Dares murudensis

The species is the smallest of the genus Dares. The females are only 26 to 35 millimetres (1.0 to 1.4 in) long. The males remain even smaller with about 25 to 30 millimetres (0.98 to 1.18 in) length. Apart from the smaller size, Dares murdensis shows the genus-typical habitus. The females have a raised, square area on the head on which there are differently pronounced front, central and rear occipital tubercle. The lateral occipital tubercles can also be found. The number of antennae segments of females varies between 22 (in the holotype) and 23 (in all other animals examined so far), where the basal segment (scapus) and the second segment (pedicellus) each have a tooth on the outer edge. The pronotum, which widens slightly towards the rear, has a transverse groove which is more distinctive than that of Dares multispinosus. On the surface are the anterior and posterior medial tubercles of the pronotum and smaller pre- and post-median tubercles. They are less pronounced than in Dares ulula, but more clearly than in Dares mjobergi. The mesonotum shows two large anterior marginal tubercles and two central posterior hillocks. The mesopleura have tubercles and the mesosternum two rounded tubercles. The metanotum shows an indistinct longitudinal edge, a small rear hill with an indistinct tubercle at the top. The rough metapleures have large tubercles over the coxae. …

Dares murudensis is known from various localities in northern Borneo. The female on which the first description is based was found on Mount Murud, the highest mountain in Sarawak, at an altitude of 2,134 to 2,195 metres (7,001 to 7,201 ft). Only about 20 kilometers south is with Bario, a village community in the Kelabit Highlands is another origin. Here the species was detected at an altitude about 900 metres (3,000 ft). The third origin is the Crocker Range Mountains, which separate the east from the west coast of Sabah. The species was found there in 2006 near Keningau and later also near Tambunan. Based on the findings so far, there are indications that the animals living in higher altitudes remain smaller than those from lower ones.