Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893

Zonstein, Sergei L., Marusik, Yuri M. & Omelko, Mikhail M., 2016, Redescription of the type species of Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893 (Araneae, Palpimanidae, Chediminae), African Invertebrates 57 (2), pp. 93-103 : 96-97

Taxon classification Animalia Araneae Palpimanidae

Genus Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893

Diaphorocellus : Simon 1893: 314; Platnick 1975: 5.

Type species.

Diaphorocellus biplagiatus Simon, 1893, by monotypy.

Notes.

Since its description, the genus has always been considered a member of the Old World subfamily Chediminae Simon, 1893. Diaphorocellus can be easily recognised by the large PME that are very close or even touching each other (as in Fig. 8). Only Otiothops MacLeay, 1839, a representative of the New World subfamily Otiothopinae Platnick, 1975, has similarly shaped and arranged PMEs ( Grismado and Ramírez 2002: fig. 2; Buckup and Ott 2004: fig. 1; Grismado 2008: fig. 1). However, Diaphorocellus differs from this genus by the presence of the accessory structures on the male palp accompanying the embolus (Figs 11-19) that are characteristic of the Chediminae but absent in the Otiothopinae (see Platnick 1975; Platnick et al. 1999). The genus includes four poorly known species recorded from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania ( Platnick 2014; World Spider Catalog 2016). None of these species have been reconsidered since their original descriptions and no illustrations of the endogyne or the male palp have been provided until now.