Spartaeus ellipticus is a species of jumping spider

Jumping spider

The jumping spider family contains more than 500 described genera and about 5,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species. Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among invertebrates and use it in courtship, hunting and navigation...

 found only in Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. It has a total length (excluding legs) of nearly 6 mm. The carapace

Carapace

A carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...

 is dark brown with paler markings towards the rear and a black margin. The whole carapace is densely covered with white hair. The legs are brown with many large, prominent spines. The oval abdomen

Abdomen

In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...

 is greyish brown marked overall with small dark patches.

This species is most similar to Spartaea thailandica but is much smaller with diagnostic differences in the configuration of spines on the first pair of legs and in the genitalia.