New species of smiley-faced spider Spintharus (Araneae, Theridiidae) from Brazil, and comments on unobserved diversity in South America.

ABSTRACT: Spintharus is a genus of spiders that contained only two species until 2018 when it was demonstrated that a 'widespread' species was instead composed of multiple short-range endemics. This note redescribes Spintharus gracilis Keyserling and describes a new species of Spintharus (Araneae, Theridiidae), S. leverger sp. nov., both based on specimens from Brazil. We also examine specimens from several additional localities in Brazil displaying variation consistent with patterns previously found within the Caribbean: geographically isolated and unique localities may contain independent species lineages. Given the limited number of specimens, profuse variation, and lack of DNA data from museum specimens, it is challenging to gauge the number of species in the o

SUBMITTER: LeMay GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7052027 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature