On the identity and placement of Xysticus lendli Kulczyński, 1897 (Araneae, Thomisidae): an integrative approach

Abstract

The species Xysticus lendli is known only from its original description of a single male and one doubtful record so far. Here, we illustrate and redescribe the species based on 34 specimens in total and describe its female for the first time. We illustrated the male palp via compound micrographs and scanning electron micrographs. We generated a DNA barcode and placed it into a current phylogenetic scaffold to confirm the species’ placement of Spiracme, a long-debated sister- or subgroup of Xysticus; hence, a new combination of Spiracme lendli (Kulczyński, 1897), comb. nov. is proposed. We illustrated the visually similar Xysticus mongolicus and the type species of Spiracme, S. striatipes, and compared them to S. lendli to aid future distinctions between those species.