Luthela

Luthela is a genus of spiders in the family Heptathelidae, found in China.^[1]

Luthela
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Suborder:	Mesothelae
Family:	Heptathelidae
Genus:	Luthela Xu & Li, 2022[1]
Species
See text.

Taxonomy

The genus Luthela was erected in 2022 with the type species Luthela yiyuan. Five further new species were described. The species Heptathela sinensis had been described in 1932 based on a female specimen, and transferred to the new genus Sinothela in 2003 based on a male specimen that cannot be confidently matched to the female, so the authors of Luthela regard both Sinothela sinensis and Sinothela to be nomina dubia (dubious names). Accordingly, two species that had been placed in Sinothela were transferred to Luthela.^[2] Three further new species were added to the genus in 2023.^[3]

Species

As of April 2024^[update], the World Spider Catalog accepted the following extant species:^[1]

• Luthela asuka Wei & Lin, 2023 – China
• Luthela badong Xu, Yu, Liu & Li, 2022 – China
• Luthela beijing Wei & Lin, 2023 – China
• Luthela dengfeng Xu, Yu, Liu & Li, 2022 – China
• Luthela handan Xu, Yu, Liu & Li, 2022 – China
• Luthela kagami Wei & Lin, 2023 – China
• Luthela luotianensis (Yin, Tang, Zhao & Chen, 2002) – China
• Luthela schensiensis (Schenkel, 1953) – China
• Luthela taian Xu, Yu, Liu & Li, 2022 – China
• Luthela yiyuan Xu, Yu, Liu & Li, 2022 (type species) – China
• Luthela yuncheng Xu, Yu, Liu & Li, 2022 – China