''Paiwana'' is a small

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of east Asian cellar spiders named after the

Paiwan people The Paiwan () are an indigenous people of Taiwan. They speak the Paiwan language. In 2014, the Paiwan numbered 96,334. This was approximately 17.8% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the second-largest indigenous group. The ma ...

. The genus was erected in 2018 for two species transferred from ''

Pholcus ''Pholcus'' is a genus of spiders of long-bodied cellar spider and allies in the family Pholcidae, with 375 described species as of January 2023. It includes the cellar spider '' P. phalangioides'', often called the "daddy longlegs". This may ca ...

'' after a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of Pholcidae. Males are distinguished by unique

sclerotized Sclerosis (also sclerosus in the Latin names of a few disorders) is a hardening of tissue and other anatomical features. It may refer to: * Sclerosis (medicine), a hardening of tissue * in zoology, a process which forms sclerites, a hardened exo ...

modifications to the

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated ...

, and females by the unique triangular epigynum shape. it contains only two species, both native to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

: ''Paiwana chengpoi, P. chengpoi'' and ''Paiwana pingtung, P. pingtung''.

References

Pholcidae genera Spiders of Taiwan {{Pholcidae-stub

See also

References