World Spider Catalog Research Articles

The relationship between body size and diet breadth in non‐web building spiders

Abstract The handling hypothesis assumes that large animals have broader diets than small animals because small animals are restricted to small prey while large animals can handle both small and large prey. On the other hand, the optimal foraging hypothesis assumes no relationship between predator body size and diet breadth because large predators should shift from small prey to large prey to maximize the net energy intake. Using the diets and body sizes of 89 non‐web building spider species obtained from public databases (World Spider Trait database, Spiders of Europe and World Spider Catalogue), we investigated the relationship between body size and diet breadth in this group of terrestrial arthropod predators. We found that the taxonomic niche diet breadth measured by Hill numbers (i.e., prey richness, Shannon index of diversity and Simpson index of equitability) had no significant relationship with spider body size. The minimum prey size did not show any relationship with spider body size. On the other hand, mean, maximum, range and variability in prey size increased with spider body size. The results provide support for both hypotheses. The pattern in prey taxonomic dimension supports the optimal foraging hypothesis, while the pattern in prey size dimension supports the handling hypothesis. Overall, the observed distinct patterns between the taxonomic and prey size niche axes can be caused by the fact that the non‐web building spiders utilize similar prey types that are however highly size‐structured.

New distribution records of two jumping spiders of the genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1886 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Gujarat, India

The jumping spider genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1886, belonging to the tribe Aelurillini (Maddison, 2015), is widely distributed and currently comprises 59 known species (World Spider Catalog 2024). Through recent investigations, we have identified two additional species of the genus Stenaelurillus that have not been documented in Gujarat state before. This paper therefore presents the new records and documentation of S. marusiki Logunov, 2001, and S. vyaghri Sanap, Joglekar & Caleb, 2022, marking their first appearances in Gujarat, India.

Idiopidae Simon, 1889 in the Brazilian Amazon: two new species and a new geographic record

Idiopidae Simon, 1889 is mostly composed of spiders known as trapdoor spiders, which create structures for shelter, hunting and protection against possible predators (Mason et al., 2013). It is divided into three subfamilies: Arbanitinae Simon, 1903, with spiders restricted to Oceania, Genysinae Simon, 1903, occurring in India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and South America, and Idiopinae Simon, 1889, from South America, Africa, East Middle and South to Southeast Asia (Raven 1985; World Spider Catalog 2023). Idiopidae is widely distributed throughout the world, however, only two genera are present in Brazil: Idiops Perty, 1833 and Neocteniza Pocock, 1895. In this work, we describe a new species for both genera present in Brazil and a new record of Idiops.

Spiders in Thailand (SIT) via spiderthailand.info: Thailand spider data retrieval system for geographical occurrence and photographic identification.

High biodiversity in the tropics is good for ecosystem services; however, challenges in taxonomy and identification usually come from such high biodiversity. Spiders are no exception to the challenges. Identifying spiders in tropical places like Thailand is difficult and time consuming. To reduce the difficulty of identifying Thai spiders, a data retrieval system for geographical occurrence and photographic identification was conducted to deploy on an online platform, Spiders in Thailand (SIT) via the website "spiderthailand.info". This allows professional arachnologists and amateur spider lovers to visit and check the geographical distribution of Thai spiders and to quickly access pictures for comparative photographic identification. To facilitate Thai spider identification, there were two parts, the database and the website, which are connected to each other. Data of Thai spiders were extracted from the World Spider Catalog to build a database comprising geographical occurrence and pictures of spider species in Thailand. The database was then linked with the website to display data. The dataset of pictures and illustrations extracted from taxonomic literature of the World Spider Catalog were included in the database for connecting with the online platform, Spiders in Thailand (SIT) via the website "spiderthailand.info" which facilitated access to pictures and illustrations, expediting the identification of Thai spider specimens. Geographical occurrences of Thai spiders consisted of 1419 records belonging to 670 species of 228 genera and 50 families. Amongst those, 461 species from 133 genera of 41 families were distributed only in Thailand. Around Thailand, 756 geographical localities were reported for spider occurrences. From 76 provinces and one additional special administrative area (Bangkok), 58 provinces showed occurrence records of spiders and 18 provinces showed non-occurrence records. Those provinces of non-occurrence records of spiders were Amnat Charoen, Ang Thong, Bueng Kan, Chai Nat, Maha Sarakham, Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom, Nong Bua Lam Phu, Nonthaburi, Phayao, Phichit, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Si Sa Ket, Sing Buri, Uthai Thani and Yasothon. Most spiders were reported from Chiang Mai Province.

New data on family Araneidae from district Swat with updated checklist of the family from Pakistan.

The aims of the present research was to find out the diversity of family Araneidae in district Swat Pakistan and to provide updated checklist of the family Araneidae from Pakistan. Also their occurrence throughout the year was given from District Swat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Data was collected from January 2018 to December-2018 from seven different Tehsils of District Swat by using different methods like pitfall trap, ground hand collection, air hand collection and were then preserved in plastic vials and appendorf tubes by using 70% ethanol. Camera mounted on microscope was used for photography. By using literature from World Spider Catalog, 2022, spiders were identified to species level. In a ttal of 1243 specimens of family Araneidae 4 genera and 7 species were identified. Dominant species with great number of specimen collected was Cyrtophora citricolla with 229 (18.4%) samples, followed by Bojaranius mitificus (15.7%), Neoscona Scylla (15.4%), Argiope lobata (14.8), Neoscona theisi (14.6%) and Neoscona polyspinippes (13.8%) respectively. While lowest collection was done of Argiope versicolor with 90 (7.3%) samples. High occurrence of spiders was studied during July 187 samples. Fluctuation in temperature can affect the diversity of spiders observed and recorded in present study with lowest collection done in low temperature. Moreover, the humidity also play a great role in spiders' population and occurrence.

A new species related to Pardosaatrata (Araneae, Lycosidae) from Armenia makes the distribution range of the atrata group disjunctive.

Species of wolf spiders considered in the Pardosaatrata group are surveyed, and comparative figures of all species included in the group are presented for the first time. A new species, P.armeniacasp. nov., is described from the shore of Lake Sevan (Armenia) based on both sexes. Pardosanarymica Savelyeva, 1972 from East Kazakhstan Oblast' is synonymized with the trans-Palaearctic P.atrata (Thorell, 1873). It was found that the record of P.atrata (sub P.lapponica) by Schenkel from British Columbia and reflected in the World Spider Catalog in fact refers to P.concinna (Thorell, 1877), a member of the P.lapponica group. The distribution of three species consideredin the atrata group are mapped. The discovery of P.armeniacasp. nov. has led to a re-evaluation of the distribution range, previously thought to be continuous, now showing a disjunctive pattern.

Measuring What We Don't Know: Biodiversity Catalogs Reveal Bias in Taxonomic Effort

Abstract Biodiversity catalogs are an invaluable resource for biological research. Efforts to scientifically document biodiversity have not been evenly applied, either because of charisma or because of ease of study. Spiders are among the most precisely cataloged and diverse invertebrates, having surpassed 50,000 described species globally. The World Spider Catalog presents a unique opportunity to assess the disproportionate documentation of spider diversity. In the present article, we develop a taxonomic ratio relating new species descriptions to other taxonomic activity as a proxy for taxonomic effort, using spiders as a case study. We use this taxonomic effort metric to examine biases along multiple axes: phylogeny, zoogeography, and socioeconomics. We also use this metric to estimate the number of species that remain to be described. This work informs arachnologists in identifying high-priority taxa and regions for species discovery and highlights the benefits of maintaining open-access taxonomic databases—a necessary step in overcoming bias and documenting the world's biodiversity.

Introducing the World Arachnida Catalog: the new research environment for (almost all) arachnid orders

The World Arachnida Catalog (WAC, online at https://wac.nmbe.ch) is introduced as an amalgamation of the highly successful World Spider Catalog (WSC), the Pseudoscorpions of the World Catalog, and the Smaller Arachnid Order Catalogs. The new catalogs present all available taxonomic information on eight arachnid orders (Amblypygi, Araneae, Pseudoscorpiones, Ricinulei, Palpigradi, Schizomida, Solifugae and Uropygi) in a single location and a standardized format, continuously updated by specialists, to members of the World Spider Catalog Association (WSCA). For the first time, the majority of taxonomic literature for Pseudoscorpiones and the smaller arachnid orders will be available in downloadable PDF format for members according to the Swiss copyright laws. Up-to-date counts of families, genera and species are given alongside the current taxonomy for each taxon. Now in a common place and presented in an almost unified format, the new catalog aims to become the primary repository of taxonomic information for the Arachnida and will hopefully stimulate arachnological research across all arachnid orders by removing boundaries imposed by literature accessibility, incompatibility of formats, or taxonomic jargon.

Arakno - An R package for effective spider nomenclature, distribution and trait data retrieval from online resources

Online open databases are increasing in number, usefulness, and ease of use. There are currently two main global databases for spiders, the World Spider Catalogue (WSC) and the World Spider Trait (WST) database. Both are regularly used by thousands of researchers. Computational tools that allow effective processing of large data are now part of the workflow of any researcher and R is becoming a de facto standard for data manipulation, analysis, and presentation. Here we present an R package, arakno, that allows interface with the two databases. Implemented tools include checking species names against nomenclature of the WSC, obtaining and mapping data on distribution of species from both the WST and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), and downloading trait data from the WST. A set of tools are also provided to prepare data for further statistical analysis.

A new species of the Goblin Spider genus Predatoroonops/ Brescovit, Rheims amp; Ott 2012 (Araneae, Dysderoidea: Oonopidae), with new records for the genus.

The family Oonopidae Simon, 1890 is composed of tiny spiders between 0.5 and 4mm (Baehr et al. 2012) that are distributed all over the world (Platnick et al. 2020; World Spider Catalog 2021). They occupy diverse habitats, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions (Platnick et al. 2020), generally associated with the soil and litter fauna (Ranasinghe Benjamin 2018). Oonopidae is among the eight most diverse spider families with 114 genera and 1872 species (World Spider Catalog 2021). Most of this diversity was discovered after 2006, as a result of the Planetary Biodiversity Inventory (PBI) project: Goblin Spider (Platnick et al. 2012). Recent molecular phylogenetic analyses recovered Oonopidae as monophyletic (Wheeler et al. 2017), hypothesis supported by the presence of a synapomorphic pair of completely fused testicles (Burger Michalik 2010). Brazil has a great diversity of Oonopidae (e.g., Brescovit et al. 2012a; Platnick et al. 2013; Feitosa et al. 2017), including the genus Predatoroonops Brescovit, Rheims Ott 2012, endemic to the Atlantic Forest, that includes 17 species (World Spider Catalog 2021). The genus can be recognized by the male chelicerae frontally modified, with one or two pairs of distally sclerotized, and sometimes branched, apophyses, and by the pars cephalica dorsally squared (Brescovit et al. 2012b). In this paper, we describe a new species of the genus, based on a male specimen from the State of Minas Gerais: Predatoroonops stani sp. nov.. Also, we give new records for Predatoroonops yautja Brescovit, Rheims Santos, 2012 from the same state and a distribution map with all the records of Predatoroonops along the Atlantic Forest.

On the authorship and publication dates of the nomina emTheraphosa/em and Theraphosidae (Araneae: Mygalomorphae).

The family Theraphosidae is the most speciose in the infraorder Mygalomorphae Pocock, 1892 with over one thousand described species (World Spider Catalog 2021). The taxonomy of the group has been subjected to considerable attention in modern times, with a focus on delineation based predominantly on genital organ and stridulatory organ morphology which has shown promise, both alongside molecular methods (where possible) and as a stand-alone line of evidence, in stabilising the group (e.g. Hamilton et al. 2016; Fabiano-da-Silva et al. 2020; see also Sherwood 2020). The predominant reference to the family is as Theraphosidae Thorell, 1870 with almost as many references to Theraphosidae Thorell, 1869. This non-congruence of dates is because Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (1830-1901) had his important work On European Spiders published in two parts during its publication by the Royal Society of Upsala in its journal Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis. The first half (pages 1-108 and the supplement I-XIII) was published in 1869 whereas pages 109-242 (despite being dated on the cover page as 1869) were published in 1870 (see Roewer 1942; Bonnet 1945; World Spider Catalog 2021). In the second part, the secretary of the society notes: "L'auteur avait proposé comme titre du présent mémoire: Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, preceded by some observations on Zoological Nomenclature and a Review of the European Genera of Spiders; mais, la partie, insérée dans le Tome VII, étant seule présentée à la Société des Sciences le 13 Fevr. 1869, il a été nécessaii'e d'y conformer le titre." [= The author proposed as the title of this memoir: Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, preceded by some observations on Zoological Nomenclature and a Review of the European Genera of Spiders; but, the part, inserted in Volume VII, being the only one presented to the Société des Sciences on 13 Feb. 1869, it was necessary to conform the title to it.].

Revision and molecular phylogeny of the spider genus Micaria Westring, 1851 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) in the Afrotropical Region.

The genus Micaria Westring, 1851 (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) is a group of small (1.85-5 mm) ant-like spiders that can be distinguished from other gnaphosids by their piriform gland spigots that are similar in size to the major ampullate gland spigots. According to the World Spider Catalog, there are 105 species of Micaria in the world, of which only three species are known from the African part of the Afrotropical Region, namely M. chrysis (Simon, 1910), M. tersissima Simon, 1910 and M. beaufortia (Tucker, 1923). The objectives of this study were to revise Micaria in the Afrotropical Region, providing new and updated records for each of the species, evaluating the relationships between them using COI barcoding data, and providing information on their biology, mimetic relationships and feeding ecology. These objectives were met by collecting fresh material from the KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State provinces in South Africa. Fresh material of M. tersissima and M. chrysis were collected from their type localities, Komaggas and Port Nolloth (Northern Cape Province), respectively, for identification and DNA analyses. COI sequences generated, together with those sourced from Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and GenBank, were aligned using the CulstalW alignment algorithm in the Mega X software, and molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed using MrBayes for Bayesian Inference (BI) and RaxML for maximum likelihood (ML) analyses. Morphological examination of the collected and voucher material yielded 17 new species for the Afrotropical Region, namely M. basaliducta sp. nov. (♀, ♂, South Africa), M. bimaculata sp. nov. (♀, ♂, Mauritania), M. bispicula sp. nov. (♀, ♂, Namibia, South Africa), M. durbana sp. nov. (♀, ♂, South Africa, Zambia), M. felix sp. nov. (♀, ♂, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe), M. gagnoa sp. nov. (♀, ♂, Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique, Mozambique, Tanzania), M. koingnaas sp. nov. (♂, South Africa), M. lata sp. nov. (♂, Namibia, South Africa), M. laxa sp. nov. (♀, South Africa), M. mediospina sp. nov. (♂, South Africa), M. parvotibialis sp. nov. (♀, ♂, Senegal), M. plana sp. nov. (♀, ♂, Ethiopia), M. quadrata sp. nov. (♀, Ethiopia), M. quinquemaculosa sp. nov. (♀, ♂, Namibia, South Africa), M. rivonosy sp. nov. (♀, ♂, Madagascar), M. sanipass sp. nov. (♂, South Africa) and M. scutellata sp. nov. (♂, South Africa). Furthermore, both sexes of M. beaufortia, as well as the male of M. tersissima, are redescribed. Both sexes of M. chrysis are described for the first time, as this species was only known from a juvenile. Of the previously known species, M. beaufortia (Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe) and M. chrysis (Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania) are widespread in the Afroptropics, while M. tersissima is only known from South Africa. Both the Bayesian inference and the maximum likelihood analysess recovered Micaria (sensu lato) as monophyletic with the inclusion of the subopaca group. The pulicaria species group was recovered as polyphyletic in both the BI and ML analyses. Four Afrotropical species, as well as the M. rossica Thorell, 1875/M. foxi Gertsch, 1933 group, formed a clade sister to M. formicaria (Sundevall, 1831). Eight of the Afrotropical species now have COI barcoding data uploaded to BOLD.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF NORMAN I. PLATNICK

The complete bibliography of the late Norman I. Platnick is presented. His scientific contribution, published over the course of 39 years, includes almost 12,000 pages in 340 printed publications, including 42 monographs, six books and two edited volumes on subjects ranging from the theory and practice of systematics and historical biogeography to the taxonomy of spiders (Araneae), an online searchable database, the World Spider Catalog, and two children's books. During the past 22 years, he self-published 27 full-color books and three articles on the illustration art of magazine covers, advertisements, and articles from America's ‘Golden Age of Illustration’ (1905–1920).

Taxonomic revision of Marma Simon, 1902 (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini).

The Neotropical genus Marma Simon, 1902 is revised. With exception of the holotype of M. femella (Caporiacco, 1955), which was redescribed in previous work, all the other species of the genus were revised based on their types. The type species, M. baeri Simon, 1902, and M. nigritarsis (Simon, 1900) are redescribed based on newly collected specimens. The third and last species presently listed in the World Spider Catalog, M. femella, is confirmed as valid. Two species presently considered synonyms of M. nigritarsis are revalidated: M. rosea (Mello-Leitão, 1941) and M. argentina (Mello-Leitão, 1941). Two species are synonymized: Thysema dorae Mello-Leitão, 1944, syn. nov. with Ocnotelus argentinus Mello-Leitão, 1941 and Paralophostica centralis Soares Camargo, 1948, syn. nov. with Agelista rosea Mello-Leitão, 1941. Pseudoamphidraus variegatus Caporiacco, 1947 and M. trifidocarinata Caporiacco, 1947 are confirmed as synonyms of M. nigritarsis. Six new species from northern/northeastern Brazil are described: M. abaira sp. nov. (♀), M. linae sp. nov. (♂♀), M. pipa sp. nov. (♂♀), M. sinuosa sp. nov. (♂♀), M. spelunca sp. nov. (♂♀) and M. wesolowskae sp. nov. (♂♀). Also, the male of M. argentina is described for the first time. We give new diagnostic illustrations and updated distribution records for all the species of the genus.

Taxonomic notes on the genus Makdiops Crews amp; Harvey, 2011 in India (Araneae: Selenopidae).

The selenopid genus Makdiops Crews Harvey, 2011 was recently erected by Crews and Harvey (2011) with Selenops montigena Simon, 1889 as the type species. The genus represents medium-sized, usually high-altitude-dwelling spiders that can be diagnosed by the pattern of ventral spination of the anterior tibiae and metatarsi (4-3, 3-3 or 3-2) and by the absence of tarsal scopulae (Crews Harvey 2011). The genus is restricted to India (five species) and Nepal (one species) (Crews Harvey 2011; Caleb Sankaran 2020; World Spider Catalog 2020). While erecting the new genus, Crews and Harvey (2011) transferred two species formerly placed in Selenops Latreille, 1819: Selenops montigena Simon, 1889 and Selenops agumbensis Tikader, 1969. However, they did not examine the types of these two species due to their unavailability, and both these transfers were based either only on the original or subsequent descriptions/re-descriptions of these species. In this paper, we present images of the types of these two species and transfer Selenops shevaroyensis Gravely, 1931 to Makdiops. Additionally, we provide supplementary descriptions for the types of M. montigena, M. agumbensis and M. shevaroyensis comb. nov..

A new Indian species of the orb-weaving spider genus Glenognatha Simon, 1887, with a new combination and a new synonymy of Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901) (Araneae, Tetragnathinae).

The spider genus Glenognatha Simon, 1887 (Tetragnathidae) currently has 34 nominal species distributed in Afrotropical region, Indo-Malaya, Nearctic, Neotropics, Oceania and Palearctic regions (Cabra-García Brescovit 2016; World Spider Catalog 2020). It has one representative in India: Glenognatha dentata (Zhu Wen, 1978) (World Spider Catalog 2020). The genus Pachygnatha Sundevall, 1823 currently comprises 46 nominal species distributed in Africa, Holarctic, South and South-East Asia (World Spider Catalog 2020). Biswas and Roy (2004) recorded this genus in India, while they described Pachygnatha silentvalliensis Biswas Roy, 2004. The species is known from its original verbal description only since the genitalic illustrations were apparently not published along with the description (Biswas Roy 2004), thus leaving its identity obscured. To redescribe and illustrate this species, we examined its type material and found that Biswas and Roy (2004) had misidentified the species and in fact it belongs to Tylorida Simon, 1894. In this paper, we describe a new Glenognatha species from the southern Western Ghats of India, transfer Dyschiriognatha ganeshi Bodkhe, Manthen Tanikawa, 2014 to Glenognatha and synonymise P. silentvalliensis with Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901).

Revision of the genus Corythalia C.L. Koch, 1850, part 1: Diagnosis and new species from South America (Araneae: Salticidae: Salticinae: Euophryini).

We propose a revision of the spider genus Corythalia C.L. Koch, 1850 (Salticidae: Euophryini) with a revised genus diagnosis based on examination of all species available to us. In this paper we redescribe all previously described species from South America with revised species diagnoses and describe 20 new species from South America (and the nearby islands). For C. latipes, the type species of the genus Corythalia, a neotype is designated. In total, 52 nominal species of the genus are herein treated, 46 species are recognized as valid. The females of C. waleckii Taczanowski, 1871, C. luctuosa Caporiacco, 1954 and C. latipes (C.L. Koch, 1846) are described for the first time. Corythalia sellata Simon, 1901, erroneously considered as nomen nudum in the present version of the World Spider Catalog, is here recognised as a valid species. Corythalia fulgipedia Crane, 1948 is also considered a valid species and is removed from the synonymy of C. tropica (Mello-Leitão, 1939). One name is considered a nomen dubium (Corythalia variegata Caporiacco, 1954), two are nomina nuda (C. major Simon, 1901; C. dimidiata Simon, 1901). Two species are transferred to other genera: C. argyrochrysos (Mello-Leitão, 1946) to Pachomius Peckham Peckham, 1896 as Pachomius argyrochrysos (Mello-Leitão, 1946), comb. nov. and C. heliophanina (Taczanowski, 1871) to Neonella Gertsch, 1936, as Neonella heliophanina (Taczanowski, 1871), comb. nov. under incertae sedis. One species is synonymised: C. barbipes (Mello-Leitão, 1939) is a junior synonym of C. cincta (Badcock, 1932), syn. nov. The new Corythalia species are: C. conferta sp. nov. (♂♀, Brazil), C. concinna sp. nov. (♀, Brazil), C. drepane sp. nov. (♂♀, Brazil), C. drepanopsis sp. nov. (♀, Brazil), C. antepagmenti sp. nov. (♂♀, Brazil), C. ricti Bayer, sp. nov. (♂, Guyana), C. protensa sp. nov. (♂, Brazil), C. gasnieri sp. nov. (♂, Brazil), C. verhaaghi sp. nov. (♀, Brazil), C. scutellaris Bayer, sp. nov. (♂♀, Ecuador), C. dakryodes Bayer, sp. nov. (♀, Colombia), C. foelixi Bayer, sp. nov. (♂♀, French Guiana), C. longiducta sp. nov. (♀, Brazil), C. latior sp. nov. (♂, Bolivia), C. trochophora Bayer, sp. nov. (♂, Ecuador), C. lineata Bayer, sp. nov. (♂, Guyana), C. hamulifera Bayer, sp. nov. (♂, Ecuador), C. tribulosa sp. nov. (♂, Colombia), C. flagrans sp. nov. (♂, Brazil) and C. fragilis sp. nov. (♂♀, Brazil). Illustrations are provided for all of the new species and for all (primary) type specimens of the species re-described. Hypotheses of possible relationships among the different species of Corythalia are discussed.

On a new synonymy in the spider genus Nephila Leach, 1815 (Araneidae, Nephilinae) from India with supplementary notes on colour polymorphism in the genus.

The golden orb-weaving spider genus Nephila Leach, 1815 currently has four representatives in India: Nephila dirangensis Biswas Biswas, 2006, Nephila kuhlii (Doleschall, 1859), Nephila pilipes (Fabricius, 1793) and Nephila robusta Tikader, 1962 (World Spider Catalog 2020). While N. kuhlii has its type locality in Java (Doleschall 1859) and that of N. pilipes in Australasia (Fabricius 1781), N. dirangensis and N. robusta are both confined to India (World Spider Catalog 2020). Tikader (1962) described the species N. robusta based on a single female specimen collected in West Bengal. The original genitalic illustrations of this species, however, show close resemblance to that of N. pilipes, indicating its possible synonymy with the latter. To confirm the novelty of N. robusta, we examined its type specimen and the result is presented below. Additionally, we discuss the occurrence of colour morphs in the Indian populations of N. pilipes.

On two species of the spider genus Stertinius Simon, 1890 from China (Araneae: Salticidae)

Stertinius Simon, 1890 belongs in the subtribe Simaethina Simon, 1903 of the subfamily Salticinae Blackwall, 1841 (Maddison 2015), which represents a group of small spiders with flatted prosoma and conspicuous, sclerotized sigillae (Logunov et al. 1997; Logunov 2018). Currently, a total of 12 species have been described mainly from East and Southeast Asia, of which five species have only one sex described (World Spider Catalog 2020).

Description of a new Agraecina species from Tunisia (Araneae: Liocranidae), with a review of all species of the genus.

While Liocranidae is a family encompassing 283 species distributed in 32 genera (World Spider Catalog 2019), the genus Agraecina Simon, 1932 currently counts only six described species: Agraecina canariensis Wunderlich, 1992 from the Canaries, A. cristriani (Georgescu, 1989) from Romania, A. hodna Bosmans, 1999 from Algeria, A. lineata (Simon, 1878) from Europe and Kazakhstan, A. rutilia (Simon, 1897) from Sierrra Leone, and A. scupiensis Deltshev, 2016 from Macedonia. During an ecological survey in the north of Tunisia, a new Agraecina species was discovered and is described here. Spiders were collected using pitfall traps in a salt marsh.