Leptoneta arquata, Song & Kim, 1991

Tong, Yanfeng & Li, Shuqiang, 2008, Six new cave-dwelling species of Leptoneta (Arachnida, Araneae, Leptonetidae) from Beijing and adjacent regions, China, Zoosystema 30 (2), pp. 371-386 : 373-375

( L. arquata Song & Kim, 1991 , only known from female, is not included)

1. Male palpal femur with strong spines ventrally, at least on distal half .......................... 2

— Male palpal femur without strong spines ventrally .................................................... 10

2. Male palpal tibia without distal special spines or apophysis ........................................ 3

— Male palpal tibia with distal special spines or apophysis .............................................. 5

3. Male palpal patella without short stout spines on retrolateral surface; median apophysis leaf-shaped ...................................................................................... L. foliiformis n. sp.

— Male palpal patella with 3 short stout spines on retrolateral surface; median apophysis not leaf-shaped ........................................................................................................... 4

4. Chelicerae with 10 teeth on promargin; abdomen with brown patches dorsally ............. ................................................................................................................... L. maculosa

— Chelicerae with 8 teeth on promargin; abdomen without patches dorsally ... L. tunxiensis

5. Male palpal tibia with row of long spines dorsally and ventrally, and 2 apophyses distally, one leaf-like, the other one hook-shaped .................................................... L. changlini

— Male palpal tibia without above mentioned characters ............................................... 6

6. Eyes absent; male palpal tibia with a short stick-shaped apophysis distally, with a hair on the tip of the apophysis ............................................................................. L. anocellata

— Eyes present; male palpal tibia without above mentioned apophysis ........................... 7

7. Male palpal bulb with a horn-shaped projection ventrally ..................... L. cornea n. sp.

— Male palpal bulb without horn-shaped projection ventrally ........................................ 8

8. Carapace with hairs on lateral margins .............................................. L. setulifera n. sp.

— Carapace without hairs on lateral margins .................................................................. 9

9. Male palpal tibia with 1 strong short spine disto-laterally .................. L. exilocula n. sp.

— Male palpal tibia with 2 strong short spines disto-laterally ................... L. wangae n. sp.

10. Male palpal tibia with strong spines or apophysis distally ......................................... 11

— Male palpal tibia without strong spines or apophysis distally .................................... 17

11. Male palpal tibia with 1 distally branched apophysis ................................................ 12

— Male palpal tibia if with 1 apophysis, then not branched .......................................... 13

12. The apophysis on male palpal tibia thick at base, just like prolongation of the tibia; with 2 long hairs and many short hairs on the apophysis; male chelicerae with 4 teeth on retromargin ....................................................................................... L. huanglongensis

— The apophysis on male palpal tibia not thick at base; without hairs on the apophysis; male chelicerae with 6 teeth on retromargin ..................................................... L. lingqiensis

13. Male palpal tibia with a single long straight apophysis distally .................................. 14

— Male palpal tibia with a hook-shaped apophysis distally ........................................... 15

14. Apophysis on male palpal tibia spine-shaped; chelicerae with 8 teeth on promargin and 5 teeth on retromargin ........................................................................... L. taiwanensis

— Apophysis on male palpal tibia finger-shaped; chelicerae with 5 teeth on promargin and without retromarginal teeth ................................................................... L. monodactyla 15. Eyes absent; male femur I incrassated on basal half part, distal half with dense long hairs ventrally .................................................................................................... L. taizhensis

— Eyes present; male femur I normal ........................................................................... 16

16. Male palpal tibia with 1 single hook-shaped apophysis distally; cymbium distally branched ................................................................................................... L. huisunica

— Male palpal tibia with 2 apophyses distally, one hook-shaped and the other one spine- shaped; cymbium not distally branched ............................................... L. nigrabdomina

17. Male palpal tibia with strong spines ventrally on basal half ....................................... 18

— Male palpal tibia without strong spines ventrally on basal half .................................. 23

18. Male palpal tibia with 1 strong spine proximo-ventrally ........................................... 19

— Male palpal tibia with 3 strong spines on basal half ventrally .................................... 21

19. Eyes reduced; chelicerae with 9 teeth on promargin, without teeth on retromargin ... L. xui

— Eyes present; chelicerae with 7 teeth on promargin and 3 or 4 teeth on retromargin ... 20

20. With a long slender spine near the strong spine on ventral surface of male palpal tibia; abdomen without distinct patches ................................................. L. tianxinensis n. sp.

— Only with a single strong spine on ventral surface of male palpal tibia; abdomen with some blackish-brown transverse stripes ..................................................... L. unispinosa

21. Male palpal tibia with 1-3 long hairs proximo-ventrally and 2 long hairs disto-ventrally in addition to the 3 strong spines ............................................................................. 22

— Male palpal tibia without long hairs in addition to the 3 strong spines ...... L. trispinosa

22. Chelicerae with 9 teeth on promargin and 6 teeth on retromargin in male, but with 8 teeth on promargin and 4 teeth on retromargin in female; sperm duct of female not twisted ........................................................................................................... L. hangzhouensis

— Chelicerae with 8 teeth on promargin and 5 teeth on retromargin in both sexes; sperm duct of female twisted ............................................................................. L. microdonta

23. With 2 eyes; male palpal femur with spine-like hairs ventrally and dorsally, palpal tibia with 2 long hairs ventrally; male cymbium without strong spine on the tip; female with slightly twisted sperm duct .................................................................... L. miaoshiensis

— With 6 eyes; male palpal femur and tibia without above mentioned hairs; male cymbium with a strong spine on the tip; female with strongly twisted sperm duct ......... L. falcata

TAXONOMIC DISCUSSION

Leptoneta is a genus described from Western Europe ( France). It is mainly distributed in Mediterranean region, East Asia, and a few in North America. However, all species from outside the Mediterranean region are probably misplaced ( Platnick 1986, 2007). The Chinese Leptoneta species should probably be included in one or more new genera in a future revisional work. In this paper, all the Chinese Leptoneta species except L. arquata Song & Kim, 1991 , which is only known from female, are arranged into the following four species groups mainly based on the characters of male palp.

1. L.maculosa group, including nine species: L. maculosa , L. anocellata , L. changlini , L. cornea n. sp., L. exilocula n. sp., L. foliiformis n. sp., L. tunxiensis n. sp., L. setulifera n. sp. and L. wangae n. sp. This group is characterized by the presence of strong spines at least on distal ventral half of male palpal femur, the distally situated apophysis on palpal tibia (missing in L. foliiformis n. sp., L. maculosa and L. tunxiensis n. sp.), and the absence of ventral spines on palpal tibia.

2. L. huanglongensis group, including seven species: L. huanglongensis , L. huisunica , L. lingqiensis , L. monodactyla , L. nigrabdomina , L. taiwanensis and L. taizhensis . This group is characterized by the absence of ventral strong spines on male palpal femur, the presence of apophyses on distal palpal tibia, and the absence of strong spines on ventral palpal tibia.

3. L. microdonta group, including six species: L. microdonta , L. hangzhouensis , L.tianxinensis , L. trispinosa , L. unispinosa and L. xui . This group is characterized by the presence of strong spines on ventral male palpal tibia.

4. L. miaoshiensis group, including two species: L. miaoshiensis and L. falcata . This group is characterized by the absence of any strong spines or apophysis on male palpal femur and tibia.