Anapistula Gertsch, 1941

Wang, Shuqiao, Lu, Ying, Li, Ya, Li, Shuqiang & Lin, Yucheng, 2022, Systematic notes on three troglobitic Anapistula (Araneae, Symphytognathidae) spiders from China, with the descriptions of two new species, ZooKeys 1130, pp. 167-189 : 167

Genus Anapistula Gertsch, 1941

Anapistula Gertsch, 1941: 2.

Type species.

Anapistula secreta Gertsch, 1941 by original designation, from the Bahamas.

Diagnosis.

Anapistula differs from other genera of Symphytognathidae by: the presence of four lateral eyes in diads (most common) or the eyes are reduced to indistinct spots or absent (median eyes present in A. boneti Forster, 1958: figs 15, 16); the chelicerae are fused near the base, with two promarginal teeth; the cephalic area is slightly raised (strongly raised in A. boneti ); a smooth carapace; and a sub-spherical abdomen without a colulus. Males are diagnosed by lacking clasping spines on tibia II, a cymbium without teeth or denticles but with long setae and apical lobes, a conductor, a short embolus (length less than ½ the diameter of the bulb), and a sperm duct coiled ca 1.5 times. Females are diagnosed by lacking palps, round spermathecae connected by a T- or Y-shaped epigynal median duct, and the absence of a scape and parmula (see Forster and Platnick 1977: fig. 19; Harvey 1998: figs 2, 4, 9, 14, 19; Dupérré and Tapia 2017: fig. 33; Rivera-Quiroz et al. 2021: figs 8d, 9c).

Composition in Asia.

Anapistula appendix (♀, China), A. choojaiae (♂♀, Thailand), A. ishikawai (♀, Japan), A. jerai (♂♀, Malaysia, Borneo, and Indonesia), A. orbisterna (♀, Vietnam), A. panensis (♂♀, China), A. sanjiao S. Li & Lin, sp. nov. (♂♀, China), A. walayaku S. Li & Lin, sp. nov. (♂♀, China), and A. zhengi (♂♀, China).

Distribution in Asia.

China (Hainan, Guizhou, and Yunnan), Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo and Indonesia.