New species of gnaphosid spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from the Western Ghats of India

ABSTRACT

Three new species of the family Gnaphosidae are diagnosed and illustrated: Hitobia procula sp. nov. (only male), Synaphosus iunctus sp. nov. (only female) and Urozelotes patulusus sp. nov. (both male and female). The genera Hitobia and Synaphosus are recorded for the first time from India.

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KEYWORDS:

• First record
• India
• new species
• taxonomy
• Western Ghats

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Rev. Fr Prasanth Palackappillil CMI, Principal, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Cochin for providing all facilities for completing this work. We thank the Chief Conservator of Forests, Kerala State Forest Division for the collecting permit. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Dr Mykola M. Kovblyuk, National Taurida V.I. Vernadsky University, Ukraine and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript and to Dr Andrew Polaszek, Natural History Museum, London for his editorial efforts. Many thanks to Dr M.J. Mathew, Sacred Heart College, Ernakulam, Kerala for the distribution map.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)-DST, New Delhi under the Major Research Project No. SR/SO/AS-99/2012.