The pholcid genus Carapoia is revised and interspecific relationships are analysed cladistically. Five new species from the Brazilian Atlantic forest are described (C. ubatuba, C. brescoviti, C. una, C. crasto, C. rheimsae), and new records are given for the four previously described species. Cladistic analysis reveals a biogeographic split between a northern clade (Amazon, Venezuela, Guyana) and a southern clade (Brazilian Atlantic forest). While each of the three northern species is widely distributed, the six Atlantic forest species seem to be restricted to much smaller areas of forest remnants along the Atlantic coast.