Abstract
Species of the spider family Telemidae Fage, 1913 from East and Southeast Asia are revised. Four new genera are erected: Mekonglema Zhao & Li, gen. nov. with the type species Mekonglema bailang Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Yunnan, China), Siamlema Zhao & Li, gen. nov. with the type species Siamlema changhai Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, southern Thailand), Sundalema Zhao & Li, gen. nov. with the type species Sundalema bonjol Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Sumatra), and Zhuanlema Zhao & Li, gen. nov. with the type species Zhuanlema peteri Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, northern Laos). Eight additional new species are described: Mekonglema kaorao Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, northern Laos), M. walayaku Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Yunnan, China), M. yan Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Yunnan, China), Pinelema daguaiwan Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Guangxi, China), P. shiba Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, Guangxi, China), P. tham Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, northern Laos), Siamlema suea Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, southern Thailand), and Sundalema khaorakkiat Zhao & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, southern Thailand). Thirty species are transferred from the genus Telema Simon, 1882 to the genera Pinelema Wang & Li, 2012, Sundalemagen. nov., and Telemofila Wunderlich, 1995. Seychellia xinpingi Lin & Li, 2008 is transferred to Mekonglemagen. nov. as M. xinpingicomb. nov. Furthermore, the genus Pinelema is divided into seven species groups based on male morphological characters.
Highlights
The spider family Telemidae Fage, 1913 currently includes 85 species in ten genera (Li 2020)
The goal of this paper is to revise all Asian telemid species using combined morphological and molecular approaches, adding new materials collected from Southeast Asia and southwestern China
In this paper we constructed a molecular phylogeny of Telemidae from East and Southeast Asia for the first time, and our results have changed the taxonomic framework of Asian telemids
Summary
The spider family Telemidae Fage, 1913 currently includes 85 species in ten genera (Li 2020). Telemids are tiny spiders, whose body length ranges from 0.9 to 2.2 mm, with much longer legs relative to their body. The dispersal ability of telemids is poor, resulting in high endemism (Lin and Li 2010; Wang and Li 2010b; Zhao et al 2018a, b). Telema tenella Simon, 1882 occurs in Spain and France and is the type species of the genus Telema Simon, 1882 and the only known telemid species from Europe. Thirty-four Asian species were classified in the poorly defined genus Telema prior to the current study, and a revision of Asian Telema is necessary. The placement of Seychellia xinpingi Lin & Li, 2008 from southwestern China requires examination because the shape of the bulbal apophysis of the male differs from the generotype Seychellia wiljoi Saaristo, 1978, from Seychelles
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