Spermophora Hentz, 1841

Huber, Bernhard A. & Kwapong, Peter, 2013, West African pholcid spiders: an overview, with descriptions of five new species (Araneae, Pholcidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 59, pp. 1-44 : 19

Spermophora Hentz, 1841

Spermophora is diverse in sub-Saharan Africa but relationships among African taxa and between African and Asian taxa remain unclear ( Huber 2003b, 2003c, 2005; Dimitrov et al. 2013). Five species are known from West Africa ( Fig. 34 ). Of these, S. tonkoui Huber, 2003 and S. ziama sp. nov. share several derived characters but their relationship to other conspecifics remain dubious (see under S. ziama sp. nov. description below). Another pair of putatively close relatives is S. dieke Huber, 2009 and S. akwamu sp. nov. (see under S. akwamu sp. nov. description below). A very similar undescribed species occurs in Congo DR (in MRAC). Finally, S. kyambura is a widespread Guineo-Congolian species but West African specimens were assigned tentatively ( Huber & Warui 2012).

Figures

Figs 33 - 34. Known distributions of the genera Smeringopus Simon, 1890 and Spermophora Hentz, 1841 in West Africa.