Cheiracanthium C.L. Koch

Lotz, L. N., 2014, New species of Cheiracanthium (Araneae: Eutichuridae) from Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, Zootaxa 3857 (3), pp. 301-332 : 303

Cheiracanthium C.L. Koch

Chiracanthops Mello-Leitão, 1942 ( Cheiracanthium is considered a senior synonym of Chiracanthops, Bonaldo & Brescovit, 1992: 732 ).

Cheiracanthium C.L. Koch, 1839: 9 (type species: Aranea punctorium Villers, 1789 ); Simon, 1897: 87; Simon, 1932: 895; Petrunkevitch, 1933: 53; Reimoser, 1937: 71; Lehtinen, 1967: 291; Dondale & Redner, 1982: 17; Roberts, 1985: 88; Sterghiu, 1985: 100; Newlands, 1986: 86; Yaginuma, 1986: 177; Chikuni, 1989: 122; Feng, 1990: 168; Paik, 1990: 3; Wolf, 1991: 233; Bonaldo & Brescovit, 1992: 731; Lotz, 2007a: 4; Lotz, 2007b: 148; 2011: 23.

Helebiona Benoit, 1977: 80 (type species: H. wilma Benoit, 1977 ); Lotz, 2007a: 66.

Diagnosis. Diagnosis and description of the genus is given in Lotz (2007a). In most Cheiracanthium species the PMT:RMT ratio is 3:3, but in most of the new Madagascan species there are more than three RMT and sometimes only two. This is illustrated in the figures for each species to be consistent with previous publications.

Relationships. In relation to the continental African species, most of the endemic Madagascan species differ in the female genital depression being divided by a central septum and the male cymbial apophysis being bent distally. The bent cymbial apophysis is also found in C. canariense Wunderlich, 1987 , from Canary Islands, Turkey and Egypt, and C. knipperi Lotz, 2011 , from Tanzania, but without the divided genital depression in the females. In most continental African species the female genitalia has a single oval depression and the male cymbial apophysis is directed proximally.

Distribution. In the Afrotropical Region species of Cheiracanthium have been collected from most countries and islands.