We report 18 spider species of the genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 from a survey in the Qinling Mountains of central China. They belong to four species groups and include seven species new to science: Pholcus jiaozuo Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀) in the taishan species group; P. luonan Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. luoyang Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. lushan Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. shangluo Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. weinan Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀) and P. yuncheng Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀) in the yichengicus species group. Detailed diagnoses, descriptions, photomicroscopy images and DNA barcodes of all new species are provided. Our study will make a significant contribution to understanding species diversity and zoogeography of the region.

Four morphologically similar species of the Pholcus yichengicus species group, occurring in geographic proximity of China’s Qinling Mountains, were recognised, based on morphology and four methods of molecular species delimitation. They comprise two new species, namely Pholcus ankangsp. nov. and P. baojisp. nov. and two previously described species: P. ovatus Yao & Li, 2012 and P. taibaiensis Wang & Zhu, 1992. Their DNA barcodes were obtained to estimate p-distances and K2P distances. In addition, an identification key for the four closely-related species is presented.

Species of the Pholcus phungiformes group exhibit high diversity in Liaoning Province of northeastern China. This paper summarizes the current knowledge on this species-group from this area. A checklist of 22 species recorded from this province is given, accompanied with a distribution map of the species. Pholcus xiuyan Zhao, Zheng & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀) is described as new to science, and P. yuhuangshan Yao & Li, 2021 is reported from Liaoning for the first time.

The family Pholcidae C.L. Koch, 1850 is highly diverse in Guizhou Province, southwestern China, and currently contains four genera and 22 species. Nevertheless, the distribution of pholcid spiders is conspicuously patchy in Guizhou. Species from Guiyang are poorly studied, and only Pholcus spilis Zhu & Gong, 1991 has been recorded. A survey was undertaken for the first time to study the pholcids in Guiyang. A total of four species are reported, comprising Belisana yuhaoi Yang & Yao, sp. nov. and three other species: Leptopholcus tanikawai Irie, 1999 (new record for Guiyang), Pholcus spilis Zhu & Gong, 1991 and Spermophora senoculata (Dugès, 1836) (new record for Guizhou).

The Pholcus yichengicus species-group currently contains 37 species. It is distributed in central and south-eastern China and Thailand, except for P. guani Song & Ren, 1994 from Liaoning Province, north-eastern China and P. clavatus Schenkel, 1936 which is widely distributed in the country. Pholcus bajia sp. nov. is described as a new species of the P. yichengicus species-group collected from Hebei Province, China.

The distribution pattern of Pholcus phungiformes species-group indicates that, in Jilin and Heilongjiang, China and North Korea, additional species diversity remains undiscovered. Pholcus maxian sp. nov., one new species of P. phungiformes species-group, is described, based on material collected from the borderline between Jilin, China and North Korea. It represents the fifth endemic species of this species-group and the genus Pholcus from this region.