title: Redescription of three Hippasa species from China (Araneae: Lycosidae), with a proposed species group-division and diagnosis.
abstract: The genus Hippasa is a group of web-weaving lycosids, whose web is funnel-like, quite similar to those of the Agelenidae. In this paper, based on published papers and specimens from China, we diagnose and discuss the composition of this genus. Two species groups are recognised, the Hippasa greenalliae-group (12 species and a subspecies) mainly from Asia and the Hippasa partita-group (17 species), which is distributed in both South Asia and Africa. In China, there are three Hippasa species: H. holmerae Thorell, 1895, H. lingxianensis Yin & Wang, 1980 (revalidated) and H. lycosina Pocock, 1900. The Japanese species, H. babai Tanikawa, 2007 is newly synonymised with H. lingxianensis. Two Hippasa species, H. agelenoides (Simon, 1884) and H. greenalliae (Blackwall, 1867) have never been found in China. Morphological illustrations, photos and redescriptions of H. holmerae, H. lingxianensis and H. lycosina are provided, based on Chinese specimens.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Lu-Yu
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China. Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Zong-Xu
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection of China; Email: zhoukexin@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Ke-Xin
authors.initials: KX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.; Email: zhangzs327@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zhi-Sheng
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D063147:Animal Distribution; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D049628:Body Size; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D013112:Spiders / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development