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Nine new species of long-legs spiders Belisana Thorell 1898 (Araneae, Pholcidae) from karst caves

Nine new species of long-legs spiders Belisana Thorell 1898 (Araneae, Pholcidae) from karst caves

NEWS - Nine new long-legs spiders species were described from karst caves in Guizhou, southwest China: Belisana bijie, Belisana liupanshui, Belisana majiang, Belisana nayong, Belisana qixingguan, Belisana xiuwen, Belisana yongcong, Belisana zhouxi and Belisana zunyi, while Belisana zhangi was reported for the first time from the region.

Long-legs spiders Belisana Thorell 1898 is the second largest genus in the Pholcidae C.L. Koch 1850, containing 160 species. They inhabit a variety of microhabitats such as under rocks, in caves, under leaves, among leaf litter and among foliage in the canopy.

These spiders are distributed in southern China, Indo-Malaya and Australasia. Currently, 46% of the species (74 species) are documented from southern China, with Yunnan having the highest concentration of species with 42% (31 species). Guangxi and Hainan, which have the second and third highest species diversity of Belisana, recorded only 11 and 10 species, respectively.

Many surveys targeting pholcid spiders in China have resulted in the discovery and reporting of a large number of new species. However, these efforts have mainly focused on Pholcus Walckenaer 1805, which is found in epigean environments in northern and central China with relatively few reports of Belisana from hypogean environments in southern China.

Guizhou is famous for its abundant karst caves. The extreme environment is a major factor in maintaining endemism in caves. However, only 8 endemic Belisana species have been recorded from Guizhou. Among these species, 7 species were collected from caves. Now researchers report 9 new species discovered in karst caves.

The specific name refers to the type locality, Bijie long-legs spider for B. bijie, Liupanshui long-legs spider (B. liupanshui), Majiang long-legs spider (B. majiang), Nayong long-legs spider (B. nayong), Qixingguan long-legs spider (B. qixingguan), Xiuwen long-legs spider (B. xiuwen), Yongcong long-legs spider (B. yongcong), Zhouxi long-legs spider (B. zhouxi) and Zunyi long-legs spider (B. zunyi).

Belisana is highly diverse, including 9 new species and now comprises 83 species in southern China, representing 49% of the world's total species. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam rank second, third and fourth in Belisana species diversity respectively, but these countries have recorded only 19, 18 and 17 species.

Other countries, such as Laos (8 species), Malaysia (8 species) and Sri Lanka (6 species) have recorded fewer than 10 species. This high level of activity in China contrasts with the sporadic coverage in Southeast Asia, where most research has been conducted and where some countries lack indigenous expertise in the area.

Given that Southeast Asia encompasses the Indo-Burma and Sundaland biodiversity regions, the researchers expect that further exploration will reveal additional Belisana species diversity that has yet to be discovered.

Original research

Wang B, Li J, Li S, Yao Z (2024). Nine new spider species of Belisana Thorell, 1898 (Araneae, Pholcidae) from karst caves, with a list of species of the genus from Guizhou, southwestern China. ZooKeys 1216: 265-302, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1216.132561

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