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The first quantitative phylogenetic analysis within the spider family Philodromidae (using 65 morphological characters from 40 ingroup taxa) does not corroborate Schick's division into the tribes Thanatini (ApollophanesO. P.-Cambridge, 1898, PelloctanesSchick, 1965, ThanatusC. L. Koch, 1837; Tibellus, Simon, 1875) and Philodromini (EboKeyserling, 1884, PhilodromusWalckenaer, 1826; RhysodromusSchick, 1965). Instead, Ebois sister to all other genera in the family, and a fraction of Philodromus(the histriospecies-group=RhysodromusSchick) are contained with the Thanatini. The forgotten genus ArtanesThorell, 1870 constitutes a well-defined distal taxon in a clade that contains the majority of Philodromusspecies. Here Artanesis considered a subgenus of Philodromus, and includes the margaritatusand the poecilusspecies-groups. The western Palearctic species of the subgenus are revised. Twelve species are (re-)described, keyed and illustrated: Philodromus blanckei(Wunderlich, 1995) (first description of ♀); P. calidusLucas, 1846; P. femurostriatus, sp. nov. from the eastern Mediterranean; P. fuscomarginatus(De Geer, 1778); P. johani, sp. nov. from Crete; P. laricium(Simon, 1875), removed from synonymy with P. corticinus(C. L. Koch); P. maghrebi, sp. nov. from northern Africa (♀ only); P. margaritatus(Clerck, 1757); P. parietalisSimon, 1875; P. pentheri, sp. nov. from the Caspian region and Albania (♀ only); P. pinetorum, sp. nov. from the Mediterranean; and P. poecilus(Thorell, 1872). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Philodromus pulchellus species-group is defined and diagnosed. Eleven species are included, described or redescribed, keyed and illustrated: P. afroglaucinus, sp. nov. from Algeria; P. bistigma Simon, 1870, P. glaucinus Simon, 1870, P. lamellipalpis, sp. nov. from Algeria; P. medius O. P.-Cambridge, 1872; P. pardalis, sp. nov. from northern Africa and the Iberian peninsula; P. pulchellus Lucas, 1846, P. punctigerus O. P.-Cambridge, 1908, P. ruficapillus Simon, 1885, P. simony de Mello-Leito, 1929, and P. wunderlichi, sp. nov. from the western Canary Islands. The validity of P. bistigma and P. medius is re-established (formerly in synonymy with P. pulchellus); neotype and lectotype, respectively are newly designated. The following new synonymies are proposed: P. torquatus O. P.- Cambridge, 1908 = P. pulchellus; P. salinarum Denis, 1939 = P. glaucinus; P. glaucinoides Wunderlich, 1987 = P. punctigerus; P. marionschmidti (Schmidt, 1990) = P. pulchellus. Philodromus albopictus Simon, 1875 and P. rubidus Simon, 1870 are considered nomina dubia. Determination of phylogenetic relationships within the group is difficult owing to continuous character variation, resulting in partially incongruent reconstructions using morphological and molecular data (partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene). Dispersal vicariance analysis provides support for a western Mediterranean origin of the group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]