On new spider species of the genus Episinus (Araneae, Theridiidae) from China and proposal of five species groups

Background Currently, the genus Episinus Walckenaer, 1809 includes 64 described species mainly being distributed in Asia, Africa and the Americas, with 16 described species in China. During the recent surveys across various regions of China, we found three previously undescribed species which have been identified as belonging to Episinus. New information Three new species of Episinus Walckenaer, 1809 are described: Episinus anfu sp. nov. (?) from Jiangxi Province, E. implicatus sp. nov. (?) from Yunnan Province and pseudonubilus sp. nov. (male?) from Shaanxi Province. Based on morphological characteristics and previous studies, we further propose five species groups accommodate the Chinese Episinus, including two species groups proposed by Liu et (2022). Detailed descriptions, photographs, hand drawings, DNA barcodes and distribution map of the three new species are provided.