Helvetia Peckham & Peckham, 1894: 119 (type species by mono- typy: Helvetia santarema Peckham & Peckham, 1894); Platnick, 2007.

Deloripa Simon, 1901a: 607 (type species by original designation: Deloripa semialba Simon, 1901); Platnick, 2007. Syn. nov.

Diagnosis. The neotropical genus Helvetia can be distinguished from all the remaining genera of the subfamily Heliophaninae by having a trapezoid carapace, which is much wider at the posterior region than it is at the region of the anterior eye row (Fig. 8).

Description. Small spiders (about 3-6 mm) with low, elongated carapace and long abdomen (Fig. 1). Abdominal color patterns include pairs of light patches on a dark background, which can be fused forming transverse stripes (Fig. 1), dark abdomen with a large patch of light scales covering the entire abdomen and longitudinal stripes of dark scales on a light background (Fig. 8). Chelicerae about one third of carapace length, almost vertical (Fig. 1), with two teeth on promargin and one on retromargin. Legs Iusually strongest and darkest, strongly developed in some species (Fig. 1). Palps have the heliophanine bump and can have a short embolus, originating distally on the prolateral side of the tegulum and a short RTA (Figs 15 and 16), or can exhibit extensive modifications, such as a very long embolus associated with a counterclockwise rotation of the tegulum in the left palp (Fig. 19), grooves on the cymbium to hold the tip of the curling embolus (Fig. 18), bifid RTA, with a developed ventral branch (Fig. 20) or with a very developed dorsal branch (see GALIANO 1976, fig. 10). Epigyna vary from very short copulatory ducts (Figs 4 and 5) to coiled, very long copulatory ducts (Figs 11-14), on whose medial part there is a pair of glandular swollen areas; copulatory openings are usually well separated from each other (Figs 4, 6, 9, and 13), but can be found close together, forming a median small atrium (Fig. 11) or on the internal wall of a very large, deep atrium (Figs 21 and 22); the epigynal pockets can be fused (Fig. 4), medially placed (Figs 7 and 10) or separated into a pair of lateral pockets (Figs 12 and 14), which can be connected in some species. The stridulatory apparatus consists in this group of a series of three modified setae dorsally on the distal portion of the femur I (Figs 1 and 3) and a granulose area laterally on the anterior portion of the carapace (Figs 1 and 2), extending from the anterior lateral eyes to the region behind the posterior lateral eyes.

Distribution. Known only from South America.