On species group Chira G. W. Peckham & E. G. Peckham, 1896: taxonomy and distribution updates (Araneae: Salticidae: Freyina)

Description of three new species of the jumping spider Chira Peckham & Peckham, 1896 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil, with a provisional identification key to the species of the genus

“…10H,K (Pett, Rubio & Stolar 2021), figs. 10J–L (Marta et al 2022), and figs. F-16989/90 (Metzner 2023) actually correspond to C. gounellei (Simon, 1902).…”

“…Note : This species is placed in the recently defined gounellei group by having the so-called ventral projection on the bulb in a proximo-retrolateral position and undeveloped in the ventral position (see Marta et al 2022).…”

“…The freyine genus Chira Peckham & Peckham, 1896 was revised by Galiano (1961), Edwards (1984), and Marta et al (2022) and, to date, includes 11 species. The genus is characterized by the ventral spines of tibia I in a 2-2-2 arrangement (Galiano 1961), the male palp with a conical ventral projection on the bulb and the embolus with an extensive pars pendula (in case of a bifid RTA the prongs are closely appressed and overlap), and the females with usually rounded posterior atria divided by an incipient or full septum, and anterior spherical spermathecae (Edwards 2015).…”

“…Edwards (2015) recognized two groups among the males, although, the variability in the included morphological characters, the difficult assignment of the subsequently described females to these groups, and several incertae sedis species suggest more complex relationships within the genus (see Marta et al 2022). Taxonomic problems of Chira are partly attributed to sexual chromatic differences, making it unusually difficult to match both sexes to species (Edwards 2015, Marta et al 2022).…”

“…The currently known distributional pattern of Chira species suggests that the diversity centre of the genus is situated in the Chacoan-Brazilian superregion ( sensu Rivas-Martínez et al 2011), with few records in the Tropical South Andean and Amazonian Guyanan superregions and only two widely distributed species as well occurring north of the equator (see Marta et al 2022). In the present study, we propose three new species from the Tropical South Andean and Chacoan-Brazilian superregions and provide a key to species of the genus Chira .…”