A new genus of ground and litter-dwelling pholcine spiders from Sarawak (Araneae, Pholcidae)

  • Bernhard A. Huber Alexander Koenig Research Museum of Zoology, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2016.186
Keywords: Borneo, Sarawak, endemism, taxonomy, Pholcidae

Abstract

Two small, ground and litter-dwelling pholcid species from northern Borneo are described as representatives of a new genus, Hantu gen. nov.: H. kapit gen. et sp. nov. and H. niah gen. et sp. nov. Previous cladistic analyses suggested a closer relationship with the genera Savarna Huber, 2005 and Khorata Huber, 2005 (mainland Southeast Asia) than with the geographically closer genus Aetana Huber, 2005 (Borneo and Philippines to Fiji). Since the two species do not share any of the synapomorphies of Khorata and Savarna while having several synapomorphies on their own (ventral apophysis on male palpal coxa; male palpal trochanter apophysis with small teeth or scales; spines on male femora 1; high density of vertical hairs on male femora; presence of scape on epigynum), they are here proposed as representing a new genus.

References

Brown B.V. 1993. A further chemical alternative to critical-point-drying for preparing small (or large) flies. Fly Times 11: 10.

Dimitrov D., Astrin J.J. & Huber B.A. 2013. Pholcid spider molecular systematics revisited, with new insights into the biogeography and the evolution of the group. Cladistics 29: 132–146. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2012.00419.x

Huber B.A. 2005a. High species diversity, male-female coevolution, and metaphyly in Southeast Asian pholcid spiders: the case of Belisana Thorell 1898 (Araneae, Pholcidae). Zoologica 155: 1–126.

Huber B.A. 2005b. Revision of the genus Spermophora Hentz in Southeast Asia and on the Pacific Islands, with descriptions of three new genera (Araneae: Pholcidae). Zoologische Mededelingen 79-2 (4): 61–172.

Huber B.A. 2007. Two new genera of small, six-eyed pholcid spiders from West Africa, and first record of Spermophorides for mainland Africa (Araneae: Pholcidae). Zootaxa 1635: 23–43.

Huber B.A. 2011. Revision and cladistic analysis of Pholcus and closely related taxa (Araneae, Pholcidae). Bonner zoologische Monographien 58: 1–509.

Huber B.A. 2013. Revision and cladistic analysis of the Guineo-Congolian spider genus Smeringopina Kraus (Araneae, Pholcidae). Zootaxa 3713: 1–160. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3713.1.1

Huber B.A. 2015. Small scale endemism in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest: 14 new species of Mesabolivar (Araneae, Pholcidae), each known from a single locality. Zootaxa 3942: 1–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3942.1.1

Huber B.A. & Dimitrov D. 2014. Slow genital and genetic but rapid non-genital and ecological differentiation in a pair of spider species (Araneae, Pholcidae). Zoologischer Anzeiger 253: 394–403. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2014.04.001

Huber B.A., Fischer N. & Astrin J.J. 2010. High level of endemism in Haiti’s last remaining forests: a revision of Modisimus (Araneae: Pholcidae) on Hispaniola, using morphology and molecules. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 244–299. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00559.x

Huber B.A. & Fleckenstein N. 2008. Comb-hairs on the fourth tarsi in pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae). Journal of Arachnology 36: 232–240. http://dx.doi.org/10.1636/CSh07-71.1

Huber B.A., Nuñeza O.M. & Leh Moi Ung C. 2015a. Revision, phylogeny, and microhabitat shifts in the Southeast Asian spider genus Aetana (Araneae, Pholcidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 162: 1–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2015.162

Huber B.A., Petcharad B. & Bumrungsri S. 2015b. Revision of the enigmatic Southeast Asian spider genus Savarna (Araneae, Pholcidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 160: 1–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2015.160

Huber B.A., Rheims C.A. & Brescovit A.D. 2005. Two new species of litter-dwelling Metagonia spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae) document both rapid and slow genital evolution. Acta Zoologica 86: 33–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0001-7272.2005.00184.x

Published
2016-04-01
How to Cite
Huber, B. A. (2016). A new genus of ground and litter-dwelling pholcine spiders from Sarawak (Araneae, Pholcidae). European Journal of Taxonomy, (186). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2016.186
Issue
No. 186 (2016): A new genus of ground and litter-dwelling pholcine spiders from Sarawak (Araneae, Pholcidae)
Section
Zoology
Copyright (c) 2016 Bernhard A. Huber

Creative Commons Copyright Notices

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are NOT ALLOWED TO post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to taxonomic issues.