Leviola, MILLER, 1970

Lopardo, Lara & Hormiga, Gustavo, 2015, Out of the twilight zone: phylogeny and evolutionary morphology of the orb-weaving spider family Mysmenidae, with a focus on spinneret spigot morphology in symphytognathoids (Araneae, Araneoidea), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173 (3), pp. 527-786 : 634-638

GENUS LEVIOLA MILLER, 1970

Leviola Miller, 1970: 155 .

Type species by original designation and monotypy: Leviola termitophila Miller 1970 (female type and only specimen not examined, presumably lost or in Museu do Dundo, Angola; scored from literature).

Levi, 1972: 534 (transfer from Theridiidae to Symphytognathidae ); Brignoli, 1980: 731 (provisional transfer from Symphytognathidae to Mysmenidae ).

Familial placement: Zodariidae . The placement of this enigmatic genus, known only from females, has been controversial, and the rationale for its various family placements tenuous at best. Based on the original description ( Miller, 1970), the morphology of L. termitophila is highly different from that of symphytognathoids (or even araneoids), including features such as: presence of a palpal claw, which is flat and comb-like; large anterior median eyes; lateral eyes not juxtaposed, tarsal and metatarsal trichobothrium in all legs, etc. (see Griswold et al., 1998). Furthermore, its peculiar morphology resembles that of a few zodariid genera, such as the African genera Akyttara or Diores . Leviola shares with the latter zodariid genera (and with the family Zodariidae in general) robust chelicerae, large anterior median eyes, female palpal claw with roughly ten teeth on the prolateral side, comb-like teeth arising from the side on the lateral tarsal claws, minute median claw, trichobothrium on all tarsi and metatarsi, colulus imperceptible, strongly serrated setae on tarsi, metatarsi and tibiae on all legs, and dorsal abdominal scutum (e.g. Jocqué, 1987, 1991; Dippenaar-Schoeman & Jocqué, 1997). Details of the general morphology of the spinnerets and female genitalia are lacking. The species has been collected in termite nests in Angola, an association previously reported in some zodariines as well (see Jocqué, 1991; Dippenaar-Schoeman & Jocqué, 1997, and references therein), which lends further support to our conjecture that Leviola is in fact a member of the family Zodariidae .

Given the high proportion of missing data for Leviola (84%) and the limited (and symphytognathoid-biased) taxon sample in this data set, the position of Leviola cannot be rigorously tested in a quantitative cladistic context. Furthermore, its placement within symphytognathoids should be interpreted as an artefact caused by the aforementioned factors. A re-analysis of the complete data set excluding Leviola (i.e. 69 taxa and 357 characters, results not shown) rendered an identical pattern of relationships as explained above.