A morphological and combined phylogenetic analysis of pirate spiders (Araneae, Mimetidae): evolutionary relationships, taxonomy, and character evolution

Mimetidae is one of the three families within Araneoidea whose members do not spin foraging webs, but are unique in displaying a complex prey capture behavior known as aggressive mimicry. Mimetids are distributed worldwide and are most diverse in the tropics of Central and South America. Here we provide a comprehensive phylogenyof pirate spiders (Mimetidae) based on analyses that combine morphological and multigene nucleotide sequence data. We scored 147 morphological characters for 55 mimetids and 16 outgroup taxa and combined it in a total evidence approach with the sequence data of  Benavides et al. (2017) which included two nuclear ribosomal genes, 18S rRNA and 28S rRNA, two mitochondrial ribosomal genes, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA, the nuclear protein-encoding gene histone H3 and the mitochondrial protein-encoding gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I. We analyzed the combined dataset using parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. Our results support the monophyly of Mimetidae and of the genera Gelanor, Ero, Anansi, and Australomimetus. Mimetidae is sister to Arkyidae + Tetragnathidae. Mimetusas currently circumscribed is not monophyletic under any analytical approach used, although a number of lineages within the genus are consistently found in our analyses. We describe, illustrate and discuss the morphological synapomorphies that support the main clades of Mimetidae. The following nomenclatural changes are proposed: Ermetus koreanus (Paik, 1967), the sole species of the genus, is transferred to Ero C.L. Koch, 1836 and thus Ermetus Ponomarev, 2008 is a junior synonym of Ero C.L. Koch, 1836 (new synonymy)and Ero koreanaPaik, 1967 becomes a resurrected combination. Phobetinus sagittiferSimon, 1895, the type species of the genus, is transferred to Mimetus Hentz, 1832 and thus PhobetinusSimon, 1895 is a junior synonym of Mimetus Hentz, 1832 (new synonymy), which results in two changes: Mimetus sagittifer (Simon, 1895) new combination andMimetus investus(Simon, 1909) new combination. Reo latro Brignoli, 1979, the type species of the genus, is transferred to Mimetus and thus Reo Brignoli, 1979 is a junior synonym of Mimetus (new synonymy), which results in the following two changes: Mimetus latro Brignoli, 1979 new combination and Mimetus eutypus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 resurrected combination. Arochoides integransMello-Leitão, 1935 is transferred to Tetragnathidae (new family placement).The type specimen of Arochoides integrans, the only species in this genus, is a subadult male of Azilia (Tetragnathidae), most likely Azilia histrio Simon, 1895. Arochoidesis a junior synonym of Azilia (new synonymy).