Lathys Simon, 1885

Montana, Katherine O., Cala-Riquelme, Franklyn, Crews, Sarah C., Gorneau, Jacob A., Al-Jamal, Amin M., Alequín, Luigie D., Spagna, Joseph C., Ballarin, Francesco & Esposito, Lauren A., 2025, Tailor’s drawer no more: a reappraisal of the spider family Dictynidae O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871 sensu lato, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 204 (2) : -

Genus Lathys Simon, 1885 s.s.

Type species: Lethia varia Menge, 1869 , currently Lathys humilis (Blackwall, 1855) .

Type material: Lathys humilis : England, Cambridge , 1.i- 31.xii.1854, Coll. Koch (holotype, 1 male, 1 female, NHMUK1635149-5310 - 14 ) .

Material examined: Lathys humilis : Germany, Grütz , Coll. Koch (Syntype, 1 female, NHMUK1635149-5289 - 5308 ) . England (Syntype, 1 male, NHMUK1635149-185 - 34 ) . France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Saint-Laurent-du-Var (1 female, MNHN-AR-AR5264). Lathys sexpustulata : Morocco, Atlas Mountains, Jbel Ayachi , 3250 m, Coll. Meinsohn (1 female, MNHN-AR-AR440). Lathys sexoculata Seo and Sohn 1984 : Japan, Shikoku, Tokushima-ken, Anan City , Arita Asebicho , along road 28, 33°52'42.0"N 134°33'08.4"E, 15.v.2019, Coll. F. Ballarin, in the litter in a forest of sugi trees ( Cryptomeria japonica ) (4 males, 1 female, FBPC) . Lathys insulana Ono, 2003 : Japan, Okinawa Pref., Iriomote-jima Is., Shirahama , 26.xii.1991, Coll. A. Tanikawa (Holotype, 1 male, NMST5295 ) . Japan, Okinawa Pref., Iriomote-jima Is., Uranai , 25.xii.1990, Coll. A. Tanikawa (1 male, NMST9993 ) . Japan, Kagoshima Pref., Amami Ōshima Is., Sumiyo , 16.iii.2008, Coll. M. Yoshida (2 females, NMST-8398) . Japan, Okinawa Pref., Izena Is., Shimajiri Distr. , 26°54'56.4"N 127°56'34.2"E, 24.ii.2021, Coll. F. Ballarin, dry forest, litter along the road (5 males, 14 females, FBPC) .

Diagnosis: Lathys s.s. ( Figs 5A–C, 8A, 10A, B, 11A–D, 13A–F, 20A–F, 39A–G) can be distinguished from other Lathyidae fam. n. genera by having the AME smaller than the ALE ( Figs 5A–C, 39A, B; Marusik et al. 2009: figs 5, 6, 13, Özkütük et al. 2016: fig. 6) (AME absent in Scotolathys , Bannaella , Afrolathys gen. n., and Denticulathys gen. n.; present but similar in size to ALE, PLE, and PME in Andronova gen. n.); male palp with a patellar dorsal distal apophysis ( Figs 20B, 39F, G; Marusik et al. 2009: figs 23, 43, 45, 46) (absent in Scotolathys , Bannaella , Afrolathys gen. n., Andronova gen. n., and Analtella stat. reinst.; patellar dorsal proximal bump with ctenidia in Denticulathys gen. n.); palpal tibia with a retrolateral ventral apophysis in addition to the RTA, and hook-shaped tibial process ( Fig. 20C, E, F; Marusik et al. 2009: figs 43, 45, 46); embolus usually coiled 1080° or less, and usually with a distal prolateral origin ( Fig. 20A, D; Marusik et al. 2009: fig. 43). Females ( Fig. 13A, B; Marusik et al. 2009: figs 23, 43, 45, 46, Özkütük et al. 2016: fig. 41) can be distinguished by the reduced SS/AG so that it is inconspicuous, copulatory duct short, usually curved but not coiled around itself and primary spermathecae; fertilization duct located mesal distally on the primary spermathecae.

List of included species: Lathys bin Marusik and Logunov, 1991 , L. borealis Z.S. Zhang, Hu, Y.G. Zhang, 2012 , L. brevitibialis Denis, 1956 , L. coralynae Gertsch and Davis, 1942 , L. dixiana Ivie and Barrows, 1935 , L. foxi (Marx, 1891) , L. heterophthalma Kulczyński, 1891 , L. humilis (Blackwall, 1855) , L. humilis meridionalis (Simon, 1874) , L. lepida O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1909 , L. mantarota Wunderlich, 2022 , L. sexpustulata (Simon, 1878) , and L. subhumilis Z.S. Zhang, Hu, Y.G. Zhang, 2012 .