New synonymy for the jumping spider Cosmophasis thalassina (C. L. Koch 1846) (Araneae: Salticidae: Chrysillini)

Authors: David Edwin HILL, Tiziano HURNI-CRANSTON & Truong Van TAM

Recently, in a review of the known species of the salticid genus Cosmophasis Simon 1901 (Hurni-Cranston & Hill 2021), we had difficulty separating the type species of this genus, C. thalassina (C. L. Koch 1846), from the most-studied member of this genus, C. umbratica Simon 1903.

Although the latter species has been the subject of a series of important behavioral studies in Singapore (e.g., Lim & Li 2004, 2013), virtually all (994 of 996) of the recent reports of either species in iNaturalist, including those from Singapore, have been associated with C. thalassina.

In this paper, it is proposed that Cosmophasis umbratica should be treated as a synonym of C. thalassina.

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