified that it had been found in Primorsky Krai, in what is now Russia, and described in 1979, but had not been given a species name.[12] It was later seen that the spider was also to be found on Furugelm Island.[13]

The first example in China was identified in Shanxi.[14] The species was subsequently found in many other areas of the country, including Beijing, Gansu, Hebei and Henan.[15][16] South Korea was also added to the species distribution, with examples being identified in Sobaeksan and area around Palgongsan in the North Gyeongsang Province, the first dating from 1964.[8] The spider has also been observed in the Mie Prefecture of Honshu, Japan, which extended its range still further.[17][18]

The spider seems to thrive in diverse environments, including the environs of Tianchi Mountain, Song County, Luoyang, the city of Linzhou, rural areas in Neixiang County and pine woods of Khabarovsk Krai.[15][17]