Icius pulchellus is a species of jumping spider in the genus Icius that lives in South Africa. It was first described in 2011 by Charles Haddad and Wanda Wesołowska. Only the female has been described. The spider is small, with a carapace measuring between 2and long and an abdomen that is between 2and in length. It has a sickle-shaped embolus. The spider is similar to the related Icius minimus, but can be distinguished by the pattern of the abdomen, which includes a brown stripe down the middle, and its short fat tibial apophysis.
Icius pulchellus is a jumping spider that was first described by Charles Haddad and Wanda Wesołowska in 2011.[1] It was one of over 500 species identified by Wesołowska during her career. It was allocated to the genus Icius, raised by Eugène Simon in 1876. The genus name is based on two Greek words that can be translated distinct, or special, face. The species name derives from the Latin for fair, neat or pretty. The genus is a member of the tribe Chrysillini, within the subclade Saltafresia in the clade Salticoida. Chrysillines, which had previously been termed heliophanines, are monophyletic. In 2016, Jerzy Prószyński split the genus from the Chrysillines into a group called Iciines, named after the genus. He stated the split was for practical reasons as Chrysillines had become unwieldy.
Icius pulchellus is a small spider. The male has a carapace that is between 2and long and 1.5and wide. It is oval, medium height and dark brown with a streak formed of white hairs down the middle and two more along the sides. The eye field is black with reddish-fawn hairs. The abdomen is similar in size, between 2and long and between 1.4and wide. It is a dark brown oval with a brown stripe down the middle and the sides clothed in dense covering of light hairs, white, yellow and fawn. The underside is yellow. The chelicerae are large, dark brown and unidentate. The spinnerets are dark and the legs are yellow to light brown with brown and white hairs. The pedipalps are dark brown with white hairs on the top. The palpal bulb is an irregular shape with a sickle-shaped embolus and short fat tibial apophysis, or appendage attached to the tibia. The female has not been described.[1]
The species is similar to others in the genus, particularly Icius minimus. The spider can be distinguished by the shape of the tibial apophysis and the pattern on the abdomen.
Icius pulchellus is endemic to South Africa.[1] The holotype was discovered in 2009 in the Sandveld Nature Reserve. Examples have been found in Free State and Northern Cape. The species thrives in grasslands.