The male spider has a short reproductive part called an embolus, which is missing a helper organ often found in other species, known as a secondary conductor.

Additionally, the male has a straight spike, known as an apophysis, on a part of pedipalp called the tibia.

The female, in contrast, has unique, very narrow fissure-like openings leading to its reproductive ducts.

Menemerus animatus is a species of jumping spider that was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1876 based on an example from Egypt.

[8] The vast majority of the species in Menemerines are members of the genus, with additional examples from Kima and Leptorchestes.

The spider's body is divided into two main parts: the cephalothorax, which is long and broad, and the abdomen, which is narrower and oval-shaped.

This area is covered in dense light hairs interspersed with brown bristles and small silver patches, and its underside has a yellowish hue.

The pedipalps, sensory organs near the mouth, are brown with white hairs visible on the palpal femur.

[11] A key feature of the male Menemerus animatus is its embolus, part of the reproductive system, which is short and slightly curved towards the palpal bulb.

[12] Specimens found in Algeria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia show variations in this structure, with those from Algeria having much shorter, triangular tibial apophyses, and those from Saudi Arabia featuring a longer tibial apophysis and an embolus that ends in a gentle curve.

There are also wide entrance bowls at the start of the copulatory openings in which the male deposits sperm during copulation.

[18] Distinguishing the spider from Menemerus semilimbatus requires observing the long spines on its legs.

[19] The male can be differentiated from Menemerus congoensis by its straight tibial apophysis, or spike.

[20] It can be distinguished from Menemerus rubicundus by the latter's larger, plate-shaped dorsal tibial apophysis.

[25] Menemerus spiders are found throughout Africa and Asia, and have been identified as far as Latin America.

[26] Menemerus animatus lives in an area that stretches across the Mediterranean Basin and into the Afrotropical realm.

The species was discovered by Pickard-Cambridge in Israel based on a specimen found in 1833 and a further example was collected by George and Elizabeth Peckham in the Libyan desert.

[32] Menemerus animatus generally lives in desert climates, although often near water, whether rivers or wadis.