Piranthus Thorell, 1895

Piranthus Thorell, 1895. Type species Piranthus decorus Thorell, 1895.

Species included.

Piranthus api Maddison, sp. nov.

Piranthus bakau Maddison, sp. nov.

Piranthus decorus Thorell, 1895

Piranthus kohi Maddison, sp. nov.

Piranthus mandai Maddison, sp. nov.

Piranthus planolancis Malamel, Nafin, Sudhikumar & Sebastian, 2019

Diagnosis.

Carapace surface rugose, with a coarse reticulate sculpturing throughout. Carapace flat (height well less than half the length), with ocular area and front part of thorax on a plane, and fovea well back of PLE, 1.3-1.5 × further from front of carapace than is the back of the PLE. Legs robust, especially the first pair. Embolus begins at prolateral basal corner of bulb; epigyne with central septum. Tip of abdomen black.

Two of the species ( P. bakau and P. kohi) are distinctive for their black-and-white banding, three others ( P. decorus, P. mandai, and P. planolancis) are more simply marked with brown and black, while the last ( P. api) is a red-orange-black ember.

The four new species described here extend the range of Piranthus eastward as far as Borneo. The two previously described species, P. decorus (Thorell 1895; Caleb and Sanap 2017) and P. planolancis (Malamel et al. 2019; Nafin et al. 2020), are from Myanmar and India. A video of a living female of P. planolancis (specimen AS19.5940) is available in Maddison (2020).