Taxonomic Study Of Heteropoda Spiders From China And Its Adjacent Region(Arachnida: Araneae: Sparassidae)

With 198 described species,Heteropoda Latreille,1804 is the second largest genus in Sparassidae which composed of 88 genera and 1246 species(World Spider Catalog,2019).Among of these know species,only 15 species are known from China.Heteropoda spiders,moving quickly,active at night,difficultly collected,are poorly known both taxonomically and phylogenetically.China is a big country comprising two major zoogeographical zones,the species-poor Palearctic zone in northern China and the species-rich Oriental zone in southwest,south central and eastern China.There should be more Heteropoda species in China.In recent five years,the colleagues in our lab collected lots of Heteropoda specimens around China and its adjacent region.The taxonomic study of Heteropoda spiders from China and its adjacent region(Araneae: Sparassidae)is carried out in current dissertation.The dissertation includs three parts: Part I reviews the general information of the genus Heteropoda,and its morphology and taxonomy.Part II discribes 34 species including 20 new species(Heteropoda arciformis sp.nov.;Heteropoda contraria sp.nov.;Heteropoda curva sp.nov.;Heteropoda cuspidata sp.nov.;Heteropoda dcris sp.nov.;Heteropoda flamma sp.nov.;Heteropoda infundibularis sp.nov.;Heteropoda lageniformis sp.nov.;Heteropoda lucerna sp.nov.;Heteropoda malleata sp.nov.;Heteropoda nasa sp.nov.;Heteropoda pseudohelge sp.nov.;Heteropoda pseudolanguida sp.nov.;Heteropoda pseudosimplex sp.nov.;Heteropoda separata sp.nov.;Heteropoda transversalis sp.nov.;Heteropoda vaginalis sp.nov.;Heteropoda verticalis sp.nov.;Heteropoda yuenanensis sp.nov.;Heteropoda zhongi sp.nov.),3 new reported species from China(Heteropoda dagmarae J(?)ger & Vedel,2005;Heteropoda languida Simon,1887;Heteropoda maxima J(?)ger,2001).Detailed descriptions,measurements and specimens informations are provided for each species.Closely related and easily confused species are discussed.Part III mainly discusses the present situation of the genus Heteropoda about China and its adjacent region,combining with previous experience and laboratory results.Part IV includes detailed morphological photos in 44 plates,and the distribution map in the researched region.