Shuqiang Li

• Dr. rer. nat.
• Principal Investigator at Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Evolutionary biology has long been concerned with how changing environments affect and drive the spatiotemporal development of organisms. Coelotine spiders (Agelenidae: Coelotinae) are common species in the temperate and subtropical areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Their long evolutionary history and the extremely imbalanced distribution of specie...

Current theory predicts that a shift to a new habitat would increase the rate of diversification, while as lineages evolve into multiple species, intensified competition would decrease the rate of diversification. We used Holarctic amphipods of the genus Gammarus to test this hypothesis. We sequenced four genes (5,088 bp) for 289 samples representi...

Stedocys spitting spiders (Araneae: Scytodidae) inhabit subterranean environments and have poor dispersal abilities. The Cenozoic Indian–Eurasian collision affected the regional biota of this genus, which occurs in parts of Indochina. Phylogeographical pattern of Stedocys based on multigene DNA sequence datasets reveals how tectonic history drove f...

The dispersal of modern humans from their African origins to the rest of the occupied world is a topic of lively debate centering principally on single versus multiple dispersals. The Mediterranean recluse spider Loxosceles rufescens, a significant pest, has gained much of its current distribution through commensalism with humans. Therefore, the ma...

The spiders of the Pholcus phungiformes species group in China are distributed across the Lüliang Mountains and the Yanshan-Taihang Mountains in northern China, and the Changbai Mountains, which border northeastern China and North Korea. This study presents the first collection of the P. phungiformes species group from mountainous regions situated...

Four species of the genus Trilacuna Tong & Li, 2007 from Xizang, China are recognized, including three new species and one newly recorded species: T. bangla Grismado & Ramírez, 2014, T. mainling Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), T. metok Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀) and T. zayu Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀). Descriptions, diagnoses and photomicroscopy images are pr...

One of the most profound ancient sea-land changes on an immense geographic framework took place in a series of crucial tectonic events of the ancient Neo-Tethyan region: from the orogenesis of the Tibetan Plateau to the westward retreat of the Neo-Tethyan Ocean culminating in the eventual closure of the ocean. These changes induced the diversificat...

Six new genera, Pengaraneus gen. nov., Songaraneus gen. nov., Tangaraneus gen. nov., Wangaraneus gen. nov., Yinaraneus gen. nov. and Zhuaraneus gen. nov., and twenty species, including sixteen new, of the family Araneidae from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, south-west China are described: Cyclosa anjing sp. nov. (♂♀), C. daodai sp. nov. (♂♀), C. longquan s...

Twenty-one new species of jumping spiders from five provinces of South China are described: Cheliceroides jinxinisp. nov. (♂), Dendroicius qiongsp. nov. (♂♀), Icius deergongsp. nov. (♂♀), Irura qiuhangisp. nov. (♂♀), I. yarlungzangbosp. nov. (♂♀), Mintonia shiwandashansp. nov. (♂), Myrmarachne kuansp. nov. (♂♀), Nandicius xiefengisp. nov. (♂♀), Pan...

Relative to its size, tropical Asia is likely to be the richest region in terms of biodiversity. However, the factors of species diversity formation and maintenance in Southeast (SE) Asia and neighboring regions remain poorly understood. Here we infer the evolutionary relationships within psilodercid spiders by incorporating fossil information into...

This editorial celebrates the launch of the journal Natural History Collections and Museomics and outlines its primary goals: to serve as a platform for exploring the roles and functions of natural history museums, addressing their opportunities and challenges, and investigating the applications of the scientific collections they curate. The collec...

The present volume of Fauna Sinica deals with the systematics of Chinese freshwater Amphipoda. The first part deals with history of freshwater amphipod research, morphology, systematics, biology and ecology, geographical distribution, economical importance, and materials and methods. The second part is a detailed study of 100 species belonging to t...

Three wolf spiders (Lycosidae) from Northern Vietnam are described and illustrated, two of them being new species: Allotrochosina serpentina Wang & Li sp. nov. (♂♀) and Sinartoria hamata Wang & Li sp. nov. (♂). The female of Arctosa tangguoi Wang, Li & Zhang, 2021 is described for the first time. Detailed descriptions, diagnoses, photographs, and d...

Species of the spider genus Belisana Thorell, 1898 exhibit high diversity in Guizhou, southwestern China. Previously, only eight species of Belisana were recorded in Guizhou. In this study, nine new species are described from karst caves: Belisana bijie Wang, S. Li & Yao, sp. nov., B. liupanshui Wang, S. Li & Yao, sp. nov., B. majiang Wang, S. Li &...

Three new species of the genus Belisana Thorell, 1898 are described from karst caves in Guangxi, China: Belisana langping Zhang, Li & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), B. lingui Zhang, Li & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), and B. tianyang Zhang, Li & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀). In addition, a list of all Belisana species from Guangxi is also provided.

Four new species of the genus Camptoscaphiella Caporiacco, 1934 are described from Xizang, China, i.e., C. metok Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂), C. shannan Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), C. trifoliata Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀) and C. zayu Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀). Morphological descriptions, photographic illustrations and a distribution map of the four new spec...

Background The genus Khorata Huber, 2005 contains 51 species. It is distributed in the Indo-Malayan Region. Nine species have been recorded from Vietnam. New information Khorata ninhbinh sp. nov. is described as a new species from Vietnam. In addition, a list of all Khorata species from Vietnam is also provided.

A new species of the genus Bannana Tong & Li, 2015 and a new species of the genus Trilacuna Tong & Li, 2007 are recorded from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province: Bannana zhengguoi Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀) and Trilacuna aoxian Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀). An identification key to species of the genus Bannana from Xishuangbanna is provided. Detailed diagnos...

Ten new species of the spider family Theridiidae Sundevall, 1833 from China and Vietnam are described: Chrysso shantinggui sp. nov. (♂♀), Gushangzao andaoquan sp. nov. (♂), Moneta oupeng sp. nov. (♂♀), Phycosoma yanshun sp. nov. (♂♀), Spinembolia gaofani sp. nov. (♀), S. jiangjing sp. nov. (♂♀), S. lingzhen sp. nov. (♂♀), Stemmops dengfei sp. nov....

Background: Venom glands play a key role in the predation and defense strategies of almost all spider groups. However, the spider family Uloboridae lacks venom glands and has evolved an adaptive strategy: They excessively wrap their prey directly with spider silk instead of paralyzing it first with toxins. This shift of survival strategy is very fa...

Background Only two Otacilia Thorell, 1897 species with troglobitic characteristics have been recorded from Laos and no records of troglobitic Otacilia species from China. New information A new troglobitic species is reported from Guangxi, China: Otacilia khezu Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀). Photos and morphological descriptions of the new species are p...

Five new species of the genus Bifurcia are described: B. kangdingsp. nov. (♂♀), B. labahesp. nov. (♂), B. ludingsp. nov. (♂♀), B. shuangqiaosp. nov. (♂♀), and B. xiaojinsp. nov. (♂♀) from western Sichuan, China. A distribution map of the species and illustrations of genital characters are provided in this paper.

In this study, eight new species are described from the subtropical parts of Yunnan Province in southwestern China: Belisana honghe Zhang, Li & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), B. jiuxiang Zhang, Li & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), B. lincang Zhang, Li & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), B. luxi Zhang, Li & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), B. tengchong Zhang, Li & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), B. tongi Zhang...

Two new species of the genus Sarothrogammarus Martynov, 1935 are described and illustrated from Pakistan. Sarothrogammarus miandamensis sp. nov. is characterized by the oval eyes; pereopod III having filtrative setae on merus, carpus and propodus; uropod III terminal article distinct and inner ramus scale-shaped; and having robust setae and slender...

Five species of the genus Opopaea Simon, 1892 from southern China are recognised, including four new species: Opopaea mangun Tong & Li, sp. nov., Opopaea taibao Tong & Yang, sp. nov., Opopaea wenshan Tong & Zhang, sp. nov. and Opopaea yuhuang Tong & Li, sp. nov. from Yunnan and one newly-recorded species: Opopaea foveolata Roewer, 1963 from Hainan....

Five new species and three known species of the genus Orchestina Simon, 1882 are recorded from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province: O. clavulata Tong & Li, 2011 (♂), O. colubrina Liu, Henrard & Xu, 2019 (♂♀), O. concava Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂), O. menglun Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂), O. subclavulata Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂), O. truncatula Tong & Li, 2011 (♂♀...

Biogeography is a scientific field dedicated to the investigation of the origins and distribution patterns of organisms, as well as predicting future alterations in their geographical distributions (Cox & Moore, 2005). However, the majority of conclusions drawn within the field of biogeography are hypothetical. Rigorous testing of these biogeograph...

It is not difficult to imagine humankind as stewards and custodians of the vast, complex, unique, and awe-inspiring property called Planet Earth. We are duty-bound to take good care of this priceless property, for our own well-being, and for the well-being of our future generations. We take stock of the value of our property by understanding its fr...

Ten new species of jumping spiders are described from China, including Attulus jimani sp. nov. (♂♀) from Yunnan, Colaxes cibagou sp. nov. (♂♀), Epeus pengi sp. nov. (♂♀), Evarcha zayu sp. nov. (♂♀), Icius zang sp. nov. (♂♀), Pancorius nyingchi sp. nov. (♂♀), Stertinius liqingae sp. nov. (♂♀), and Synagelides medog sp. nov. (♀) from Xizang, S. tian...

Four new genera in three spider families are reported, namely Langlibaitiao Lin & Li, gen. nov., of Dictynidae O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871, with Lathys inaffecta Li, 2017 (♂♀, China: Guangxi) as the type species; Huoyanluo Lin & Li, gen. nov., of Macrobunidae Petrunkevitch, 1928, with Huoyanluo ruanxiaoqi Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂, China: Yunnan) as the...

The inventory of Asian spiders hit 17,095 species by the end of 2023, spanning across 1,696 genera and 92 families. This amounts to approximately 34% of the tally of global spider diversity. A more robust development in the study of spider taxonomy in Asia can be hindered by the outmoded notion of taxonomy as a “descriptive science”, with its negat...

In this paper, two new species of the genus Amaurobius C. L. Koch, 1837 of the family Amaurobiidae Thorell, 1869 are reported from Sichuan Province, China: A. danba Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀) and A. yaan Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀). Photos and morphological descriptions of the new species are presented; the type specimens of the new species are deposited...

We examined the global biogeography of the Scytodes thoracica group of spitting spiders based on 23 years of sampling at the species level (61 species in the thoracica group and 84 species of Scytodes) using DNA data from six loci. Our results indicated that the thoracica group initially dispersed from Southeast Asia to East Africa between 46.5 and...

Four new genera and 11 new species of Hahniidae Bertkau, 1878 are described. The new genera are Goblinia Lin & Li, gen. nov., with the type species G. tiane Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀) from Guangxi, China; Myahnia Lin & Li, gen. nov., with the type species M. kanpetlet Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀) from Chin, Myanmar; Troglohnia Lin & Li, gen. nov., with the...

Background The genus Wuliphantes Irfan, Wang & Zhang, 2023 is a small genus in the family Linyphiidae Blackwall, 1859, with only three species: W.guanshan (Irfan, Wang & Zhang, 2022), W.tongluensis (Chen & Song, 1988) and W.trigyrus Irfan, Wang & Zhang, 2023, all distributed in China. New information A new species: Wuliphantesyaan sp. nov. from Si...

Ten jumping spider species published by Song and Chai in 1992 are restudied. The following new synonyms are proposed: Chinattus emeiensis (Peng & Xie, 1995) syn. nov. [=C. undulatus (Song & Chai, 1992)], Evarcha paralbaria Song & Chai, 1992 syn. nov. (= E. coreana Seo, 1988), Ptocasius nanyuensis (Xie & Peng, 1995) syn. nov. [=P. badongensis (Song...

Vappolotes Zhao & Li, 2019 is one of the troglophilous genera, with five known species. The previous description of V. tianjiayu from China was based solely on female specimens collected from caves in the Wuling Mountains in southern China without any males. The present study, deals with the first record of the male of V. tianjiayu from its type lo...

Aim Climate change threatens freshwater faunal diversity. To prioritize areas for conservation, patterns in the distribution of species must be understood. We apply genetic analysis and species distribution models to identify patterns in the distribution of freshwater amphipods around Xinjiang, China, and project the impact of climate change on end...

In this paper, two new Mallinella spiders of the family Zodariidae Thorell, 1881 are reported from Hainan Island, China: M. ledong sp. nov. (♂♀) and M. limushan sp. nov. (♂♀). Complete description for each species are provided, along with high quality illustrations and the distribution map of the records.

The spider genus Liphistius Schiødte, 1849 contains 69 species, endemic to Indochina and Southeast Asia. Only one species is currently known from the Chinese province of Yunnan: Liphistius nabang Yu, Zhang & Zhang, 2021. A new species, Liphistius liz Lin & Li, sp. nov., is described from Yunnan, China, on the basis of both sexes. Photos and a morph...

Spiders are renowned for their efcient capture of fying insects using intricate aerial webs. How the spider nervous systems evolved to cope with this specialized hunting strategy and various environmental clues in an aerial space remains unknown. Here we report a brain-cell atlas of >30,000 single-cell transcriptomes from a web-building spider...

Four new species of the family Liocranidae are described from China and Vietnam. The new genus Sinocranum gen. nov., is erected to accommodate S. menghai sp. nov. (♂♀) from China. Further new species described include Koppe ninger sp. nov. (♀) from China , Xantharia baizilongi sp. nov. (♂♀) from China and X. cucphuong sp. nov. (♂) from Vietnam. In...

Three new species belonging to the kinabaluensis group of the trachelid genus Utivarachna Kishida, 1940 are reported from China and Vietnam: U. linyejiei sp. nov. (♂♀), U. tamdao sp. nov. (♂♀), and U. zhengguoi sp. nov. (♂♀). Type specimens are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) in Beijing, China and the Viet...

Species of the spider genus Belisana Thorell, 1898 exhibit high diversity in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. Currently, 14 species have been recorded. In this study, three additional new species of Belisana from Xishuangbanna are described and illustrated based on specimens from the collection of Shenyang Normal University in China. They are: Belisan...

Photographs of the type specimens of nine spider species described by Barrion et al. (2013) from Hainan Island, China, considered as valid taxa in this study, are provided. Among them, three new combinations are proposed: Clubiona pandalira (Barrion-Dupo, Barrion & Heong, 2013) comb. nov. (ex Nusatidia Deeleman-Reinhold, 2001); Dictis edwardsi (Bar...

Three new zodariid spiders from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in Yun-nan, China are described. A new species of the genus Euryeidon Dankittipakul & Jocqué, 2004, E. dian sp. nov. (♂♀), and two new species of the genus Mallinella Strand, 1906, M. banna sp. nov. (♂) and M. mengla sp. nov. (♂), are described. Euryeidon is reported for th...

Species of the family Gnaphosidae Banks, 1892 were surveyed in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, and nine species were found including two new genera and seven new species. The new monotypic genera are Meizhelan gen. nov. , with the type species Meizhelan muhong sp. nov. (♂♀) and Yuqilin gen. nov. , with the type species Y. lujunyi sp. nov....

Song & Chai (1992) reported 13 new species of Salticidae Blackwall, 1841 from the Wuling Mountains in China, of which the original descriptions and the figures were unclear due to poor printing quality. These type specimens have never been re-examined, although further species descriptions from this area have occured in the past years (WSC 2023). R...

This research involved the study of 31 species from the spider family Mysmenidae Petrunkevitch, 1928, found in the Gaoligong Mountains of China, including one new genus and 13 new species. Our results suggested that regression of East Tethys contributed to the appearance of a center of biodiversity.

The theridiid spider genus Stemmops O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894 includes 27 extant species and is distributed in America (23 spp.) and Asia (4 spp.). Three species, S. forcipus Zhu, 1998 (♂♀), S. nigrabdomenus Zhu, 1998 (♂) and S. nipponicus Yaginuma, 1969 (♂♀), are currently known from China. Two new species of Stemmops are described from China: S....

Marine-terrestrial transition represents an important aspect of organismal evolution that requires numerous morphological and genetic innovations and has been hypothesized to be caused by geological changes. We used talitrid crustaceans with marine-coastal-montane extant species at a global scale to investigate the marine origination and terrestria...

The spider genus Stiphropus Gerstaecker, 1873 currently includes 21 extant species that are distributed in Africa (12) and Asia (9). Four species, S. falciformus Yang, Zhu & Song, 2006, S. myrmecophilus Huang & Lin, 2020, S. ocellatus Thorell, 1887 and S. soureni Sen, 1964, are currently known from China. The mismatched female of S. falciformus is...

Baiyuerius gen. nov., a new genus of the subfamily Coelotinae F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1893 is described, including five new species: B. daxi sp. nov. (♀), B. pindong sp. nov. (♂), B. tamdao sp. nov. (♀), B. zhuping sp. nov. (♂) and B. zuojiang sp. nov. (♂♀), from southern China and northern Vietnam. Our molecular phylogenetic analyses support Baiy...

Six species of the family Corinnidae Karsch, 1880 are described from China and Vietnam. Fengzhen gen. nov. is erected to accommodate F. mengla sp. nov. (♂♀) from China; Peng gen. nov. is erected to accommodate P. birmanicus (Thorell, 1897), comb. nov., P. borneensis (Yamasaki, 2017), comb. nov. and P. taprobanicus (Simon, 1897), comb. nov., transfe...

Three new species of spiders belonging to the genera Oedignatha Thorell, 1881 and Paratus Simon, 1898 of the family Liocranidae Simon, 1897 are described from China and Nepal: Oedignatha shaanxi sp. nov. (female only; Shaanxi, China), Paratus bagmati sp. nov. (male only; Bagmati, Nepal), and P. ledong sp. nov. (both sexes; Hainan, China). In additi...

Five new species of the spider family Araneidae Clerck, 1757 from Vietnam are described: Araneus euge-nei sp. nov. (♂♀), A. ethani sp. nov. (♀), A. liami sp. nov. (♂♀), Hypsosinga ryani sp. nov. (♂♀), and H. zioni sp. nov. (♀). Diagnostic photographs of the habitus and copulatory organs are provided. Types of the new species are deposited in the In...

A new genus of the subfamily Coelotinae F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1893, Yunguirius gen. nov. is described, comprising two new species and three species previously described in Draconarius Ovtchinnikov, 1999, all from southwest China: Y. duoge sp. nov. (♀), Y. xiangding sp. nov. (♀), Y. ornatus (Wang, Yin, Peng & Xie, 1990) comb. nov. (♂♀) (the type...

Three new species of Vappolotes Zhao & Li, 2019 (Araneae: Agelenidae) are described from hunan and Sichuan provinces, China: V. longshan sp. n. (♀♂), V. tianjiayu sp. n. (♀), and V. hei sp. n. (♀♂). The diagnostic characters of this genus are amended based on the newly obtained data. Photographs of habitus and copulatory organs, as well as their di...

Background: Spiders comprise a hyperdiverse lineage of predators with venom systems, yet the origin of functionally novel spider venom glands remains unclear. Previous studies have hypothesized that spider venom glands originated from salivary glands or evolved from silk-producing glands present in early chelicerates. However, there is insufficient...

The spider genus Asceua Thorell, 1887 contains 34 species, almost entirely limited to Indochina, India, Sri Lanka and China, with a regional distribution. Eleven species of Asceua are currently only known from China, five of them are described only from one sex. Two new spider species of the genus Asceua are reported from China, A. haocongi sp. n....

Spiders of the genus Pholcus were collected for the first time during an expedition to the Lüliang Mountains in Shanxi Province, North China. Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data from COI, H3, wnt, and 28S genes allowed us to group them into nine well-supported clades. We used morphology and four methods of molecular species delimitation, nam...

Four species of the genus Ischnothyreus Simon, 1893 from Tibet, China are recognised, including three new species, I. caoqii sp. nov. (female), I. metok sp. nov. (female), and I. pome sp. nov. (male and female). Males of Ischnothyreus linzhiensis Hu, 2001 are discovered for the first time since its description. Descriptions , diagnoses, and photogr...

A new genus and thirteen species of jumping spiders from northern Vietnam are reported. Zabka gen. nov. is erected to accommodate two species transferred from Euophrys Blackwall,1841, including the generotype, Z. cooki (Żabka, 1985), comb. nov., and Z. xuyei (Lin & Li, 2020), comb. nov. Twelve new species are described: Chinattus crewsae sp. nov. (...

The spitting spider Scytodes fusca is a species complex well known for its unusual hunting technique which involves spitting a venomous sticky silken substance over its prey. Previous studies supposed that S. fusca was native to Central and South America but had expanded to the tropics of almost every continent. We aimed to test the hypothesis of a...

Liocranid spiders from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in Yunnan, China are studied. Two new species of Oedignatha Thorell, 1881, O. dian Lu & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀) and O. menglun Lu & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), are described, and the female of Jacaena menglaensis Mu & Zhang, 2020 is described for the first time. The specimens studied are deposited...

Three new genera of spiders are described: Jishiyu Lin & Li, gen. nov., of Agelenidae C. L. Koch, 1837, with J. songjiang Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂, China: Yunnan) as the type species, Marusik Lin & Li, gen. nov., of Gnaphosidae Banks, 1892, with M. yurii Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂, Vietnam) as the type species and Xiaoliguang Lin & Li, gen. nov., of Phruro...

Eleven new species of Araneus Clerck, 1757 from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China are described: Araneus arcuatus sp. nov. (♂♀), A. bidentatus sp. nov. (♂♀), A. bidentatoides sp. nov. (♂♀), A. complanatus sp. nov. (♂♀), A. corrugis sp. nov. (♀), A. cucullatus sp. nov. (♀), A. minisculus sp. nov. (♂), A. ovoideus sp. nov. (♀), A. pseudodigitatus sp. nov....

The spider family Ctenidae Keyserling, 1877 has a worldwide distribution with 584 species belonging to 49 genera. Amongst these, 141 species are from Asia, including 130 species assigned to Cteninae Keyserling, 1877. Nine new species belonging to three genera of Cteninae are reported from Asia: Amauropelma krabi sp. n. (female; Krabi, Thailand), Am...

Eresidae C. L. Koch, 1845 contains nine genera and 102 species, of which 24 species belong to Eresus Walckenaer, 1805. Four species of the family are known from China: E. granosus Simon, 1895 (Beijing), E. kollari Rossi, 1846 (Hebei), E. lishizheni Lin, Marusik & Li, 2021 (Xinjiang) and Stegodyphus tibialis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869) (Yunnan). Tw...

Three cave-dwelling spider species belonging to the family Symphytognathidae Hickman, 1931, i.e., Anapistula sanjiao sp. nov. (♂♀), A. walayaku sp. nov. (♂♀), and A. panensis Lin, Tao & Li, 2013 (♂♀), are reported from southwest China. DNA sequences and detailed illustrations of the habitus, male palps and epigynes are provided, and their distribut...

The theraphosid spider genus Chilobrachys Karsch, 1892 contains 30 species, almost entirely limited to Indochina, India, Sri Lanka and China. Six species of Chilobrachys are currently known from China: C. dominus Lin & Li, 2022 (Yunnan), C. guangxiensis (Yin & Tan, 2000) (Guangxi, Hainan), C. hubei Song & Zhao, 1988 (Hubei, Chongqing), C. jinchengi...

A new troglobiontic species of the genus Raveniola Zonstein, 1987 is described from China: Raveniola jundai sp. nov. Photos and morphological description of the new species are given. Type specimens of the new species are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing (IZCAS).

A new mysmenid genus, Chimena gen. nov. , is reported from China. Two new species: C. qiong sp. nov. (Hainan, ♂♀, the type species) and C. nantou sp. nov. (Taiwan, ♀) are illustrated and described in detail. A new combination is suggested: Chimena taiwanica (Ono, 2007) comb. nov. (Taiwan, ♂♀, transferred from Mysmena Simon, 1894). The molecular phy...

Thirteen spider species belonging to the family Mysmenidae Petrunkevitch, 1928 are reported from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), Menglun Township, Mengla County, Yunnan Province of China. One genus and five species are documented as new to science: Mengmena banna gen. nov. et. sp. nov. (♂♀), Mengmena yulin sp. nov. (♀), Mosu heguomu...

What happens when organisms actively modify their environment? Clarifying the role of construction behavior on a macroevolutionary scale is crucial to interpreting phenotypic evolution. Spiders, an extremely successful group of animals exhibiting a wide variety of functional, morphological, and behavioral diversity, are ideal candidates to test whe...

The spider family Ctenidae Keyserling, 1877 has a worldwide distribution with 580 species belonging to 49 genera, of which 109 species of six genera are distributed in Southeast Asia. Four new species of ctenid spiders are described from Southeast Asia: Anahita menglun sp. n. (Yunnan, China), Bowie haiphong sp. n. (Hai Phong, Vietnam), Bowie mengla...

A new genus and eight new species of jumping spiders from Hainan Island, China are reported. Pengmarengo gen. nov. is erected to accommodate the type species P. yangi sp. nov. (♂♀) from Hainan, China. Further Pengmarengo gen. nov. species including P. chelifer (Simon, 1990), comb. nov. (transferred from Philates Simon, 1900), P. elongata (Peng & Li...

One new genus and eight new species from Xishuangbanna, China are described and diagnosed: Bocusoides zhaoi gen. and sp. nov., Euochin mii sp. nov. (♂♀), E. tangi sp. nov. (♀), Eupoa logunovi sp. nov. (♂♀), Indomarengo wengnan sp. nov. (♀), Laufeia zhangae sp. nov. (♂♀), Simaetha huigang sp. nov. (♂♀), and Synagelides cheni sp. nov. (♀). The unknow...

Edelithus gen. nov. is described based on the discovery and description of two new species from Xishuang-banna, Yunnan Province, China: E. puer sp. nov. and E. shenmiguo sp. nov. Both species are described in detail and illustrated. Types are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) in Beijing, China.

EDITORIAL Positioning taxonomic research for the future Why do taxonomists matter? The work of taxonomists is often understated if not completely misunderstood. Without taxonomists, organisms cannot be accurately identified, neither can these organisms be given universally accepted names, and reliably positioned in the phylogenetic tree of life. Th...

Five new genera are reported, namely Rathalos Lin & Li, gen. nov., of Anyphaenidae Simon, 1892, with Anyphaena xiushanensis Song & Zhu, 1991 (♂♀, China: Hubei, Sichuan) as the type species, Funny Lin & Li, gen. nov., of Dictynidae O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871, with Funny valentine Lin & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀, China: Sichuan) as the type species, Pararana...

The Cenozoic Indian-Eurasian collision and uplift of the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau (HTP) are among the most important geological events in the world. They have affected the diversification of regional biota of many taxonomic groups on and around the HTP. However, the exact timing and model of the collision and uplift events and speciation on and ar...

Amauropelma Raven, Stumkat & Gray, 2001 currently contains 24 species. It is distributed in Australia, India, Indonesia, Laos and Malaysia. This genus has not been found in China. Ctenus Walckenaer, 1805 comprises 213 known species. This genus is distributed worldwide. Currently, only two species, Ctenus lishuqiang Jäger, 2012 and Ctenus yaeyamensi...

Troglomorphism is rare known in Mygalomorphae. Only three troglomorphic mygalomorphs have been recorded in China: Raveniola beelzebub Lin & Li, 2020, R. lamia Yu & Zhang, 2021 and Sinopesa gollum Lin & Li, 2021. A new troglobiontic species of the genus Raveniola is described from China: R. yangren sp. n. (female) from Hunan. Photos and morphologica...