Vol. 46 No. 1, 2007

Spiders of the Genus Hersilia from Taiwan (Araneae: Hersiliidae)

Shyh-Hwang Chen

Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, 88 Tingchou Road, Section 4, Taipei 116, Taiwan

Shyh-Hwang Chen (2007) Spiders of the genus Hersilia Audouin from Taiwan were examined and revised. Four species were recognized, including Hersilia asiatica Song et Zheng, H. striata Wang et Yin, and 2 new species, H. taiwanensis Chen, sp. nov. and H. montana Chen, sp. nov. Hersilia asiatica is widely distributed in the lowlands of the main island of Taiwan. All previous records of H. savignyi Lucas from Taiwan are actually H. striata. Hersilia taiwanensis and H. montana belong to the H. albomaculata species group that are closely related to H. okinawaensis and H. yaeyamaensis from the Ryukyus, Japan. Both male and female of each species are either described or redescribed in the present paper based on specimens from Taiwan. A key to the Taiwanese species of Hersilia is provided.

Key words: Araneae, Hersiliidae, Hersilia, New species, Taiwan.

*Correspondence: Tel: 886-2-29326234. Fax: 886-2-29312904. E-mail:alchen@ntnu.edu.tw