Asemonea clara is a species of jumping spider in the genus Asemonea that is endemic to South Africa. The spider was first defined in 2013 by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad. The spider is small, with a cephalothorax that is between 1.9and long and an abdomen that is between 2.2and long. The white carapace is pear-shaped and the abdomen is white apart from two dark lines across the front, a small round dot in the middle and a black dot towards the back. The male has not been described.
Asemonea clara is an African jumping spider that was first described by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad in 2013.[1] It is one of over 500 species the Polish arachnologist identified during her career. The species was allocated to the genus Asemonea, first raised by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1869. The genus is related to Lyssomanes. Molecular analysis demonstrates that the genus is similar to Goleba and Pandisus. In Wayne Maddison's 2015 study of spider phylogenetic classification, the genus Asemonea was the type genus for the subfamily Asemoneinae. A year later, in 2016, Jerzy Prószyński named it as the type genus for the Asemoneines group of genera, which was also named after the genus. The species has a name that is derived from the Latin for clear or plain.
The spider is small. The female has a cephalothorax that is between 1.9and long and 1.3and wide. It has a low pear-shaped carapace that is whitish with black rings around the majority of the eyes, which are arranged in four rows, as is typical for the genus. The chelicerae are whitish-yellow, with two small teeth visible at the front and four at the back. The mouthparts and sternum are pale. The abdomen is rounded, between 2.2and long and 1.2and wide. It is white with a small round dot in the middle, black dot to the back and two dark lines across the front. The underside is also light. The spider has white spinnerets and long thin white legs, marked with black patches. The epigyne has a furrow down the middle and two large pockets. The seminal ducts and other internal copulatory organs are simple. The male has not been identified.[1]
Despite being termed jumping spiders, Asemonea spiders rarely jump. Instead, they generally walk and run. They spin sheet webs on the underside of leaves, where they also lay their eggs. Although predominantly a diurnal hunter, the spider is also likely to eat nectar if it is available. It uses visual displays during courtship and transmits vibratory signals through silk to communicate to other spiders.
Asemonea clara is endemic to South Africa.[1] The holotype was found in the Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve in 2011. Other examples have been found in Ndumo Game Reserve. It predominantly lives in foliage in coastal and lowland forests.