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Photo#1815389
Admestina juvenile - Admestina

Admestina juvenile - Admestina
Austin, Travis County, Texas, USA
April 24, 2020
Size: ~3mm
Found on terra cotta chiminea, under mature live oak trees.

Comment from Wayne Maddison on iNaturalist: "Definitely looks like Admestina; high probability of undescribed species."

Note: I later collected an adult male of this species that looks basically identical to this one apart from the palps. I had thought maybe some of these features (especially the bristly hairs on the abdomen) would change at maturity but it seems this is just how they look. When I have both a male and female collected, I will try to talk someone more qualified into receiving and examining them. They are quite small and potentially beyond my amateur-level dissection abilities.

Images of this individual: tag all
Admestina juvenile - Admestina Admestina juvenile - Admestina Admestina juvenile - Admestina

Maybe not juvenile
This may have been an adult female after all. I have since collected an adult male of this species at the same location - it looks basically identical to this one, ~3mm with the spiky hairs at the rear of the abdomen. I have it in alcohol, hoping to eventually collect an adult female to go along with it, so I can find someone to examine them for me. These are quite small and likely beyond my level of skill WRT examination.

not archboldi?
I can't claim to know 1% of what Wayne does about salticids, but this critter looks like a dead ringer for the only confirmed specimen of A. archboldi that I can find pictured on-line, apparently ID'd by Wayne himself, and the species has been documented from Texas, but there are no records as yet here on the Guide. I'm tempted to move it, but maybe will try to get Wayne's input on the idea first...

 
not archboldi
I made some bad images of the palp of an adult male I collected in the same location. Looks quite different from the palp of Admestina archboldi so I am fairly confident this is an undescribed species.


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