Lipocrea Thorell, 1878

Genus Lipocrea Thorell, 1878 View in CoL

Type species.

Meta fusiformis Thorell, 1877 , from Indonesia ( Sulawesi), India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Thailand, China, New Guinea, Australia ( Grasshoff 1970; Tanikawa 1989; Okuma et al. 1993; Barrion and Litsinger 1995; Chang and Tso 2004).

Amended diagnosis.

Lipocrea differs from Larinia sensu stricto by: the broad epigynal base with auricular lateral edges and a bipartite posterior margin (vs epigynal base not widening and posterior margin not bipartite) (cf. Figs 10 C View Figure 10 , 14 D View Figure 14 and Grasshoff 1970: fig. 6 d; Gaymard and Lecigne 2018: fig. 9 B; Morano 2023: figs 81, 82); conductor broadly fused with the tegular extension, forming a continuous structure (conductor separated from tegular extension) (cf. Figs 8 A – C View Figure 8 , 9 A – C, E View Figure 9 , 13 B, C View Figure 13 and Grasshoff 1970: fig. 6 b, c, Gaymard and Lecigne 2018: fig. 9 D, E, Morano 2023: fig. 80); median apophysis with a conspicuous spine-like or hook-shaped process with a sharp apex (vs. process absent) (cf. Figs 8 A – C View Figure 8 , 9 A – C, E View Figure 9 , 13 A – C View Figure 13 and Grasshoff 1970: fig. 6 b, c, Alioua et al. 2020: 2, fig. 9, Gaymard and Lecigne 2018: fig. 9 D, E, Morano 2023: fig. 80); radix with a keel-like ridge (vs no ridge) (cf. Figs 8 A, C View Figure 8 , 9 A, C, E View Figure 9 , 13 A, C View Figure 13 and Grasshoff 1970: fig. 6 a, b, Alioua et al. 2020: 2, fig. 9).

Composition and distribution.

The genus Lipocrea currently comprises five species ( WSC 2025 ): L. diluta Thorell, 1887 , distributed from Myanmar to Indonesia; L. epeiroides (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) , occurring from Spain and Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily) to Malta, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Yemen, and India; L. fusiformis ( Thorell, 1877) , with a distribution extending from India to Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia ( Sulawesi); L. longissima (Simon, 1881) , found throughout central, eastern, and southern Africa; and L. phosop ( Tanikawa, Into & Petcharad, 2023) , currently known only from Thailand. This paper reports the sixth member of the genus, L. guiyang sp. nov., currently endemic to Guiyang City, China.

Based on preliminary molecular phylogenetic results (Suppl. material 1: fig. S 1) and morphological evidence (see diagnosis above), L. fusiformis , L. guiyang sp. nov., and L. phosop are confidently placed in the genus Lipocrea (Figs 8 View Figure 8 – 10 B – F View Figure 10 , 11 View Figure 11 , 13 View Figure 13 , 14 View Figure 14 ; Tanikawa et al. 2023 figs 3–14). In addition, although not included in our molecular analyses, L. epeiroides (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) and L. longissima (Simon, 1881) exhibit characteristics typical of Lipocrea and are thus justifiably assigned to this genus ( Bosmans and Colombo 2015: figs 43–48; Grasshoff 1970: figs 12 a, b, 14 a – c). However, due to the absence of a spine-like or hook-shaped process on the median apophysis, a keel-like ridge on the radix, and a broad epigynal base in L. diluta ( Grasshoff 1970: fig. 17 a – c), there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the placement of this species within Lipocrea .