Kelawakaju Maddison & Ruiz, 2022

Yu, Kun, Li, Yijing & Zhang, Junxia, 2025, Review of Kelawakaju Maddison & Ruiz, 2022 from China, with description of two new species (Araneae: Salticidae: Salticinae), Zootaxa 5636 (3), pp. 523-537 : 524-535

Kelawakaju Maddison & Ruiz, 2022

Kelawakaju Maddison & Ruiz , in Maddison et al. 2022: 84 .

Type species. Kelawakaju mulu Maddison & Ruiz, 2022 , original designation.

Diagnosis and description. See Maddison et al. 2022.

Distribution. China (Hainan, Hongkong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan), Japan (Yaeyama Islands), India, Malaysia, Singapore.

Kelawakaju frenata species group

Diagnosis. See Maddison et al. (2022).

Species included.

K. frenata (Simon, 1901) ( China)

K. nezha Yu & Zhang , sp. nov. ( China)

K. leucomelas Maddison & Ng, 2022 (Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore)

K. orientalis Suguro, 2024 ( Japan)

K. pomo Yu, Li & Zhang , sp. nov. ( China)

K. sahyadri Vishnudas, Maddison & Sudhikumar, 2022 ( India)

Remarks. The recently described Japanese species, K. orientalis , bears a resemblance to the K. frenata group with its pale longitudinal bands along the body sides (see Maddison et al. 2022: 93). However, its narrow embolus, which forms a smooth curve bending toward the retrolateral side, aligns with one of the putative synapomorphies of the K. mulu group (see Maddison et al. 2022: 85); this feature has blurred the morphological boundaries between the two species groups ( Suguro 2024: 111). In this study, K. nezha sp. nov. is a similar example, which also has a long and narrow embolus that is distinctly different from other members of the K. frenata group ( Fig. 6A ). However, the appearance of K. nezha sp. nov. and K. orientalis (as well as the epigynal morphology of K. nezha sp. nov.) is too similar to K. frenata , and their retromarginal cheliceral tooth lacks a small second cusp basally, which does not match the K. mulu group (see Maddison et al. 2022: 85, figs 5–6), so we tentatively place them to the K. frenata group based on their similar body markings here. Nevertheless, we still believe that the previously proposed putative synapomorphies for these groups need further testing.

Key to the species of Kelawakaju

1. Retromarginal cheliceral tooth plate-like, lacking basal cusp; male palp tibia obviously longer than RTA...... K. singapura

- Retromarginal cheliceral tooth sharp; male palpal tibia obviously shorter than RTA................................. 2

2. Retromarginal cheliceral tooth without a small second cusp basally; dorsal side of abdomen pale laterally and dark medially. ................................................................................................... 3

- Retromarginal cheliceral tooth carrying a small second cusp basally; dorsal side of abdomen dark laterally and pale medially8

3. Embolus narrow and forming a smooth curve bent retrolaterally, without keel............................ K. orientalis

- Embolus with at least a retro-ventral keel (RV).............................................................. 4

4. Distal part of retro-ventral keel (RV) in middle of embolus, tapering smoothly along embolus............ K. nezha sp. nov.

- Distal part of retro-ventral keel (RV) in distal or subdistal part of embolus, terminating sharply........................ 5

5. Embolus with pro-dorsal (PD) and retro-dorsal (RD) keels; septum of atria on epigyne slit-like........... K. pomo sp. nov.

- Embolus without retro-dorsal (RD) keel; septum of atria on epigyne relatively wide, not slit-like...................... 6

6. Embolus with pro-dorsal (PD) keel................................................................ K. frenata

- Embolus without pro-dorsal (PD) keel..................................................................... 7

7. Distal part of retro-ventral keel (RV) forming a notch with embolus................................... K. leucomelas

- Distal part of retro-ventral keel (RV) not forming a notch with embolus.................................. K. sahyadri

8. Embolus almost as long as RTA................................................................... K. intexta

- Embolus almost half the length of RTA.............................................................. K. mulu

Figures

FIGURE 6. Kelawakaju nezha sp. nov. A Male palp, ventral; B Same, retrolateral; C Epigyne, ventral; D Same, dorsal.