The goblin spider genus Brignolia (Araneae, Oonopidae)

Abstract

Males of the goblin spider genus Brignolia Dumitresco and Georgesco have palps that are heavily sclerotized, resembling those found in males of the genus Ischnothyreus Simon. Nevertheless, these palps have the dorsal depression ("fenestra") previously considered synapomorphic for the genus Opopaea Simon (plus its likely synonym Epectris Simon), and the female genitalia also correspond closely to those of Opopaea species, with the addition of a posterior tube. Brignolia males lack the inflated and subbasally connected palpal patella characteristic of Opopaea (plus Epectris), and Brignolia is therefore hypothesized to represent the sister group of those taxa. The generic names Lisna Saaristo and Aridella Saaristo, each based on a single species from the Seychelle Islands, are newly synonymized with Brignolia. The type species, B. cubana Dumitresco and Georgesco, has attained a pantropical distribution, and has at least three earlier names; Xestaspis parumpunctata Simon from Sierra Leone, Gamasomorpha perplexa Bryant from the Virgin Islands, and B. recondita (Chickering) from Panama are each placed as senior synonyms of B. cubana. Opopaea ambigua Simon, from Sri Lanka, is transferred to Brignolia. A total of 26 new species are described. Two are from the New World (B. dasysterna from Florida, and B. cobre from Florida and the West Indies), but most are from southern Asia and the Indopacific region: B. sinharaja and B. ratnapura from Sri Lanka, B. rothorum, B. cardamom, B. kumily, B. valparai, B. kaikatty, B. nilgiri, B. kodaik, B. jog, and B. karnataka from southern India, B. bengal, B. sukna, B. assam, and B. ankhu from northern India and Nepal, B. mapha, B. suthep, B. diablo, and B. chumphae from Thailand, B. schwendingeri from Vietnam, B. palawan from the Philippines, and B. gading, B. elongata, and B. kapit from Borneo. © 2011 American Museum of Natural History.