Indopadilla Caleb & Sankaran, 2019

Indopadilla Caleb & Sankaran, 2019. Type species Indopadilla darjeeling Caleb & Sankaran, 2019.

Species included.

Indopadilla annamita (Simon, 1903), comb. nov., transferred from Bavia

Indopadilla bamilin Maddison, sp. nov.

Indopadilla darjeeling Caleb & Sankaran, 2019

Indopadilla kahariana ( Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2013), comb. nov., transferred from Bavia

Indopadilla kodagura Maddison, sp. nov.

Indopadilla insularis (Malamel, Sankaran & Sebastian, 2015)

Indopadilla nesinor Maddison, sp. nov.

Indopadilla redunca Maddison, sp. nov.

Indopadilla redynis Maddison, sp. nov.

Indopadilla sabivia Maddison, sp. nov.

Indopadilla sonsorol (Berry, Beatty & Prószyński, 1997), comb. nov., transferred from Bavia

Indopadilla suhartoi ( Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2013), comb. nov., transferred from Bavia

Indopadilla thorelli (Simon, 1901)

Indopadilla vimedaba Maddison, sp. nov.

Diagnosis.

Front face of chelicerae concave or flat in both males and females, bordered laterally by a sharp ridge (Fig. 5). The ridge projects laterally in some males (e.g., Fig. 98, triangle, or see the male of I. vimedaba figured by Prószyński 1987, p. 105, as " Stagetilus semiostrinus "). (Males of Bavia may have chelicerae with a flat front face, and males of Padillothorax may have the front face concave medially, but none have such a sharp or extended lateral ridge.) Clypeus very narrow at centre, exposing a broad expanse of arthrodial membrane that in most species is white (Figs 96, 115, 128; Żabka 1988; Prószyński and Deeleman-Reinhold 2013 fig. 12; Malamel et al. 2015 fig. 9; Caleb et al. 2019 figs. 4, 21; dark in I. kahariana, I. darjeeling, I. bamilin). Spermatheca anterior to copulatory openings (posterior in other baviines). Retromarginal teeth of male not clustered onto a raised hump; rather, the teeth occur on a long sharp ridge that extends medially from base of fang (e.g., Prószyński 1987, p. 105). Male endite rounded, lacking lobe or sharp corner (Fig. 7). Thorax with a bulge just behind the PLE that gives the carapace a “muscular” appearance (Figs 5, 14; see triangle on Fig. 14). (This area contains the muscle attachments for the palps, first legs, and possibly the second legs.) Abdominal markings varied but include a pale longitudinal stripe along each side that is broken approx. half way toward the back, followed by a more posterior pale spot that extends slightly dorsally (Figs 79, 99, 103). When the embolus is long (e.g., Fig. 93), it arises simply as an extension of the tegulum, not being clearly divided from the tegulum as in Piranthus and Maripanthus .

This distinctive group may have many dozens or even hundreds of species, judging from the rate of discovery of new species among the few specimens being collected. We show in Figs 129-142 some of the apparently-new species that we are not naming. Matching males and females with such sparse collecting can be difficult. We have co-collected both males and females of I. kahariana, and they fall together on the molecular phylogeny (Fig. 3). Among the new species, only two are represented by both sexes, I. redunca and I. vimedaba . We interpret the male I. bamilin, I. kodagura, and I. sabivia as not being matches for the female I. nesinor because they are distinct on the molecular phylogeny or have mismatching genitalia (length of embolus vs. copulatory ducts; elaboration of RTA vs. ECP).

Embolus length varies through Indopadilla, short in many species, in other species (e.g., I. kodagura, I. suhartoi) as long as in some Piranthus and Marapathus . While we might be tempted to split the group into two - Indopadilla with a long embolus in South Asia and southeast Asia, and a new genus with a short embolus in southeast Asia - the most complete molecular data nests the long-embolus I. kodagura among short embolus species (Fig. 1). Also, even if the long and short embolus species formed mutually monophyletic groups, dividing them would break one very distinctive and easily recognized clade (cheliceral ridge, thoracic bulges, wide arthrodial membrane on face, etc.) into two much more subtle groups. We therefore maintain the whole group as a single distinctive genus.

The peculiar carapace bulge and exposed arthrodial membrane on the clypeus hint to the possibility that Indopadilla may use unusual biomechanics. The third leg claw tufts appear noticeably larger than the others. Indopadilla are excellent jumpers, difficult to collect even on a beating sheet, from which they can escape in a single decisive bound. They are usually collected from foliage. A video of living males of I. kodagura and the undescribed species “BVBTN” (Figs 134-136) is available in Maddison (2020).