﻿Three new species of Grandilithus Liu & Li, 2022 (Araneae, Phrurolithidae) from southern China

﻿Abstract Three new species of Grandilithus Liu & Li, 2022 are described from southern China on the basis of both sexes: G.chongzuosp. nov. from Guangxi, G.xiaohuangshansp. nov. from Guangdong and G.lanxisp. nov. from Jiangxi. A distribution map of these three species is provided.


Introduction
Phrurolithidae Banks, 1892 is a spider family comprising 26 genera and 388 species from most parts of the world, with 17 genera and 202 species reported from China (WSC 2023).Among them, seven newly established and three newly recorded genera have been reported from China in recent years (Liu et al. 2020;Jin et al. 2022;Liu et al. 2022;Mu and Zhang 2022;Mu et al. 2022;Mu andZhang 2023a, 2023b).
The genus Grandilithus Liu & Li, 2022 was established based on the type species G. anyuan Liu & Li, 2022.There are 29 species known from China, and two each have been reported from Vietnam and Japan (WSC 2023).Species of Grandilithus can be recognized by the straight posterior eye row and the narrow dorsal scutum less than 1/2 of the abdomen length.Males of this genus can be distinguished by the presence of a strong, well-developed extension on the distal palpal femur (femoral apophysis), a small tubercle on the ventral tibia, a retrolateral tibial apophysis with a curved tip, the thin embolus curved as a semicircle, and the absence of a conductor.The females of this genus can be distinguished by the broad median septum and the elongated spermathecae (Liu et al. 2022).
While examining specimens from southern China, three new Grandilithus species were discovered, which are described in this paper.

Materials and methods
All measurements are given in millimeters.The leg measurements are shown as: total length (femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, tarsus)  Etymology.The specific epithet refers to the type locality.
Palp as in Fig. 2A-D Coloration.Carapace yellow-brown, darker than male, with several patches resembling flowing droplets beside fovea.Abdomen dark gray without dorsal scutum.A small, irregular, slightly sclerotized area in front of the spinnerets with black setae.Leg yellow-brown.

Grandilithus xiaohuangshan
Diagnosis.This new species resembles G. florifer (Fu, He & Zhang, 2015) in having a similarly shaped embolus, but can be recognized by: 1) the different color pattern and lighter color (vs darker color, cf.Coloration.Carapace yellow-brown, with several patches resembling flowing droplets beside fovea.Abdomen fawn, with a small, yellow dorsal scutum anteriorly and black pattern posteriorly.A small, irregular, slightly sclerotized area in front of the spinnerets with black setae.Leg yellow-brown.
Coloration.Carapace darker than male, with several patches resembling flowing droplets beside fovea.Abdomen black, with a small, white inverted triangular mark anteriorly.A small, irregular, slightly sclerotized area in front of the spinnerets with black setae.Leg yellow-brown.
Epigyne as in Fig. 4E, F. Epigynal plate slightly sclerotized.Median septum narrow, inverted goblet-shaped.Copulatory openings distinct, separated by median septum.Copulatory ducts thick and strong, bent, J-shaped.Bursa medium, balloon-shaped, the right one larger than left in dorsal view.Glandular appendages large.Connecting tubes short, curved, thinner than copulatory ducts.Spermathecae long, clavate, separated from each other.Fertilization ducts located at posterior of spermathecae.

Grandilithus lanxi
Coloration.Carapace yellow-brown, with several patches resembling flowing droplets beside fovea.Abdomen black-gray, with a yellow-brown dorsal scutum longer than 1/2 abdomen length.A small, irregular, slightly sclerotized area in front of the spinnerets with black setae.Leg yellow-brown.
Coloration.Carapace slightly darker than male, with several patches resembling flowing droplets beside fovea.Abdomen black.A small, irregular, slightly sclerotized area in front of the spinnerets with black setae.Leg yellow-brown.

Figure 1 .Figure 2 .
Figure 1.Habitus of Grandilithus chongzuo sp.nov.A male holotype, dorsal view B same, ventral view C female paratype, dorsal view D same, ventral view.

Figure 3 .Figure 4 .
Figure 3. Habitus of Grandilithus xiaohuangshan sp.nov.A male holotype, dorsal view B same, ventral view C female paratype, dorsal view D same, ventral view.

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Habitus of Grandilithus lanxi sp.nov.A male holotype, dorsal view B same, ventral view C female paratype, dorsal view D same, ventral view.