Aelurillus hirtipes
Aelurillus hirtipes, synonym Aelurillus sinaicus, is a species of jumping spider in the genus Aelurillus that lives in North Africa. First identified by Jacques Denis in Chad in 1960 as part of the Missions Berliet-Ténéré, it has also been found in Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. The spider is small, with a brown carapace that is between long and a yellow abdomen that measures between in length. The male has a small hooked embolus protruding from its palpal bulb and the female has S-shaped flaps on the epigyne and short copulatory ducts. The spider has a covering of light hairs, whiter on the female and more yellow on the male. These hairs help distinguish it from the related Aelurillus v-insignitus and Aelurillus plumipes Taxonomy Aelurillus hirtipes was first described by Jacques Denis in 1960. It was placed in the genus Aelurillus that was first described by Eugène Simon in 1885. The genus name derives from the Greek word for cat. It was placed in the subtribe Aelurillina in the tribe Aelurillini, both named after the genus, by Wayne Maddison in 2015. These were allocated to the clade Saltafresia. In 2017, the genus was grouped with nine other genera of jumping spiders