{{Short description|Genus of spiders}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = | image_caption = | image2 = Laufeia aenea 298361345.jpg | image2_caption = male ''L. aenea'' from Japan | taxon = Laufeia | authority = Simon, 1889<ref name=WSC_g2734/> | diversity = 6 species | diversity_link = #Species | type_species = ''Laufeia aenea'' | type_species_authority = Simon, 1889<ref name=WSC_g2734/> | synonyms = {{Genus list |Orcevia|Thorell, 1890 |Junxattus|Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2012 |Lechia|Zabka, 1985 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name=WSC_g2734/> | subdivision = See text. | subdivision_ranks = Species }}
'''''Laufeia''''' is a spider genus of the jumping spider family, Salticidae, with a mainly Asian distribution,<ref name=WSC_g2734/> where they are found on tree trunks and branches or among leaf litter.<ref name=ZhanMadd15/>
==Description== thumb|left|drawing of male from Bösenberg & Strand (1906) ''Laufeia'' species are mostly small, hairy, brownish spiders. The chelicera usually has a tooth with two cusps on the rear-facing edge. The male generally has a slightly hardened plate (scutum) on the upper surface of the abdomen. The genitalia vary considerably between species; for example, the male palpal bulb has either a long or short embolus, which may or may not be coiled.<ref name=ZhanMadd15/>
==Taxonomy== The genus ''Laufeia'' was erected by Eugène Simon in 1889 for the type species ''Laufeia aenea'',<ref name=WSC_g2734/> which had been collected in Yokohama, Japan. Simon did not explain the origin of the genus name.<ref name=Simo89/> In Norse mythology, Laufeia was the mother of the god Loki.
Four more ''Laufeia'' species were known to Andrzej Bohdanowicz and Jerzy Prószyński in 1987; they doubted that three of them belonged in the genus.<ref name=BohdPros87/> In 2012, Prószyński and Christa Deeleman-Reinhold split off some ''Laufeia'' species into the genera ''Orcevia'' and ''Junxattus'', noting the diversity of genital structures. A molecular and morphological study in 2015 showed that the original circumscription of ''Laufeia'' constituted a strongly supported clade, and Junxia Zhang and Wayne Maddison restored all the species to ''Laufeia'', arguing that strong sexual selection could produce genital diversity even in closely related species.<ref name=ZhanMadd15/>
However, subsequent taxonomic work by Prószyński in 2019 and Yu et al. in 2024 has confirmed the validity of the separate genera ''Orcevia'', ''Junxattus'' (now a synonym of ''Chalcovietnamicus''), and ''Lechia'', with many former ''Laufeia'' species transferred to these and other genera.<ref name=Pros19/>
===Species=== {{As of|2025|09}}, the World Spider Catalog accepts the following species:<ref name=WSC_g2734/> {{Div col|colwidth=25em}} *''Laufeia aenea'' <small>Simon, 1889</small> (type species) – China, Korea, Japan *''Laufeia aerihirta'' <small>(Urquhart, 1888)</small> – New Zealand *''Laufeia banna'' <small>Wang & Li, 2021</small> – China *''Laufeia concava'' <small>Zhang & Maddison, 2012</small> – Malaysia *''Laufeia sasakii'' <small>Ikeda, 1998</small> – Japan *''Laufeia zhangae'' <small>Wang & Li, 2022</small> – China, Vietnam {{Div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=BohdPros87>{{Citation |last1=Bohdanowicz |first1=A. |last2=Prószyński |first2=J. |date=1987 |title=Systematic studies on East Palaearctic Salticidae (Araneae), IV. Salticidae of Japan |journal=Annales Zoologici, Warszawa |volume=41 |pages=43–151 |name-list-style=amp }}</ref>
<ref name=Pros19>{{Citation |last1=Prószyński |first1=J. |date=2019 |title=Survey of genus Laufeia Simon 1889 with diagnosis of seven new genera and description of 17 new species |journal=Ecologica Montenegrina |volume=20 |pages=122–152 |doi=10.37828/em.2019.20.10 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name=Simo89>{{Citation |last1=Simon |first1=E. |date=1889 |title=Etudes arachnologiques. 21e Mémoire. XXXIII. Descriptions de quelques espèces receillies au Japon, par A. Mellotée |journal=Annales de la Société Entomologique de France |volume=8 |pages=248–252 }}</ref>
<ref name=WSC_g2734>{{citation |title=Gen. ''Laufeia'' Simon, 1889 |work=World Spider Catalog |publisher=Natural History Museum Bern |url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/2734 |access-date=10 September 2025 }}</ref>
<ref name=ZhanMadd15>{{Citation |last1=Zhang |first1=J.X. |last2=Maddison |first2=W.P. |date=2015 |title=Genera of euophryine jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae), with a combined molecular-morphological phylogeny |journal=Zootaxa |volume=3938 |issue=1 |pages=1–147 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3938.1.1 |pmid=25947489 |name-list-style=amp }}</ref> }}
==External links== * [http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/laufeia/laufeia.htm Diagnostic drawings of ''Laufeia'' species] * [http://www.miiz.waw.pl/salticid/diagnost/laufeia/laufe-ph.htm Photograph of a ''Laufeia'' species] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616093958/http://www.miiz.waw.pl/salticid/diagnost/laufeia/laufe-ph.htm |date=2012-06-16 }}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q430299}}
Category:Salticidae Category:Salticidae genera Category:Spiders of Asia Category:Spiders of Oceania Category:Taxa named by Eugène Simon