DNA sequences corroborate Soesiladeepakius as a non-salticoid genus of jumping spiders: placement with lapsiines, phylogeny, and description of six new species (Araneae, Salticidae)

Species of the Amazonian jumping spider genus Soesiladeepakius Makhan are confirmed as non‐salticoids. Sequences of nuclear (28S, Actin) and mitochondrial (16S through NADH dehydrogenase subunit I, ‘16S‐ND1’) gene regions, analysed under parsimony and maximum likelihood, placed the genus within the lapsiines, closely related to Galianora Maddison. Additionally, six new species of this genus are herein described, namely Soesiladeepakius lyra sp. nov., Soesiladeepakius retroversus sp. nov., Soesiladeepakius arthrostylus sp. nov., Soesiladeepakius gasnieri sp. nov., Soesiladeepakius biarmatus sp. nov., and Soesiladeepakius uncinatus sp. nov., all from the Amazon region in Brazil. To test the monophyly of Soesiladeepakius within lapsiines, a cladistic analysis was carried out using a data matrix comprising 24 morphological characters scored for 12 taxa. The analysis resulted in two equally parsimonious trees of 29 steps. One of these trees is used to discuss the relationships among the species of Soesiladeepakius and character evolution. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 165, 274–295.