Tip of the iceberg: species diversity of Pholcus spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae) in the Changbai Mountains, Northeast China.

ABSTRACT: Despite 250 years of taxonomic classification and over 1.2 million species already catalogued, known species diversity is only a small part of true species diversity on Earth, and thus, the known species are only the tip of iceberg. Here, we investigated the genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 of the family Pholcidae C. L. Koch, 1850 in the Changbai Mountains, Northeast China, which provides an excellent case of high species diversity. Previously, only 14 endemic Pholcus spiders, all belonging to the P. phungiformes species group, and two introduced species P. manueli Gertsch, 1937 and P. zichyi Kulczyński, 1901 from the P. crypticolens species group, have been recorded from this area. Our study confirmed 11 new species of the P. phungiformes spe

SUBMITTER: Yao ZY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8175958 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature