Two new species and one new record of Ischnothyreus Simon, 1893 (Araneae, Oonopidae) from China.

Background: Ischnothyreus Simon, 1893 is a large genus of oonopid spiders that currently contains 126 species, amongst which, 28 have been recorded in China. New information: Two new Ischnothyreus species, Ischnothyreusdaheling Tong & Zhang, sp. nov. and Ischnothyreuslongyang Tong & Zhang, sp. nov., are described, based on specimens collected from Yunnan Province and Ischnothyreusvelox Jackson, 1908 is recorded in China for the first time, based on material collected from Guangxi Province. All three species are illustrated.

Two new species of Orchestina Simon, 1882 (Araneae, Oonopidae) from Cangshan Mountain, Yunnan, China.

Two new species of Orchestina, O.dapojing Tong & Yang, sp. nov. (♂♀) and O.hyperofrontata Tong & Yang, sp. nov. (♂) are described from Yunnan, China. Descriptions, diagnoses and photographs of habitus and copulatory organs are provided.

Land-use change in the past 40 years explains shifts in arthropod community traits.

Understanding how anthropogenic activities induce changes in the functional traits of arthropod communities is critical to assessing their ecological consequences. However, we largely lack comprehensive assessments of the long-term impact of global-change drivers on the trait composition of arthropod communities across a large number of species and sites. This knowledge gap critically hampers our ability to predict human-driven impacts on communities and ecosystems. Here, we use a dataset of 1.73 million individuals from 877 species to study how four functionally important traits of carabid beetles and spiders (i.e. body size, duration of activity period, tolerance to drought, and dispersal capacity) have changed at the community level across ~40 years in different types of land use and as a consequence of land use changes (that is, urbanisation and loss of woody vegetation) at the landscape scale in Switzerland. The results show that the mean body size in carabid communities declined in all types of land use, with particularly stronger declines in croplands compared to forests. Furthermore, the length of the activity period and the tolerance to drought of spider communities decreased in most land use types. The average body size of carabid communities in landscapes with increased urbanisation in the last ~40 years tended to decrease. However, the length of the activity period, the tolerance to drought, and the dispersal capacity did not change significantly. Furthermore, urbanisation promoted increases in the average dispersal capacities of spider communities. Additionally, urbanisation favoured spider communities with larger body sizes and longer activity periods. The loss of woody areas at the landscape level was associated with trait shifts to carabid communities with larger body sizes, shorter activity periods, higher drought tolerances and strongly decreased dispersal capacities. Decreases in activity periods and dispersal capacities were also found in spider communities. Our study demonstrates that human-induced changes in land use alter key functional traits of carabid and spider communities in the long term. The detected trait shifts in arthropod communities likely have important consequences for their functional roles in ecosystems.

Discovering unknown Madagascar biodiversity: integrative taxonomy of raft spiders (Pisauridae: Dolomedes).

Madagascar is a global biodiversity hotspot, but its biodiversity continues to be underestimated and understudied. Of raft spiders, genus Dolomedes Latreille, 1804, literature only reports two species on Madagascar. Our single expedition to humid forests of eastern and northern Madagascar, however, yielded a series of Dolomedes exemplars representing both sexes of five morphospecies. To avoid only using morphological diagnostics, we devised and tested an integrative taxonomic model for Dolomedes based on the unified species concept. The model first determines morphospecies within a morphometrics framework, then tests their validity via species delimitation using COI. It then incorporates habitat preferences, geological barriers, and dispersal related traits to form hypotheses about gene flow limitations. Our results reveal four new Dolomedes species that we describe from both sexes as Dolomedes gregoric sp. nov., D. bedjanic sp. nov., D. hydatostella sp. nov., and D. rotundus sp. nov. The range of D. kalanoro Silva & Griswold, 2013, now also known from both sexes, is expanded to eastern Madagascar. By increasing the known raft spider diversity from one valid species to five, our results merely scratch the surface of the true Dolomedes species diversity on Madagascar. Our integrative taxonomic model provides the framework for future revisions of raft spiders anywhere.

Notes on species of Talaus Simon, 1886 (Araneae, Thomisidae) from China, with descriptions of two new species.

Taxonomic notes on the Talaus species from China are provided. Two new species, T.yuyang Yao & Liu, sp. nov. and T.zhangjiangkou Yao & Liu, sp. nov. are described and illustrated, and a further three species are redescribed based on their genitalic characters: T.dulongjiang Tang, Yin, Ubick & Peng, 2008, T.niger Tang, Yin, Ubick & Peng, 2008, and T.sulcus Tang & Li, 2010. The species T.xiphosus Zhu & Ono, 2007 is considered a junior synonym of T.triangulifer Simon, 1886 based on an examination of many recently collected female and male specimens from Guangxi Province, China. Diagnoses, detailed illustrations and a map of distributional records of the six treated species of Talaus in China are provided.

Seven new species of the segmented spider genus Liphistius (Mesothelae, Liphistiidae) in Thailand and Myanmar.

Seven new species of the primitive segmented spider genus Liphistius are described and assigned to species groups based on characters of the male palp and vulva plate. The bristowei group includes L.dawei Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀) from southeastern Myanmar, L.choosaki Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♀) from northwestern Thailand, and L.lansak Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♀) from western Thailand; the trang group (Complex A) contains L.kaengkhoi Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀), L.hintung Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀), L.buyphradi Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀), and L.champakpheaw Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀) from central Thailand.

Midget cave spiders (Araneae, Leptonetidae) from Jiangxi and Fujian Province, China.

Eleven leptonetid species belonging to four genera collected in Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces, China are presented. Ten new species of midget cave spiders from southern China are diagnosed, described, and illustrated: Leptoneteladawu Yao & Liu, sp. nov., L.yuanhaoi Yao & Liu, sp. nov. and L.zuojiashanensis Yao & Liu, sp. nov. from Jiangxi; Longileptonetaguadunensis Yao & Liu, sp. nov., L.huboliao Yao & Liu, sp. nov., L.jiaxiani Yao & Liu, sp. nov., L.letuensis Yao & Liu, sp. nov., L.renzhouensis Yao & Liu, sp. nov., L.tianmenensis Yao & Liu, sp. nov., and Pararanamingxuani Yao & Liu, sp. nov. from Fujian. Furthermore, Falcileptonetamonodactyla (Yin, Wang & Wang, 1984) is recorded from Jiangxi province for the first time. Distributions records are given for all investigated species.

Delimiting the rare, endangered and actively speciating.

Species delimitation is a contentious topic. The genomics revolution initially brought hope that identifying and classifying species would be easier through better methods and more data, but genomics has also brought complexity and controversy to delimitation. One solution can be to collect a larger sample of individuals at a finer geographic scale. But what if taxa are rare and collecting more samples is difficult or detrimental to the organisms at hand? In this issue of Molecular Ecology Resources, Opatova et al. (2023) tackle the ambiguity of species delimitation in rare and endangered trapdoor spiders (genus Cyclocosmia). The authors propose a framework for delimiting species when samples are hard to come by, such as in these rare and cryptic spiders. The authors combine extensive genomic sampling with statistical approaches that consider both the genetic distinctiveness of each population of spiders and how much gene flow occurs between these populations. Their proposed taxonomy balances two opposing signals, structure and gene flow, to count eight lineages of Cyclocosmia, and to point the way for future taxonomic studies of the rare or difficult to obtain.

Effects of mowing on body size patterns in spider assemblages of mesic meadows.

Habitat disturbance affects not only the abundance, species richness and species composition of the local fauna, but also the body size of specific individuals and body size patterns in animal assemblages. Particularly large disturbances occur in agroecosystems, where many agricultural treatments are carried out. One of them, which is most commonly applied to grasslands and which significantly damages the habitat structure, is mowing. We examined the effect of mowing on mean, skewness and kurtosis of the body size in epigeic spider assemblages. The research was conducted on mesic meadows in eastern Poland, in an agricultural landscape typical for this region, consisting of a mosaic of meadows, fields and forests. Spiders were collected using pitfall traps in two sampling periods: the first before mowing and the second when part of the meadows had been mown. Mowing had no significant effect on mean body size, skewness and kurtosis of the body size in epigeic spider assemblages. However, after the cut, mown plots showed, on average, significantly smaller spider species than unmown plots. Both the value of skewness and kurtosis significantly increased after mowing but to the same extent on both the control and mown plots. The decrease in mean body size and increase in skewness in spider assemblages were mainly due to an increase in the number of small species from the Linyphiidae family. It is likely that these species began to migrate (via ballooning) during the second sampling session, following the start of haying, and were thus caught in traps more frequently. Our study showed no clear, significant changes in the body size structure of epigeic spiders in mown meadows compared to unmown ones, which may suggest that the mowing, where extensive farming is practised, does not have a long-term significant negative impact on this group of invertebrates.

Epimorphic development in tropical shallow-water Nymphonidae (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) revealed by fluorescence imaging.

BACKGROUND: Extant lineages of sea spiders (Pycnogonida) exhibit different types of development. Most commonly, pycnogonids hatch as a minute, feeding protonymphon larva with subsequent anamorphic development. However, especially in cold water habitats at higher latitudes and in the deep sea, some taxa have large, lecithotrophic larvae, or even undergo extended embryonic development with significantly advanced postlarval hatching stages. Similar biogeographic trends are observed in other marine invertebrates, often referred to as "Thorson's rule". RESULTS: To expand our knowledge on the developmental diversity in the most speciose pycnogonid genus Nymphon, we studied the developmental stages of the two tropical representatives N. floridanum and N. micronesicum., We compared classical scanning electron microscopy with fluorescence-based approaches to determine which imaging strategy is better suited for the ethanol-fixed material available. Both species show epimorphic development and hatch as an advanced, lecithotrophic postlarval instar possessing the anlagen of all body segments. Leg pairs 1-3 show a considerable degree of differentiation at hatching, but their proximal regions remain coiled and hidden under the cuticle of the hatching instar. The adult palp and oviger are not anteceded by three-articled larval limbs, but differentiate directly from non-articulated limb buds during postembryonic development. CONCLUSIONS: Fluorescence imaging yielded more reliable morphological data than classical scanning electron microscopy, being the method of choice for maximal information gain from rare and fragile sea spider samples fixed in high-percentage ethanol. The discovery of epimorphic development with lecithotrophic postlarval instars in two small Nymphon species from tropical shallow-water habitats challenges the notion that this developmental pathway represents an exclusive cold-water adaptation in Nymphonidae. Instead, close phylogenetic affinities to the likewise more direct-developing Callipallenidae hint at a common evolutionary origin of this trait in the clade Nymphonoidea (Callipallenidae + Nymphonidae). The lack of functional palpal and ovigeral larval limbs in callipallenids and postlarval hatchers among nymphonids may be a derived character of Nymphonoidea. To further test this hypothesis, a stable and well-resolved phylogenetic backbone for Nymphonoidea is key.

Spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Visimskiy Biosphere Reserve (Middle Urals): 37 years of arachnological research.

Background: More than 30 articles concerning spiders' diversity and assemblages' structure within the Visimskiy Reserve have been published since its establishment 52 years ago. The literature provides data on 260 recorded species, one of which has been described as a new species. The majority of these records were not annotated. The peak of publication activity was in the 2nd part of the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century. The greatest amount of material was collected between 2012 and 2018, within long-term plots with quantitative observations of epigean and litter-dwelling spiders, focusing on wind-throw and post-fire successions. New information: This article summarises all the literature and field primary data. We also list 18 species new to the reserve's fauna, which currently comprises 278 species. Doubtful and invalid records have been excluded from the species list. The occurrences in the dataset are supported by detailed information about vegetation cover at the time of collection. This is important in the context of research on fauna and community changes along the vegetation succession, including wind-thrown and post-fire restoration.

Sensitivity of spiders from different ecosystems to lambda-cyhalothrin: effects of phylogeny and climate.

BACKGROUND: In spite of their importance as arthropod predators, spiders have received little attention in the risk assessment of pesticides. In addition, research has mainly focused on a few species commonly found in agricultural habitats. Spiders living in more natural ecosystems may also be exposed to and affected by pesticides, including insecticides. However, their sensitivity and factors driving possible variations in sensitivity between spider taxa are largely unknown. To fill this gap, we quantified the sensitivity of 28 spider species from a wide range of European ecosystems to lambda-cyhalothrin in an acute exposure scenario. RESULTS: Sensitivity varied among the tested populations by a factor of 30. Strong differences in sensitivity were observed between families, but also between genera within the Lycosidae. Apart from the variation explained by the phylogeny, spiders from boreal and polar climates were more sensitive than spiders from warmer areas. Overall, the median lethal concentration (LC50 ) of 85% of species was below the recommended application rate of lambda-cyhalothrin (75 ng a.i. cm-2 ). CONCLUSION: Our study underlines the high sensitivity of spiders to lambda-cyhalothrin, which can lead to unintended negative effects on pest suppression in areas treated with this insecticide. The strong differences observed between families and genera indicate that the functional composition of spider communities would change in affected areas. Overall, the variation in spider sensitivity suggests that multispecies investigations should be more widely considered in pesticide risk assessment. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Background matching can reduce responsiveness of jumping spiders to stimuli in motion.

Motion and camouflage were previously considered to be mutually exclusive, as sudden movements can be easily detected. Background matching, for instance, is a well-known, effective camouflage strategy where the colour and pattern of a stationary animal match its surrounding background. However, background matching may lose its efficacy when the animal moves, as the boundaries of the animal become more defined against its background. Recent evidence shows otherwise, as camouflaged objects can be less detectable than uncamouflaged objects even while in motion. Here, we explored whether the detectability of computer-generated stimuli varies with the speed of motion, background (matching and unmatching) and size of stimuli in six species of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Our results showed that, in general, the responsiveness of all six salticid species tested decreased with increasing stimulus speed regardless of whether the stimuli were conspicuous or camouflaged. Importantly, salticid responses to camouflaged stimuli were significantly lower compared with those to conspicuous stimuli. There were significant differences in motion detectability across species when the stimuli were conspicuous, suggesting differences in visual acuity in closely related species of jumping spiders. Furthermore, small stimuli elicited significantly lower responses than large stimuli across species and speeds. Our results thus suggest that background matching is effective even when stimuli are in motion, reducing the detectability of moving stimuli.

PCB concentrations in riparian spiders (Tetragnathidae) consistently reflect concentrations in water and aquatic macroinvertebrates, but not sediment: Analysis of a seven-year field study.

Tetragnathid spiders have been used as sentinels to study the biotransport of contaminants between aquatic and terrestrial environments because a significant proportion of their diet consists of adult aquatic insects. A key knowledge gap in assessing tetragnathid spiders as sentinels is understanding the consistency of the year-to-year relationship between contaminant concentrations in spiders and sediment, water, and macroinvertebrates. We collected five years of data over a seven-year investigation at a PCB contaminated-sediment site to investigate if concentrations in spiders were consistently correlated with concentrations in sediment, water, and aquatic macroinvertebrates. Despite significant year-to-year variability in spider PCB concentrations, they were not correlated with sediment concentrations (p = 0.186). However, spider PCB concentrations were significantly, positively correlated with PCB concentrations in water (p < 0.0001, annual r2 = 0.35-0.84) and macroinvertebrates (p < 0.0001; annual r2 = 0.59-0.71). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that spider PCB concentrations varied consistently with water (ß = 0.63) and macroinvertebrate PCB concentrations (ß = 1.023) among years. Overall, this study filled a critical knowledge gap in the utilization of tetragnathid spiders as sentinels of aquatic pollution by showing that despite year-to-year changes in PCB concentrations across environmental compartments, consistent relationships existed between spiders and water and aquatic macroinvertebrates.

Brown spiders (Loxosceles) are taking hold in Pernambuco, Brazil: a case series, 2018-2022 / Las arañas marrones (Loxosceles) están instalándose en Pernambuco, Brasil: serie de casos, 2018-2022 / As aranhas-marrons (Loxosceles) estão se estabelecendo em Pernambuco: série de casos, 2018-2022

ABSTRACT Objective To describe accidents involving brown spider (genus Loxosceles) bites notified by the Pernambuco Poison Information and Care Center (CIATox-PE), Brazil, from January 2018 to December 2022. Methods This was a case series study of brown spider bites notified by the CIATox-PE. Results The study included 22 cases with median age of 35 years, the majority being female (13); the cases occurred in rural and urban areas (12 versus 10), at night (10); Petrolina was the municipality with the highest number of notifications (6); spider bites occurred mainly in the lower (11) and upper (9) limbs, almost exclusively inside households (21); specific serum therapy was not indicated for 8 cases because the time for its effectiveness had already elapsed. Conclusion Loxoscelism cases occurred more frequently in females, in both rural and urban areas and mainly at home, with delays in seeking medical care.

RESUMEN Objetivo Describir accidentes causados ​​por arañas pardas (género Loxosceles) notificados por el Centro de Información de Asistencia Toxicológica de Pernambuco (CIATox-PE), Brasil, de enero de 2018 a diciembre de 2022. Métodos Reporte de 22 casos notificados de CIATox-PE. Resultados Casos con media de idade de 35 años, predominio femenino (13); los casos ocurrieron en área rural/urbana (12 versus 10), por la noche (10); Petrolina fue el municipio con más notificaciones (6); las picaduras fueron principalmente en los miembros inferiores (11) y superiores (9), casi exclusivamente en el interior de las viviendas (21); en 8 de los casos no se indicó sueroterapia específica por haber superado el tiempo de efecto. Conclusión Los casos de loxoscelismo ocurrieron con mayor frecuencia en el sexo femenino, en áreas rurales y urbanas, y principalmente en el hogar, con demoras en la búsqueda de atención médica.

RESUMO Objetivo Descrever os acidentes por picada de aranhas-marrons (gênero Loxosceles), notificados no Centro de Informação de Assistência Toxicológica de Pernambuco (CIATox-PE), Brasil, no período de 2018 a 2022. Métodos Estudo de série, sobre casos notificados no CIATox-PE. Resultados Foram incluídos 22 casos com mediana de idade de 35 anos e houve predomínio do sexo feminino (13); os casos ocorreram nas zonas rural e urbana (12 versus 10), durante a noite (10), e Petrolina foi o município com mais notificações (6); as picadas ocorreram, principalmente, nos membros inferiores (11) e superiores (9), quase exclusivamente dentro das residências (21); para 8 acidentados, não se prescreveu soroterapia específica por terem ultrapassado o tempo de efetividade. Conclusão Os casos de loxoscelismo ocorreram com maior frequência no sexo feminino, nas zonas rural e urbana indiferentemente, quase todos foram intradomiciliares e houve demora na procura por atendimento médico.

Further notes on the Afrotropical genus Festucula Simon, 1901 (Araneae, Salticidae).

Notes on four Festucula species are provided. One species, F.botswanasp. nov., is described as new to science (♀, Botswana). The name F.monticola is revalidated and the male of this species is assigned. The female of F.lawrencei is described for the first time. A new record of F.leroyae is provided.

A new species of Floronia Simon, 1887 from Baiyan Cave in Guizhou Province, China (Araneae, Linyphiidae).

Floroniahuishuiensis Zhou & Xu, sp. nov. (♂♀) is the first species in the genus Floronia to be described from Baiyan Cave in Guizhou Province, China. The new species is similar to F.zhejiangensis Zhu, Chen & Sha, 1987 but differs in structural details of the genital organs, primarily by the presence of a well-developed retrolateral tibial apophysis, a hook-shaped distal end of the radix in the male palp, and the rectangular posterior median plate in the epigyne. The illustration of copulatory organs of F.bucculenta (Clerck, 1757) and F.zhejiangensis Zhu, Chen & Sha, 1987 were reproduced here for comparison. A detailed description, photographs of the habitus and copulatory organs of the new species and a distribution map is provided.

Simonia gen. nov., a new spider genus (Araneae, Theridiosomatidae) from Southeast Asia.

A new theridiosomatid genus, Simonia Yu & Lin, gen. nov., is described, with Baalzebubyouyiensis Zhao & Li, 2012 (♂♀, China, Vietnam and Laos) as the type species. Three species are included in Simoniagen. nov., i.e., S.youyiensis (Zhao & Li, 2012) comb. nov. ex. Baalzebub, S.steineri Yu & Lin, sp. nov. (♀, Huapan, Laos), and S.sumatra Yu & Lin, sp. nov. (♀, Sumatra, Indonesia). A key to theridiosomatid genera endemic to the Oriental Realm and a key to species of the new genus are provided, as well as diagnoses, descriptions and a distribution map for the species of Simoniagen. nov.

The first record of Tricholathys Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 (Araneae, Dictynidae) from China, with a new combination and descriptions of seven new species.

The genus Tricholathys, found for the first time in China, is surveyed and seven new species, T.burangensissp. nov. (♂♀, Thibet), T.chenzhenningisp. nov. (♂♀, Qinghai), T.hebeiensissp. nov. (♀, Hebei), T.lhunzeensissp. nov. (♂♀, Tibet), Tricholathysrelictoidessp. nov. (♂♀, Xinjiang), T.serratasp. nov. (♂♀, Tibet), and T.xizangensissp. nov. (♂♀, Tibet), are described. A new combination is proposed for Tricholathysalxa (Tang, 2011) comb. nov., ex. Argenna Thorell, 1870. Descriptions of all new species are provided, together with digital images, illustrations, and a distribution map. The DNA barcode information of four recently collected species is also provided.

Description of the unknown male of Vappolotestianjiayu Li, Zhao & Li, 2023 (Araneae, Agelenidae, Coelotinae) from China.

Background: Vappolotes Zhao & Li, 2019 is one of the troglophilous genera, with five known species. The previous description of V.tianjiayu from China was based solely on female specimens collected from caves in the Wuling Mountains in southern China without any males. New information: The present study, deals with the first record of the male of V.tianjiayu from its type locality: Guluo Cave. The validation of species is based on the morphological characteristics of both male and female.