Attulus is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1889. The name is a diminutive form of a common prefix for salticid genera, .
Taxonomy In 1889, Eugène Simon separated the genus Attulus from the genus Attus. The correct name of the type species involves some taxonomic complexity. Simon gave Attus cinereus Westring, 1861 as the type of the genus. However, this name had already been used by Walckenaer in 1837 for a different species, so Simon's 1871 replacement name Attus helveolus is used instead. A. helveolus is now regarded as the same species as Attus distinguendus, described by Simon in 1868, so having priority as a name. Thus the type species is currently known as Attulus distinguendus.
Within the family Salticidae, Attulus is placed in the tribe Sitticini (the sitticines). The taxonomy of the tribe and the genus Attulus has been subject to considerable uncertainty; some species changed genus repeatedly between 2017 and 2020. For example, Attulus floricola was known as Sitticus floricola until moved to Sittiflor floricola in 2017, to Calositticus floricola in 2018, back to Sitticus floricola in 2019, and then to Attulus floricola in 2020. Most sitticines were placed in Sitticus until 2017, when Jerzy Prószyński split the genus into seven: Attulus, Sitticus and five new genera Sittiab, Sittiflor, Sittilong, Sittipub and Sittisax. This division was not based on a phylogenetic analysis but was intended to be "pragmatic". A molecular phylogenetic analysis in 2020 restored most sitticine species to a single genus. Although Sitticus had been used in this sense for a long time, Attulus Simon, 1889 has priority over Sitticus Simon, 1901, so is the name currently used. Attulus is circumscribed to include Sitticus, Sittiflor, Sittilong and Sittipub. (Prószyński's Sittisax was retained, but his Sittiab was synonymized with Attinella.)
Phylogeny In 2020, Wayne Maddison and co-workers divided the tribe Sitticini into two subtribes, Aillutticina and Sitticina. Attulus was placed in Sitticina, and divided into three subgenera, A. (Sittilong) with one species, A. (Sitticus) with seven species, and A. (Attulus) with 41 species. The relationship between these taxa is shown in the following cladogram.
Species , the World Spider Catalog recognized 58 species in the genus Attulus. They are found in Asia, Europe and North America: Attulus albolineatus (Kulczyński, 1895) – Russia (South Siberia to Far East), China, Korea Attulus ammophilus (Thorell, 1875) – Romania, Russia (Europe), Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Afghanistan. Introduced to North America Attulus ansobicus (Andreeva, 1976) – Kazakhstan, Central Asia Attulus atricapillus (Simon, 1882) – Europe, Turkey Attulus avocator (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) – Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China, Korea, Japan Attulus barsakelmes (Logunov & Rakov, 1998) – Russia (Europe), Kazakhstan Attulus burjaticus (Danilov & Logunov, 1994) – Russia (South Siberia) Attulus caricis (Westring, 1861) – Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan, Mongolia Attulus cautus (Peckham & Peckham, 1888) – Mexico Attulus clavator (Schenkel, 1936) – China Attulus cutleri (Prószyński, 1980) – North America, Russia (Middle Siberia to Far East) Attulus damini (Chyzer, 1891) – Southern Europe, Ukraine, Russia (Caucasus) Attulus diductus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) – Karakorum, China Attulus distinguendus (Simon, 1868) (type) – Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan, China Attulus dubatolovi (Logunov & Rakov, 1998) – Kazakhstan Attulus dudkoi (Logunov, 1998) – Russia (South Siberia) Attulus dyali (Roewer, 1951) – Pakistan Attulus dzieduszyckii (L. Koch, 1870) – Europe, Russia (Europe, West Siberia) Attulus eskovi (Logunov & Wesołowska, 1995) – Russia (Far East) Attulus fasciger (Simon, 1880) – Russia (Middle Siberia to Far East), China, Korea, Japan. Introduced to North America Attulus finschi (L. Koch, 1879) – USA, Canada, Russia (West Siberia to Far East) Attulus floricola (C. L. Koch, 1837) – Canada, USA, Europe, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China, Japan Attulus godlewskii (Kulczyński, 1895) – Russia (Middle Siberia to Far East), China, Korea, Japan. Introduced to North America Attulus goricus (Ovtsharenko, 1978) – Caucasus (Russia, Georgia) Attulus hirokii Ono & Ogata, 2018 – Japan Attulus inexpectus (Logunov & Kronestedt, 1997) – Europe, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia (Europe to West Siberia), Kazakhstan, Central Asia Attulus inopinabilis (Logunov, 1992) – Ukraine, Russia (Urals), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Attulus japonicus (Kishida, 1910) – Japan Attulus karakumensis (Logunov, 1992) – Iran, Turkmenistan Attulus kazakhstanicus (Logunov, 1992) – Kazakhstan Attulus longipes (Canestrini, 1873) – Alps (France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria) Attulus mirandus (Logunov, 1993) – Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Russia (South Siberia), China Attulus monstrabilis (Logunov, 1992) – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Attulus montanus Kishida, 1910) – Japan Attulus nakamurae (Kishida, 1910) – Japan Attulus nenilini (Logunov & Wesolowska, 1993) – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Attulus nitidus (Hu, 2001) – China Attulus niveosignatus (Simon, 1880) – Nepal to China Attulus penicillatus (Simon, 1875) – Europe, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan, China, Korea, Japan Attulus penicilloides (Wesolowska, 1981) – North Korea Attulus pubescens (Fabricius, 1775) – Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Afghanistan. Introduced to USA Attulus pulchellus (Logunov, 1992) – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Attulus relictarius (Logunov, 1998) – Caucasus (Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan), Iran Attulus rivalis (Simon, 1937) – France Attulus rupicola (C. L. Koch, 1837) – Europe Attulus saevus (Dönitz & Strand, 1906) – Japan Attulus saganus (Dönitz & Strand, 1906) – Japan Attulus saltator (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1868) – Europe, Turkey, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Kazakhstan Attulus sinensis (Schenkel, 1963) – China, Korea? Attulus striatus (Emerton, 1911) – USA, Canada Attulus subadultus (Dönitz & Strand, 1906) – Japan Attulus sylvestris (Emerton, 1891) – Canada, USA Attulus talgarensis (Logunov & Wesolowska, 1993) – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Attulus tannuolana (Logunov, 1991) – Russia (South Siberia) Attulus terebratus (Clerck, 1757) – Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Kazakhstan, Mongolia Attulus vilis (Kulczyński, 1895) – Ukraine, Russia (Europe), Turkey, Caucasus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Central Asia Attulus zaisanicus (Logunov, 1998) – Kazakhstan Attulus zimmermanni Simon, 1877 – Europe, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan
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