Peter Jäger, Henrik Krehenwinkel
African Invertebrates 56 (2), 365-392, (1 August 2015) https://doi.org/10.5733/afin.056.0209
KEYWORDS: Afrotropical Region, South Africa, Namibia, Kalahari, sand dunes, claw tuft setae, serrula, spination, copulatory organs, 28SrDNA, molecular taxonomy
A new genus of huntsman spiders, May gen. n. is described from southern Africa, together with four new species: M. bruno sp. n. (♂, ♀; South Africa), M. ansie sp. n. (♂; Namibia), M. rudy sp. n. (♂; Namibia) and M. norm sp. n. (♀; Namibia). Diagnostic characters proposed include not only those for the genus but also for the so-called African clade. Unique within the entire family are the reduction of the gnathocoxal serrula and the prolaterad embolus. Special claw tuft setae and metatarsi I to III with three prolateral and retrolateral spines, respectively, occur in the entire African clade. A proximal cymbial shoulder in the male palp, the fused lateral lobes of the epigyne and the prolateral proximal spine of leg I shifted to a median position is characteristic for May gen. n. A family-wide analysis of genetic distance in the nuclear 28SrDNA gene (28s), including M. bruno sp. n., supports its isolated placement and thus the genus hypothesis.