NEW WORLD PHOLCID SPIDERS (ARANEAE: PHOLCIDAE): A REVISION AT GENERIC LEVEL

New World pholcids are revised at the generic level, with an emphasis on South America. A total of 47 extant genera occur in the New World, 22 of which are newly described. A preliminary key to the genera of the New World is presented. Redescriptions are given for 11 genera and for 59 species, and 106 species are newly described. Three generic names and 14 specific names are newly synonymized (see below). A numerical cladistic analysis is performed using a matrix of 61 taxa (48 of them New World pholcids) and 61 morphological characters. The main results of the analysis are as follows: (1) Pholcids are strongly supported as a monophyletic group. (2) Pholcids are separated into the following clades, which are tentatively named to emphasize their character as a working hypothesis: “ninetines,” “pholcines” (Metagonia Simon and the Pholcus group sensu Huber), “holocnemines” (Holocnemus group sensu Timm, Artema Walckenaer, Physocyclus Simon, and Priscula Simon), and the “New World clade.” Their interrelationships are not definitively resolved. (3) New World pholcids are an assemblage of representatives of all major clades within the family, but most genera are part of the New World clade, which is the only clade restricted to the New World. (4) A hypothesis concerning the evolutionary transformation of characters is given for 41 of the 54 traits scored that vary among pholcids. The following names are newly synonymized: AnomalaiaGonzález-Sponga, 1998, with MetagoniaSimon, 1893; BlechroscelisSimon, 1893, with PrisculaSimon, 1893; MyrmidonellaBerland, 1919, with NinetisSimon, 1890; Blechroscelis coeruleus (Keyserling, 1891), with Coryssocnemis [now Mesabolivar] togatus (Keyserling, 1891); Blechroscelis irroratusMello-Leitão, 1947, Psilochorus browningiRoewer, 1951, and Blechroscelis virescensMello-Leitão, 1947, with Blechroscelis [now Mesabolivar] aurantiacus(Mello-Leitão, 1930); Blechroscelis viridisMello-Leitão, 1918, with Litoporus [now Mesabolivar] brasiliensis (Moenkhaus, 1898); Hypsorinus conwayiMello-Leitão, 1947, with Priscula binghamae (Chamberlin, 1916); Priscula ranchograndensisGonzález-Sponga, 1996, with Priscula venezuelanaSimon, 1893; Litoporus abrahamiMello-Leitão, 1947, with Coryssocnemis [now Litoporus ] uncatus(Simon, 1893); Litoporus coccineusSimon, 1893, Litoporus imbecillus (Keyserling, 1891), and Litoporus fulvusMoenkhaus, 1898, with Litoporus [now Mesabolivar] luteus (Keyserling, 1891); Micromerys occidentalis (Mello-Leitão, 1929), with Mic