Wanda Wesołowska’s research while affiliated with University of Wrocław and other places

Ugandinella, new genus of ant-like salticid is described. The genus includes one species, Ugandinella formicula sp. nov. from Uganda.

A 40-species assemblage of jumping spiders inhabiting a small (0.6 ha) tropical suburban study site in Zimbabwe was studied over 4 years. It was hypothesized that marked habitat separation is one of the critical factors permitting the close coexistence of so many species from the same family (Salticidae). The 25 most common salticids (i.e. species with 10 or more records) were found to occupy six primary habitat types: tree trunks (with three salticid species), tree leaves (two species), shrubs (five species), walls (three species), low herbaceous plants and grasses (three species) and ground and litter (six species). The remaining three species, termed habitat generalists, frequented three or more of these habitats. Finer-scale microhabitat separation was also recorded in many species. The remaining 15 less common species (i.e.

Blaisea bicalcarata Simon, 1909 is synonymised with B. lyrata Simon, 1902 and transferred to the genus Tusitala Peckham et Peckham, 1902; a new combination - T. lyrata - is proposed. A redescription of the male and the first description of the female of T. lyrata are provided. The range of morphological variation of the male chelicera in the species is shown. The generic name Blaisea Simon, 1902 is synonymised with Tusitala Peckham et Peckham, 1902.

Heliophanus (Heliocapensis) termitophagus n. sp., a jumping spider associated with decaying mounds (without queen) of Trinervitermes trinervoides (Sjöstedt 1911) termites, is described. It was chiefly found in or on the termitaria and fed mostly on workers of this termite species. The use of abandoned mounds makes it different from two other African termitivorous salticids living on active, open-vented termitaria.

Sixty-nine species are reported (two of them determined only at the generic level and one juvenile specimen which probably belongs to a new, unknown genus). Thirty-five species are described as new: Afrobeata magnifica n. sp., Evarcha bihastata n. sp., E. elegans n. sp., E. similis n. sp., Habrocestum tanzanicum n. sp., Heliophanus pygmaeus n. sp., Hyllus ramadanii n. sp., H. rotundithorax n. sp., Kima atra n. sp., Langelurillus alboguttatus n. sp., L. difficilis n. sp., L. furcatus n. sp., L. manifestus n. sp., Langona improcera n. sp., Lilliput minutus n. sp., L. mkomazienzis n. sp., L. pusillus n. sp., Neaetha irreperta n. sp., Pellenes cingulatus n. sp., P. modicus n. sp., Phintella incerta n. sp., Phlegra parvula n. sp., Ph. simplex n. sp., Ph. varia n. sp., Pignus lautissimum n. sp., Pseudicius eximius n. sp., Rhene facilis n. sp., Stenaelurillus cristatus n. sp., S. darwini n. sp., S. fuscatus n. sp., S. mirabilis n. sp., Tusitala proxima n. sp., T. unica n. sp., Xuriella prima n. sp., Yogetor bellus n. sp. The first description of the females of Festucula lawrencei Lessert 1933 and Phlegra nuda Próchniewicz & Heciak 1994 is provided. Hyllus corniger Wesolowska & van Harten 1994 is synonymized with H. dotatus (Peckham & Peckham 1903) and placed to the genus Evarcha Simon 1902. Three new genera are established: Lilliput n. gen., Xuriella n. gen., Yogetor n. gen. The definition of the genus Langelurillus Próchniewicz 1994 is supplemented. The results are discussed in relation to the diversity of salticids from different regions of the world and within Africa and to the efficiency of different sampling methods for salticidae.

Descriptions of two new species of african salticids, Heliophanus thaleri sp. nov. and Rhene konradi sp. nov. are given.

Descriptions of two new species Sitticlis talgarensis and Sitticus nenilini from Kirgizia and Kazakhstan are given. About a hundred species of the jumping spiders are currently known to occur in Middle Asia (NENILIN, 1984, 1985). However, as the prevailing part of this region is covered by deserts, which still are poorly studied, the real number of species occuring within this region might be much higher than the present knowledge suggests. The studies of new collections from Middle Asia seem to confirm this view. PROSZYNSKI (1983) in his attempt of reconstruction of the Sitticus history, via analysis of distributional pattern of the genus, points to the fact, that in Asia the conditions are especially favourable for speciation arising at the interface of grasslands and deserts. In the light of this opinion, one can predict finding some new species with local distributions within this area. The recording of two new Sitticus species, descriptions of which are given here, in this region fits well with this prediction. The type material is kept in the collections of Zoological Museum of Moscow University (ZMMU), Zoological Museum of the In-stitute of Biology, Novosibirsk (BIN), Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel (NHMB) and Museum of Natural History, Wrodaw C~1NH). All measurements are given in mm. We wish to express our best gratitute to Dr. A. A. Zyuzin (Institute of Zoology, Alma-Ata), Mr. S. V. Ovtchinnikov (Institute of Biology, Frunze) and Dr. K. G. Mikhailov (Zoological Museum of Moscow University) for making their Salticidae collections available for the present study. We are also grateful to Prof. J. Pr6szynski for his kind advice during the preparation of the paper. Sitticus talgarensis n.sp. Figs 1-2, 5-8.