Abstract
The Oriental jumping spider genus Flacillula Strand, 1932 has remained taxonomically un-revised and has never been subjected to phylogenetic evaluation. Due to its ambiguous circumscription, several species not sister to its type species were subsequently placed in it, rendering the genus a “holdall.” This study is designed to investigate the monophyly of the genus, its placement within the subtribe Simaethina Simon, 1903, and to review its composition. Using two target genes (28S, COI), we provide the first hypothesis on the internal phylogenetic structure of the genus and its placement within Simaethina. Additionally, we describe seven new species: Flacillula dothalugala sp. nov., Flacillula ellaensis sp. nov., Flacillula henryi sp. nov., Flacillula hodgsoni sp. nov., Flacillula johnstoni sp. nov., Flacillula naipauli sp. nov., and Flacillula piyasenai sp. nov. Further, the following new combinations are proposed: Iona minuta (Berland, 1929) comb. nov. and Iona nitens (Berry, Beatty & Prószyński, 1997) comb. nov. The newly described species might be endangered due to their small population size and restricted distribution in high-altitude cloud forest.
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