NOVOSIBIRSK, Sep 9Galina Azarkina, a senior researcher at the Institute of Animal Systematics and Ecology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in Spain, together with colleagues from this country, discovered a new type of spider with a «chevron» of the colors of the Barcelona football club on its abdomen, reports the publication of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences «Science in Siberia». Novosibirsk discovered a new species of jumping spider in Andalusia, Spain, together with colleagues Alvaro Perez-Gomez (University of Cadiz) and Iñigo Sanchez-Garcia (Zoobotanical Garden of Jerez). The spider was named Phlegra blaugrana. An article about the discovery was published in the publication Zootaxa. «Males of a new species from the family of jumping spiders Salticidae are distinguished by a bright and unusual color — a velvety black abdomen with a thick fringe along the edge and a red-blue» chevron «in the middle. According to the colors of this» chevron «spider and named Blaugrana (blue garnet) is one of the popular nicknames for the Barcelona football team, which has alternating red and blue stripes on their uniforms. . So, the male Phlegra blaugrana, approaching the female, sharply raises the abdomen up, like a peacock, and demonstrates a beautiful coloration framed by black «feathers» (thick hairs). At the same time, he “rhythmically twitches his front pair of legs and pedipalps, as if persuading the female to mate.” At the same time, scientists noted that the females of this species look quite inconspicuous, because they have a cryptic (protective) color that makes them invisible to enemies or prey. Jumping spiders generally have a rather complex courtship behavior. Males dance in front of females, and each dance is species-specific, that is, a female of another species will not respond to the movements of a foreign male and may even try to eat him, mistaking him for prey, «Azarkina notes. Spiders of a new species live on the surface of the soil in meadows and pastures. The climate in their habitat is humid, with a strong influence of the Atlantic and a large number of sunny days. Andalusia, as the researcher notes, is the most studied region of Spain, from where the largest number of spider species is known.
