Euophrys C. L. Koch 1834

Euophrys C.L. Koch, 1834

Type species: Aranea frontalis Walckenaer, 1802

Description. Small to medium sized spiders, ranging from 2 to 5 mm in length. The male palp has a tibial apophysis that is often very thin and needle-shaped; embolus thread-like, coiled at the tip of the bulb (sometimes around a hollow pit or coiled within that pit), in some species the embolus forms a spiral, placed perpendicular or oblique to the long axis of the palp (sometimes parallel); sperm duct meandering, forming broad loops. The epigyne is weakly sclerotized, usually with two rounded or oval depressions separated by a median septum, with large oval spermathecae and the seminal duct with characteristic kinks in the majority of species. The abdomen in both sexes is usually dark, with a pattern consisting of a mosaic of small yellow reticulate markings on a blackish or dark grey background, sometimes also with darker chevrons or with a few pairs of small light dots, abdomen light ventrally with numerous small dark patches. Abdomen of males sometimes has a delicate scutum on the dorsal surface. Species of the genus Euophrys are rather difficult to distinguish, especially females.

Redescription of the type species is given in Logunov, Cutler & Marusik (1993) and Logunov (1997).

Distribution. Worldwide, except the Australian Region.