Of the three recognized palpimanid subfamilies, the Palpimaninae was reviewed by Platnick (1981) and the Otiothopinae was revised by Platnick (1975) and Platnick et al. (1999). On the contrary, the Chediminae was briefly surveyed only once, by Simon (1893).

The currently known Chediminae are distributed mainly within the Paleotropical area (Fig. 51). This subfamily includes nine genera: Badia Roewer, 1961 (West Africa), Boagrius Simon, 1893 (East Africa and South-East Asia), Chedima Simon, 1873 (Morocco), Diaphorocellus Simon, 1893 (South and South-East Africa), Hybosida Simon, 1898 (East Africa, Seychelles), Sarascelis Simon, 1887 (tropical parts of Africa and Asia), Scelidocteus Simon, 1907 (West Africa), Scelidomachus Pocock, 1899 (Socotra) and Steriphopus Simon, 1893 (Seychelles and South Asia). Almost all of them are undoubtedly correctly placed in this subfamily, apart from Badia Roewer.

Roewer (1961) considered Badia as a close relative of Hermipella Lessert, 1936 and therefore the former genus was placed in the palpimanid subfamily Hermipellinae Roewer, 1942. Platnick (1989) transferred Hermipella to Zodariidae, and later this genus was synonymized with the zodariine genus Palfuria Simon, 1910 (Jocqué 1991). Thus, the current placement of Badia within Chediminae (Dippenaar-Schoeman & Jocqué 1997) seems to represent a default taxonomic position since it was not included in either Otiothopinae (Platnick 1975; Platnick, Grismado & Ramírez 1999), or in Palpimaninae (Platnick 1981).

The holotype of Badia rugosa was not found. Only a single microslide containing a separate leg of this specimen is deposited in SMF (Julia Altmann, personal communication). We thus consider the holotype of Badia rugosa to be lost as is the case in several other types from the same study (see Sierwald 1997, Lotz 2007).

According to the original description, Badia possesses lateral eyes, ALE and PLE, widely spaced from each other (cf. Roewer 1961, fig. 3a), like in the members of the Palpimaninae. Meanwhile, all chedimine genera recognised by Simon (1893, 1898, 1907) have these eyes (near) contiguous. This feature is considered as one of the key characters of the group and a reliable criterion to distinguish representatives of both subfamilies (see Forster and Platnick 1984, p. 76, fig. 282; Dippenaar-Schoeman and Jocqué 1997, pp. 239, 240, figs 100a, b, d–f). Hence, we conclude that Badia should be excluded from the Chediminae and transferred to the Palpimaninae.

The taxonomic position of Fernandezina gyirongensis Hu & Li, 1987 from Xizang (Tibet) also appears doubtful. Fernandezina Birabén, 1951, the genus to which this species was originally referred is known exclusively from the Neotropical Region, from Guyana to Northern Argentina (Platnick 1975; Platnick et al. 1999). Platnick (1989, 2013) considered this Chinese taxon as certainly misplaced.

The structure of the male bulb in this species, bearing a tegular process (see also Hu 2001, fig. 8–15, 3, 4), does not actually resemble the palps of any Fernandezina species (cf. Platnick 1975, figs 86, 87, 90–93; Ramírez and Grismado 1996, figs 1, 2; Platnick et al. 1999, figs 19–24, 29–33; Grismado 2002, figs 2–4; Piacentini et al. 2013, fig. 6c–e). On the contrary, this structure does not differ significantly from that observed in the chedimine genera (cf. Jézéquel 1964, figs 2a, 2b, 4a, 4b, 7a, 7b, 9a, 9b, 11a, 11b).

Within three Oriental genera of the Chediminae, Boagrius, Sarascelis and Steriphopus, the two former genera possess much larger anterior median eyes (see Hu 2001, figs 8–15, 1; Jézéquel 1964, figs 5a–c; Deeleman-Reinold 2001, fig. 76); additionally, in males belonging to these two genera the additional palpal structures are either considerably longer (Boagrius) or look more massive (Sarascelis) than in Fernandezina gyirongensis. Furthermore, the palpal patella in males of Sarascelis is more or less hooked and the cymbium is either asymmetrical or with a well-developed lateral process. All these characters are absent in Fernandezina gyirongensis.

The third genus, Steriphopus (described originally under Pachypus Pickard-Cambridge, 1873 nom. praeocc.), possesses smaller AMEs (like in Fernandezina gyirongensis). Strictly speaking, at the first view other characters noted and figured by Pickard-Cambridge (1873) make Steriphopus dissimilar not only to Fernandezina gyirongensis, but also to any other palpimanids. According to the original description, the holotype male of Steriphopus macleayi (Pickard-Cambridge, 1873), the generotype, has a developed ventral scutum that extends almost to the spinnerets (Pickard-Cambridge 1873, pl. 16, figs 2b, 2c) and an unusually long cymbium which is figured as a structure about three times longer then the palpal tibia (Pickard-Cambridge 1873, pl. 16, fig. 2m). But it should be noted that these described features and the corresponding figures do not reflect the actual characters of the holotype we examined. Contrary to the description, the holotype possesses a moderately sclerotised abdomen and a large sub-globular palpal tibia that appears to be even slightly longer then the cymbium (Figs 8, 9). Other characters of the holotype, including the broad-oval shape of the carapace and configuration of the bulb bear a certain resemblance to Fernandezina gyirongensis.

Therefore, the given species is provisionally placed in Steriphopus and the new combination is proposed: Steriphopus gyirongensis (Hu & Li, 1987), comb. n., with reservation and assumption, that this species may represent a separate chedimine genus, as yet undescribed (since we could not study the holotype, which is lost – Shuqiang Li personal communication).

The distinctive characters of the new taxon are listed and discussed below. It should be noted that within the Chediminae some characters, such as the structure of the spermathecae and fine structure of the male palp are known only for a few species described or surveyed after the 1960s (Jézéquel 1964; Platnick 1979; Forster and Platnick 1984). Since we have to exclude these parameters from the comparison, our conclusions are thus preliminary (the putative apomorphies of the new taxon are marked A1–A7).

First and foremost, Levymanus gershomi sp. n. differs from all other chedimine palpimanids by having long slender legs (A1) and an elongate body (A2) – as shown in Figs 1–2. All examined members of Chediminae may be referred to the “standard” palpimanid type with a more or less compact or robust body and considerably shorter and thicker legs, as in Figs 3–9. Among other palpimanids, some species of Fernandezina (Otiothopinae) also have somewhat longer and thinner legs and a more elongate body (Platnick 1975, figs 80, 85; Grismado 2002, fig. 1). However, the modifications are considerably less strong than in Levymanus gershomi sp. n. In addition, species of Fernandezina possess a much shorter pedicel tube (cf. Platnick 1975, fig. 88).

As has already been noted, Levymanus gershomi sp. n. possesses a thoracic fovea divided into two parts (A3); all other palpimanids have an entire, short fovea that may be longitudinal, transverse, pit-like, or anchor-shaped (Platnick 1975, figs 10, 80; Forster and Platnick 1984, figs 269, 282; Dippenaar-Schoeman and Jocqué 1997, figs 100a, 100b; Platnick et al. 1999, figs 25, 63, 67; Buckup and Ott 2004, figs 1, 2). A bipartite thoracic fovea is characteristic for members of the Stenochilidae, the sister group of palpimanids, but stenochilids possess foveal sulci located longitudinally (cf. Platnick and Shadab 1974, figs 1, 16, 24, 25; Forster and Platnick 1984, figs 308, 310), whereas in Levymanus gershomi sp. n. they are located transversely (Figs 10, 12). Hence, in view of this state in the latter species, one of the diagnostic characters of the Palpimanidae given by Forster and Platnick (1984), “the fovea is usually distinct but in contrast to the stenochilids is always single” (op. cit., p. 76), should be reconsidered.

Other characteristic features of the new taxon are edentate chelicerae, lacking the stridulatory ridges (A4), and the considerably reduced scopula (A5) and spinnerets (A6). The presence of stridulatory organs in palpimanids is not well documented. Platnick et al. (1999) showed that most the Otiothopinae generapossess stridulatory files on the chelicerae (op. cit., figs 7, 8, 41, 54–56). Within the Chediminae we have observed similar structures at least in Boagrius, Sarascelis and Scelidoucteus (Zonstein and Marusik in prep.) – i.e., in all available genera represented by large-sized species.

A dense prolateral brush of scopular hairs on the tibia, metatarsus and tarsus of leg I is very characteristic for the whole family Palpimanidae (Forster and Platnick 1984; Jocqué and Dippenaar-Schoeman 2006), though we found that in Steriphopus macleayi it seems to be less developed than in other examined palpimanids (cf. Figs 3–9). However, in Levymanus gershomi sp. n. the scopula is even weaker and represented only by sparsely distributed spatulate hairs (Figs 26–31).

Although all palpimanids possess strongly reduced spinnerets (Forster and Platnick 1984; Jocqué and Dippenaar-Schoeman 2006), in Levymanus gershomi sp. n.this reduction is extreme, and only tiny mound-shaped ALS are visible both in male and female (as in Figs 32, 34). In all other members of Chediminae the ALS are conical to cylindrical and well-discernible (Figs 4, 6–8; Platnick 1979, figs 1, 3, 4; Hu 2001, fig. 2).

The structure of the palp in the new taxon does not differ strongly from that in other members of the subfamily. The most significant distinction is the presence of a tegular furrow (A7) (Figs 38, 40, 41, 43), a detail that has not been found in any other examined genera of the chedimine palpimanids.

We thus conclude that Levymanus gen. n. is distinct from all other genera within the subfamily. Moreover, the above-noted characters contrast with all other genera of Chediminae taken as a whole. Currently it is not certain whether this new taxon represents a separate subfamily or whether itshould be considered only as a specialized chedimine palpimanid. This question might be answered in the course of a taxonomic revision and phylogenetic study of the Chediminae.