A new genus, Varioonops, is established for a group of species characterized by sexual dimorphism in abdomen morphology (with a dorsal scutum present in males but not females), male palps with a separate cymbium and bulb, and a patterned abdomen. The closest relatives of the new genus appear to be three similar, but as yet undescribed, Neotropical genera that share those characters, but the members of Varioonops are united by a putative synapomorphy that does not seem to occur in those undescribed groups: a granulated sternum. Attention is drawn to the cymbial cone, a structure (possibly a receptor) found near the tip of the cymbium in Varioonops, members of the Orchestininae, and at least some soft-bodied members of the Oonopinae. A total of 23 new species are described: V. cafista (the type species), V. velsala, V. montesta, V. spatharum, V. poas, V. varablanca, V. tortuguero, V. veragua, V. heredia, and girven from Costa Rica, V. ramila and V. sansidro from Costa Rica and Panama, V. funator and cerrado from Panama, V. edvardi and V. sinesama from Colombia, and V. yacambu, V. trujillo, V. pittieri, V. chordio, V. parlata, V. potaguo, and V. grancho from Venezuela.