New data on linyphiid spiders of Nepal (Arachnida: Araneae), with the description of a new genus and two species

Abstract

A new genus, Himalafurca gen. nov., with two new species, Himalafurca martensi sp. nov., the type species, and H. schawalleri sp. nov., are described from the Nepal Himalayas. The genus resembles KetambeaMillidge & Russell-Smith, 1992 and some other genera of unclear subfamily affiliation, but strongly differs by a few important structural features in the palp. All records of Collinsia japonica (Oi, 1964) from Nepal actually refer to Halorates crassipalpis (Caporiacco, 1935) comb. nov., here transferred from Collinsia. New localities for 21 species known from Nepal are given and six additional species are reported for the fauna of Nepal for the first time: Agyneta pakistanica Tanasevitch, 2011, Bathyphantes paracymbialis Tanasevitch, 2014a, Gnathonarium gibberumOi, 1960, Nematogmus dentimanusSimon, 1886, Tiso aestivus (L. Koch, 1872) and T. indianus Tanasevitch, 2011. All mentioned species, except the last one, are also new to the fauna of the Himalayas. Taking into account the new data, the spider fauna of Nepal is currently known to include at least 107 linyphiid species, 90% of which presently can be considered as Himalayan endemics.