Stephanopis championi (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1900)

Machado, Miguel & Teixeira, Renato Augusto, 2021, Phylogenetic relationships in Stephanopinae: systematics of Stephanopis and Sidymella based on morphological characters (Araneae: Thomisidae), Organisms Diversity & Evolution (New York, N. Y.) 21 (2), pp. 281-313 : 292

“championi clade ”

Simon (1903) synonymized Paratobias F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1900 with Stephanopis arguing that the disposition and curvature of the eye rows were highly variable among the species of this group. Not only was this decision misleading, as this author did not present any major comparison among these genera, there are other somatic characters that never seem to have been considered, such as the different number of tibial macrosetae (Char. 64), femoral tubercles (Char. 50), presence or absence of the thoracic median spire (Char. 23) and the shape of the opisthosoma (Chars. 74, 75 and 76). The paraphyletic relationship with other species of Stephanopis , low branch support values and weak nodal stability are indicative that “ championi clade” should be considered as a distinct genus. Not only somatic but also genitalic features of St. championi such as the absence of RTA on male palp did not match those observed in the “ cambridgei clade” or the “ altifrons clade”. Thus, in order to assume the most parsimonious taxonomic decision, we propose that the St. championi should be restored to its original genus, Paratobias (see the “Taxonomy” section).