A survey of the spider family Nesticidae (Arachnida, Araneae) in Asia and Madagascar, with the description of forty-three new species

Abstract

Forty-three new species of Nesticidae are described from China, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Madagascar, and two new junior synonyms are suggested. A new genus, Speleoticus gen. n., is described with Nesticus navicellatus Liu & Li, 2013 as the type species, and four species are transferfed from Nesticus, i.e., Speleoticus globosus (Liu & Li, 2013), comb. n., Speleoticus libo (Chen & Zhu, 2005), comb. n., Speleoticus navicellatus (Liu & Li, 2015), comb. n. and Speleoticus uenoi (Yaginuma, 1972), comb. n. The new species described in this paper belong to four genera and are: Hamus cornutus sp. n. (♂♀), Hamus kangdingensis sp. n. (♂), Hamus luzon sp. n. (♀), Hamus mangunensis sp. n. (♂), Nescina kohi sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella baiseensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella baobab sp. n. (♂), Nesticella caeca sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella chongqing sp. n. (♀), Nesticella dazhuangensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella fuliangensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella gazuida sp. n. (♀), Nesticella gongshanensis sp. n. (♀), Nesticella griswoldi sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella hongheensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella huomachongensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella jingpo sp. n. (♀), Nesticella kaohsiungensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella lisu sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella liuzhaiensis sp. n. (♀), Nesticella nandanensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella phami sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella potala sp. n. (♀), Nesticella qiaoqiensis sp. n. (♀), Nesticella qiongensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella robusta sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella rongtangensis sp. n. (♂), Nesticella sanchaheensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella sulawesi sp. n. (♀), Nesticella sumatrana sp. n. (♂), Nesticella tibetana sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella vanlang sp. n. (♀), Nesticella wanzaiensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella xiongmao sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella xixia sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella yanbeiensis sp. n. (♂♀), Nesticella yao sp. n. (♀), Nesticella zhiyuani sp. n. (♂♀), Pseudonesticus dafangensis sp. n. (♂♀), Pseudonesticus miao sp. n. (♂♀), Pseudonesticus spinosus sp. n. (♂♀), Pseudonesticus wumengensis sp. n. (♀), Pseudonesticus ziyunensis sp. n. (♂♀). Nesticella inthanoni (Lehtinen & Saaristo, 1980), syn. n. is synonymised with Nesticella mollicula (Thorell, 1898); Nesticella taiwan Tso & Yoshida, 2000, syn. n. is synonymised with Nesticella odonta (Chen, 1984). The female of Nesticella connectens Wunderlich, 1995, so far unknown, is described and recorded from Thailand. Nesticidae are reported from Madagascar for the first time. Nesticella nepalensis (Hubert, 1973) is recorded for the first time from China. Types of Nesticella odonta (Chen, 1984), Nesticella songi Chen & Zhu, 2004 and Nesticella yui Wunderlich & Song, 1995 are re-examined and photographed. The entire genus Nesticella is reviewed, and four species groups are recognised. DNA barcodes of the new species are obtained to confirm their correct identifications.

Four species of spider genus Cheiracanthium C. L. Koch, 1839 (Araneae, Eutichuridae) from Jinggang Mountains, Jiangxi Province, China

“…The Cheiracanthium fauna of China is relatively rare and poorly represented, with only 38 described species (Li and Lin 2016; World Spider Catalogue 2018), of which 14 species are known based on a single sex: for 11, only females are known, and for three, only males are known (World Spider Catalogue 2018). Additionally, illustrations of the internal structure of the epigyne are not provided in five species (World Spider Catalogue 2018).…”

Two new species of the purse-web spider genus Atypus Latreille, 1804 from Hainan Island, China (Araneae, Atypidae)

“…The family contains 52 species in three genera ( Atypus Latreille, 1804, Calommata Lucus, 1837, and Sphodros Walckenaer, 1835) around the world. Atypus includes 32 species worldwide, of which, 13 are known from China (Zhang 1985; Schwendinger 1990; Zhu et al 2006; Yin et al 2012; Li and Lin 2016; World Spider Catalog 2018). Atypus can be distinguished from the other two genera as follows: male with marginal ridges in sternum; palp with short, straight, and spike-like embolus, as well as distally enlarged and straightforward conductor; female genitalia with bulbous or pyriform receptacula and with two lateral patches of pores on genital atrium (Fig.…”

The jumping spiders from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China (Araneae, Salticidae)

“…Of 598 salticid genera and 5912 species known worldwide (World Spider Catalog 2016), 95 genera and 473 species are recorded from China, with 44 genera and 94 species recorded from Yunnan (Li and Lin 2016). The lists are far from being complete as large parts of the country are still poorly studied.…”