Skip to main content

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

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Tiang fern (Cyathea contaminans)

Paku tiang or pole fern or tiang fern ( Cyathea contaminans ) is a plant species in Cyatheaceae, has a height of up to 12 m, a single stem and the old part shows traces of leaves, the basal part is thickened by adventitious roots and grows mixed with other species. C. contaminans has stipe for 100 cm long, gloucous, purplish to the base, very thorny, when young has scales on all parts, up to 45x3 mm in size, pale brown, very thin and setiferous. The main rachis is pale, prickly, scaly as a stipe but then glabrescent. Pinnae has the largest size of 60 cm and the lowest decreases with stems up to 10 cm. Pinnules have a size of 150x30 mm or smaller with 1-2 pairs of basal segments more or not at all, the rest of the pine curved almost to the rib. Costules have a size of 4-5 mm. Common veins are 12 pairs. The lamina segment is hard, rough on the bottom and fibrous edges. Sori is exindusiate, near costule and pale paraphrase is no more than sporangia. The scales and hair on the pi...
Read more

Wild durian (Cullenia exarillata)

Wild durian ( Cullenia exarillata ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae, a tall tree with smooth, greyish-white bark, peeling on older trees, a straight trunk, horizontal branches and often with a series of knob-like tubercles for flower and fruit attachment. C. exarillata has young branches and the underside of the leaves is covered with golden brown peltate or shield-like scales. The leaves are single, alternate, glabrous, glossy green on the upper side and covered with silvery or orange peltate scales on the underside. Hermaphroditic flowers are tubular and also covered with golden brown scales, 4-5 cm long and cream or reddish brown in color. Flowers have no petals, formed of tubular bracteoles and tubular calyxes, 5-lobed. Fruit is round, 10-13 cm in diameter, covered with thorns and clustered along the branches. Many seeds, reddish brown, 4-5 cm long and 2-3 cm wide. The seeds are enclosed by a fleshy, whitish aril. The fruit splits open when ripe and dries to release the s...
Read more

Black potato (Coleus rotundifolius)

Black potato ( Coleus rotundifolius ) is a species of plant in Lamiaceae, herbaceous, fibrous roots and tubers, erect and slightly creeping stems, quadrangular, thick, and slightly odorous. Single leaves, thick, membranous, opposite and alternate. Leaves are oval, dark green and shiny on the upper side, bright green on the lower side. Up to 5 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, slightly hairy and pinnate leaf veins. Leaf stalks up to 4 cm long. Small, purple flowers. Star-shaped petals, lip-shaped crown, dark to light purple with a slightly curved tube shape. Flowering from February-August. Small tubers, brown and white flesh and tuber length 2-4 cm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Nepetoideae Tribe: Ocimeae Subtribe: Plectranthinae Genus: Coleus Species: Coleus rotundifolius
Read more