﻿Three new ant-eating spiders of the family Zodariidae Thorell, 1881 (Araneae, Zodariidae) from Xishuangbanna, China

﻿Abstract Three new zodariid spiders from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in Yunnan, China are described. A new species of the genus Euryeidon Dankittipakul & Jocqué, 2004, E.diansp. nov. (♂♀), and two new species of the genus Mallinella Strand, 1906, M.bannasp. nov. (♂) and M.menglasp. nov. (♂), are described. Euryeidon is reported for the first time in China.

Mallinella is the most speciose genus of Zodariidae, with 221 described species, having a very large distribution ranging from Senegal across the African continent, thence to tropical Asia, finally reaching the northern tip of Australia (Jocqué 1993, 1995, WSC 2023. Mallinella is characterized by the presence of a single row of short spines in front of the spinnerets. Currently, only 25 Mallinella spiders have been reported in China (WSC 2023). Euryeidon Dankittipakul & Jocqué, 2004, a small genus in Zodariidae, includes six species, and so far, has only been reported from Thailand (WSC 2023).
The Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) is managed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and is considered one of the most significant tropical rainforest nature reserves in Xishuangbanna, in southwestern Yunnan, China. Prior to the current study, three species of zodariid spiders had been described from Xishuangbanna: Asceua menglun Song & Kim, 1997, A. similis Song & Kim, 1997and Mallinella labialis Song & Kim, 1997. In this paper, one new species of Euryeidon and two new species of Mallinella discovered within the XTBG are described. It is worth noting that the genus Euryeidon is recorded in China for the first time.

Material and methods
Specimens were examined and measured with a Leica M205C stereomicroscope. Left male pedipalps were photographed. Epigynes were photographed before dissection. Vulvae were treated in a 10% warm solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) to dissolve the soft tissues before illustration. Images were captured with a Canon EOS 750D wide zoom digital camera (24.2 megapixels) mounted on the stereomicroscope mentioned above and assembled using Helicon Focus v. 3.10.3 image stacking software (Khmelik et al. 2005). All measurements are given in millimetres (mm). Leg measurements are shown as: total length (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus), while missing data were coded as '*'. Leg segments were measured on their dorsal side. Spination pattern is listed for the prolateral, dorsal, retrolateral and ventral sides. The specimens studied are preserved in 75% ethanol and deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) in Beijing, China.
Terminology and taxonomic descriptions refer to Dankittipakul et al. (2010Dankittipakul et al. ( , 2012. The following abbreviations are used in the descriptions: Etymology. The specific name refers to the type locality (Dian is a short name for Yunnan) and is a noun in apposition.
Variation. Male: total body length 5.95. Natural history. The species was found in leaf litter. Distribution. China (Yunnan, type locality). Etymology. The specific name refers to the type locality and is a noun in apposition.
Variation. Males: total body length 5.08-5.28. Natural history. The species was found in leaf litter. Distribution. China (Yunnan, type locality).

Discussion
Adding the new species reported here, a total of six zodariid spider species are reported from XTBG. A checklist of XTBG zodariid spiders follows, and for a complete list of taxonomic references see WSC (2023).

Funding
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China

Author contributions
ZY and SL designed the study. YL and SL performed morphological species identification. YL finished the species descriptions and took the photos. YL, SL and HY drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.