The pardosine genus Passiena Thorell 1890 is redefined and relimited. Passiena has excellent diagnostic characters, in particular the male pedipalp that carries a unique group of soft spicules on the distal part of the palea. The female of the type species, Passiena spinicrus Thorell 1890 from Malaysia, is illustrated for the first time. A new species, P. torbjoerni, is described from Thailand. All specimens of Passiena were collected from the ground layer of or nearby dense jungle or bush, an exceptional habitat for Oriental Pardosinae. Males of P. torbjoerni carry modified setae on the ventral side of the abdomen, similar to Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata (Ohlert 1865) and Pardosa sphagnicola (Dahl 1908), where they play an important role in the courtship behavior of males. Five African species currently listed in Passiena do not conform to the generic diagnosis as provided here. Three of these show clear affinities with Pardosa C.L. Koch 1847 and are consequently transferred from Passiena: Pardosa praepes (Simon 1885); Pardosa elegantula (Roewer 1959) new combination; and Pardosa upembensis (Roewer 1959) new combination. Passiena auberti (Simon 1898) and Passiena albipalpis Roewer 1959 are considered incertae sedis pending a generic revision of African Lycosidae as they cannot be placed with certainty into any other lycosid genus.