A basal phylogenetic placement for the salticid spider Eupoa, with descriptions of two new species (Araneae: Salticidae)

Abstract

The southeast Asian genus Eupoa includes small salticid spiders with unusual palpi. Two new species of the genus are described. Two morphological characters (presence of a median apophysis in the male palp and of a tarsal claw in the female palp) suggest it is excluded from the main clade of salticids (the Salticoida). Sequences of nuclear and mitochondrial gene regions (28S, 18S, 16S-ND1, CO1), analyzed by parsimony and Bayesian methods, agree that Eupoa is a basal (non-salticoid) salticid, but fail to find a clear placement. Eupoa may represent a deep-branching lineage long separate from the lyssomanines, spartaeines, and other basal groups. Copyright © 2007. Magnolia Press.