Phylogeny and taxonomy of E uropean funnel‐web spiders of the T egenaria− M althonica complex ( A raneae: A gelenidae) based upon morphological and molecular data

The taxonomy and systematics of E uropean house spiders, currently constituting the ill‐defined T egenaria− M althonica complex (including A terigena ) in the family A gelenidae, are revised. In E urope four monophyletic genera and 81 species are defined. One genus, E ratigena gen. nov. , and seven species are described as new; at species level 17 new synonyms and 20 new combinations are proposed, and the original combination of 14 species is reinstated. Five species could not be placed (incertae sedis) because of insufficient material and one taxon is regarded as ‘nomen dubium’. On the basis of a detailed morphological assessment, 88 characters were chosen for a cladistic analysis. Phylogenetically informative characters include mostly spination patterns as well as spinneret and genital structures. In addition to morphology, three gene sections [cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 ( CO1) , nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (NADH1) 28 S ] were analysed. Morphological and molecular analyses were performed individually and in combination applying maximum parsimony and B ayesian tree search methods. In all resulting trees M althonica and T egenaria in their present composition are either polyphyletic or paraphyletic. Consequently, we redefined the two genera and erected a new genus, E ratigena gen. nov. Identification keys are provided for the E uropean agelenid genera as well as for the E uropean species of T egenaria and E ratigena gen. nov. The genera and most of the constituent species are described and illustrated. The new classification has also been applied to some extra E uropean members of the T egenaria‐ M althonica complex resulting in additional three new synonyms, seven reversals to the original combination, and four new combinations. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London