Abstract
We describe several new species of the previously monotypic Panjange lanthana species group from the Philippines and document their extraordinary morphology. Some species show strong male genital asymmetry, a phenomenon that seems to be exceedingly rare in spiders. Males of most species have eye stalks, and in two species these eye stalks are among the longest ever recorded in spiders. Some species show a tendency for male genital (pedipalp) elongation, and one species has the longest and thinnest palps ever recorded in Pholcidae. A cladistic analysis is performed including all described and several undescribed species of Panjange (except for one “problem species”), supporting the lanthana group and its close relationship with members of the possibly paraphyletic cavicola group. The following eight new species are described: Panjange malagos Huber sp. nov.; Pa. casaroro Huber sp. nov.; Pa. camiguin Huber sp. nov.; Pa. hamiguitan Huber sp. nov.; Pa. isarog Huber sp. nov.; Pa. dinagat Huber sp. nov.; Pa. marilog Huber sp. nov.; Pa. bukidnon Huber sp. nov.
Highlights
Panjange Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman, 1983 spiders are leaf-dwelling pholcids widely distributed in insular Southeast Asia, from Borneo and the Philippines to northern Australia (Huber 2011)
Males of most species have eye stalks, sometimes with long pointed processes; males of some species have unusually elongated pedipalps, which in spiders function as copulatory organs; and females of some species have external portions of their genitalia strongly folded and extensible (Huber 2011)
The genus has long been divided into three species groups: the nigrifrons group on Borneo, the cavicola group ranging from Sulawesi to northern Australia, and the lanthana group in the Philippines (Deeleman-Reinhold & Platnick 1986; Huber 2011)
Summary
Panjange Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman, 1983 spiders are leaf-dwelling pholcids widely distributed in insular Southeast Asia, from Borneo and the Philippines to northern Australia (Huber 2011) They exhibit some of the most extraordinary morphology among Pholcidae. The genus has long been divided into three species groups: the nigrifrons group on Borneo, the cavicola group ranging from Sulawesi to northern Australia, and the lanthana group in the Philippines (Deeleman-Reinhold & Platnick 1986; Huber 2011). We describe several new species that appear closely related to Pa. lanthana, and that show some very unique morphological features, among Pholcidae but among spiders in general: genital asymmetry, exaggerated eye stalks, and extreme palpal elongation
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