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The previously poorly known Southeast Asian spider genus Aetana Huber, 2005 is revised. Fifteen species are newly described, and the first SEM data and a first phylogenetic analysis of the genus are presented. Four species groups are well supported, one restricted to Borneo, two restricted to the Philippines, and one ranging from the Philippines to Fiji. The cladistic analysis and field observations suggest that the ancestor of Aetana built its web close to the ground, in confined spaces among and under rocks and logs. In at least two cases, evolutionary shifts of microhabitat resulted in species being adapted to life in higher forest strata, with correlated morphological and behavioral changes (lighter coloration; longer abdomen; additional sheet in web or more strongly domed web). The following species are newly described: A. abadae Huber, sp. nov., A. baganihan Huber, sp. nov., A. banahaw Huber, sp. nov., A. kiukoki Huber, sp. nov., A. libjo Huber, sp. nov., A. loboc Huber, sp. nov., A. lozadae Huber, sp. nov., A. manansalai Huber, sp. nov., A. ocampoi Huber, sp. nov., A. paragua Huber, sp. nov. and A. pasambai Huber, sp. nov. from the Philippines; A. gaya Huber, sp. nov., A. indah Huber, sp. nov., A. lambir Huber, sp. nov. and A. poring Huber, sp. nov. from northern Borneo. The female of A. kinabalu Huber, 2005 is newly described. A potential case of female genital dimorphism is documented in A. ocampoi Huber, sp. nov.
We revise the Southeast Asian Pholcus bicornutus group in which males are characterized by a unique pair of horns on their ocular area, each of which carries at its tip a brush of hairs. In two species, the two hair brushes are ‘glued’ or ‘waxed’ together by an unidentified substance into a very consistently curved and pointed single median tip. In the other five species known, the hairs are unglued. We present a first revision of ocular modifications in Pholcidae and identify twenty supposedly independent origins. Most cases are in Pholcinae, and all but one case are limited to the male, suggesting sexual selection as the main driving force in the evolution of ocular modifications in Pholcidae. Previously, the Pholcus bicornutus group consisted of four species limited to the Philippines. We describe four new species, including three species from the Philippines (P. olangapo Huber, sp. nov.; P. kawit Huber, sp. nov.; P. baguio Huber, sp. nov.) and the first representative from outside the Philippines (P. mulu Huber, sp. nov. from Sarawak, NE Borneo) and provide new records and SEM data for three previously described species.
We revise the Panjange nigrifrons group in Borneo and document an unexpected diversity in western Sarawak forests. Five species occur within 80 km from Kuching, each species being known from its type locality only. Further species occur east until Niah, but the genus seems to be absent from Sabah. We contrast this with another pholcid genus (Aetana Huber, 2005), which is diverse in Sabah and westward until Niah, but does not seem to occur in central and western Sarawak. Five species are newly described: Panjange kapit Huber, sp. nov., Panjange kubah Huber, sp. nov., Panjange niah Huber, sp. nov., Panjange pueh Huber, sp. nov., Panjange seowi Huber, sp. nov.; Panjange tahai (Huber, 2011) comb. nov. is transferred from Pholcus.
The Southeast Asian Pholcus halabala species group is revised and re-delimited, based mainly on field observations (life color pattern, web design, position of egg-sac when carried by female, microhabitat) and ultrastructure (silk spigots, modifications of male cheliceral apophyses). The core group includes six leafdwelling species that have distinctive color patterns in life specimens (black and white or yellowish abdominal marks, dark pattern on posterior half of carapace) and build round to oval silk platforms on the undersides of leaves. Seven further species are tentatively assigned to the group pending further study. Several species originally assigned to the Pholcus halabala group are transferred to three newly proposed species groups, the Ph. krabi, Ph. buatong, and Ph. andulau groups. Nine species are newly described, four in the Ph. halabala group (Ph. khaolek Huber, sp. nov.; Ph. kuhapimuk Huber, sp. nov.; Ph. lintang Huber, sp. nov.; Ph. ubin Huber, sp. nov.); three in the Ph. krabi group (Ph. kipungit Huber, sp. nov.; Ph. krabi Huber, sp. nov.; Ph. narathiwat Huber, sp. nov.); one in the Ph. buatong group (Ph. buatong Huber, sp. nov.); and one in the Ph. andulau group (Ph. lambir Huber, sp. nov.). The females of Ph. satun Huber, 2011 and Ph. schwendingeri Huber, 2011 (both members of the buatong group) are newly described.
New leaf- and litter-dwelling species of the genus Pholcus from Southeast Asia (Araneae, Pholcidae)
(2016)
We describe eight new species of the genus Pholcus, and document their microhabitats. Four species are assigned to the previously described Pholcus ethagala group: P. tanahrata Huber sp. nov., P. uludong Huber sp. nov., and P. bukittimah Huber sp. nov. from the Malay Peninsula, and P. barisan Huber sp. nov. from Sumatra. These species are all litter-dwellers that build domed sheet webs on the undersides of large dead leaves on the ground. The other four species are assigned to newly created species groups: the P. tambunan group with two species from northern Borneo: P. tambunan Huber sp. nov. and P. bario Huber sp. nov.; and the P. domingo group with two species from the Philippines, Mindanao: P. domingo Huber sp. nov. and P. matutum Huber sp. nov. These latter four species are leafdwellers that build barely visible silk platforms tightly attached to the undersides of live leaves. The main rationale for this paper is to provide part of the taxonomic and natural history background for upcoming phylogenetic and evolutionary (microhabitat shifts) analyses.