On Galapagos and beyond: the genus Galapa
Published in Zootaxa, 2024, https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5419.3.1
Together with Guanliang Meng, Jimmy Cabra García, and Leonardo S. Carvalho

The genus Galapa includes tiny spiders (body length <1.5 mm) restricted to semi-arid habitats. It has long been thought to be endemic to the Galapagos Islands until we found a new species on the Venezuelan Paraguaná Peninsula (described as G. spiniphila in Huber & Villarreal 2020). Here, we support this generic assignment with molecular (CO1) data and describe two new species that I recently collected in northern Colombia (G. gabito) and in Guanacaste in Costa Rica (G. murphyi), showing that the genus is actually widely distributed. Distribution modelling identifies several high suitability areas for Galapa, all of which are poorly sampled with respect to Pholcidae (ranging from Nicaragua to northern Peru and Guiana). Our results suggest a strong sampling bias against spiders restricted to dry tropical regions and habitats. Galapa live specimens. A–D. G. murphyi. E–F. G. gabito. G–I. G. spiniphila.