A fourth spider we're searching for at Okefenokee NWF later this month is Floricomus setosus. This tiny spider was last collected 82 years ago, in 1943 and was previously found "E. side of Okefenokee Swamp" in 1933. Only one male and two females have ever been collected.
One of the most interesting morphological quirks of this spider is a character I have never seen in any other spider, regardless of taxonomic family, and that is the presence of two stout spines on the male clypeus. The clypeus is on the "face" just below the anterior eyes, above the chelicerae.
Oct 19, 2025 18:29What's extra interesting here is that the males of every other species in this genus not only lacks spines like these, but, in its place possesses soft patches of microsetae. Could these stout spines be mimicking the function of soft microsetae patches? It seems unlikely?
