Cembalea triloris is a species of jumping spider in the genus Cembalea that lives in Namibia and South Africa. It was first described in 2011 by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad. The spider gets its name from the existence of three distinctive white stripes on its back, more noticeable on the male. The spider is small, with a dark brown carapace that is between 2and long and a lighter sandy or yellowish-white abdomen that is between 2.4and long. It has a large eye field and a clypeus that extends to the edge of the carapace. It can also be distinguished from other members of the genus by the large spike that protrudes from the abdomen and the male's long embolus.
Cembalea triloris is a jumping spider that was first described by Wanda Wesołowska and Charles Haddad in 2011.[1] It is one of over 500 species identified by the Polish arachnologist Wesołowska. It was placed in the genus Cembalea, which had been first described by Wesołowska in 1993. The species name derives from two Latin words meaning three and strap, and relate to the markings on the carapace. The genus was placed in the subtribe Thiratoscirtina in the tribe Aelurillini by Wayne Maddison in 2015. It was allocated to the subclade Simonida in the clade Simonida, both named in honour of the French arachnologist Eugène Simon. They are distinguished by the way that the embolus looks disconnected from the tegulum. In his 2017 study, Jerzy Prószyński placed the genus in a group called Hyllines.
Cembalea triloris is a small spider with a large eye field. The female has a cephalothorax that is between 2.1and long and 1.6and wide. The dark brown carapace is high and curved, with three wide white stripes formed of hairs, one of which is more distinctive. The abdomen is between 2.4and long and 1.6and wide, sandy in colour and covered in light hairs, with a faint pattern of chevrons and diagonal lines barely visible on the surface. The clypeus is hairy and stretches to the sides of the carapace. The chelicerae are light brown. The spinnerets are dark grey and long. The legs are yellow and spiny. The epigyne has a large central cavity that connects to a deep pocket. The seminal ducts are long.
The male has a carapace that measures between 2and in length and 1.6and in width and an abdomen that is between 19and in length and 1.4and in width. The three stripes on the carapace are clearer to see. The abdomen is lighter, a yellowish white, with a large brown stripe down the middle. The back of the spider has a distinctive spike. The clypeus, chelicerae and spinnerets are similar, although darker in hue. There is a single tooth. The pedipalps are pale. The palpal bulbs have long appendages and an embolus that is also long. As well as the distinctive marking after which it is named, The spider is distinguished from other members of the genus by the long spike, as well as its long embolus.
Cembalea triloris lives in Namibia and South Africa.[1] The male holotype was collected near Prieska in the Northern Cape of South Africa in 2002. It was originally misidentified as a member of the Pellenes genus.. The first female was found outside Keetmanshoop, Namibia in 2002. It has also been observed in the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve. Other specimens were also discovered in other areas of the Northern Cape and Namibia. It lives on the ground.