World Spider Catalog Research Articles

A new Zoropsis species from China, with notes on Zoropsis pekingensis Schenkel, 1953 (Araneae, Zoropsidae).

The family Zoropsidae is currently represented by 15 genera and 87 species (World Spider Catalog2015). Zoropsids are medium to large size spiders, with a narrow, bipartite cribellum and calamistrum; eight eyes in two rows, anterior eye row nearly straight, posterior row strongly recurved; median furrow longitudinal; toothed chelicerae; tibiae and metatarsi I, II equipped with several pairs of ventral spines; metatarsi and tarsi bearing scopulae; two tarsal claws (Bosselaers 2002). They are often collected from houses, under stones or in leaf litter in forest.

Castianeira furva sp. nov. (Araneae, Corinnidae, Castianeirinae), a new polymorphic ground sac spider from the southern Western Ghats of India.

The ground-dwelling, ant-mimicking corinnid spider genus Castianeira, with Castianeira rubicunda as type species, was erected by Keyserling (1879). Members of the genus are closely related to the Afrotropical genus Cambalida Simon, 1910 (Haddad 2012a) and are distributed mainly in tropical and temperate regions of the world except for Australia and nearby islands (World Spider Catalog 2015). The genus was revised from the Nearctic Region and south-east Asia (Reiskind 1969 and Deeleman-Reinhold 2001, respectively) and currently includes 126 described species, making it as the largest genus within the family Corinnidae (World Spider Catalog 2015). Even though the genus is rich in species, the validity and placement of majority of the species are still doubtful and questionable. For example, according to Haddad (2012b), many of the Afrotropical species, as well as majority of the species described from India (Haddad, pers. comm.) are misplaced or synonyms of previously described ones (e.g. Haddad 2012a, 2013a). The genus thus will remain as a trash-can until all the species described so far can be revised.

On the spider genus Neonella (Araneae: Salticidae): new records and taxonomic notes for species from southern South America.

The genus Neonella Gertsch, 1936 contains 12 species with an exclusive New World distribution (World Spider Catalog 2015). The genus was proposed by Gertsch (1936) to include N. vinnula Gertsch, 1936 from Florida and Texas, USA. Remaining species were added by Galiano (1965, 1988, 1998) and, more recently, Edwards (2003), Ruiz & Brescovit (2004), and Ruiz et al. (2007).

Description of the male of Dolomedes raptoroides Zhang, Zhu & Song, 2004 (Araneae: Lycosoidea: Pisauridae).

Dolomedes Latreille, 1804 is the most diverse genus in Pisauridae, with 98 described species and a wide range of distribution on every continent, except Antarctica (World Spider Catalog 2014). The genus has never been comprehensively revised. Roewer's (1955) monograph covered African species of the genus; Carico (1973) revised the Nearctic species; Vink & Dupérré 2010 revised the four Dolomedes species of New Zealand.

Redescription of the orb-weaving spider Gasteracantha geminata (Fabricius, 1798) (Araneae, Araneidae)

The orb-weaving spider genus Gasteracantha Sundevall, 1833 (Araneidae) is notable for its pronounced sexual size dimorphism. Gasteracantha females are characterized by having a highly sclerotized "spiny" abdomen varying in relative size and number of spines, as well as abdomen dorsally and ventrally provided with varying numbers of sigillae (Cambridge 1879). The genus currently includes 70 described species and 31 subspecies (World Spider Catalog 2014). The Oriental species Gasteracantha geminata (Fabricius, 1798) was originally described from Ramnad (now known as Ramanathapuram) in Tamilnadu State of Southern India based on an unspecified number of female specimen(s). The female of this species has been described and illustrated several times by various authors. Its male is only known from the description of Simon (1895). Simon's original description of the male of G. geminata was supported by two simple but beautiful and informative illustrations: a retrolateral view of the cephalothorax and a dorsal view of the abdomen (Simon 1895, figs. 886, 887). However we lack a clear and detailed description of the male genitalia. The present paper provides detailed redescription of G. geminata and illustrations of the male pedipalp.

The long-lasting story of the wrong naming ofSilometopus ambiguusasS. curtus(Araneae: Linyphiidae)

doi: 10.5431/aramit4707 Abstract. Silometopus ambiguus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1905) is a species occurring in coastal habitats from north- eastern to western Europe. S. curtus (Simon, 1881), occurring in southern France and north-eastern Spain, was for a long time mixed up with S. ambiguus, even though corrections have been published very early and several times. This contribution summarizes publications on this topic, discusses doubtful records of both species and proposes corrections for the World Spider Catalog; and thus tries to avoid repetitions of the mistake in the future.

A poorly known species of the spider genus Xysticus C. L. Koch (Araneae, Thomisidae) in Turkey

world, with 360 species listed in the latest version (9.0) of the world spider catalog (P l a t n i c k , 2008). Among them, 37 species are known for the Turkish fauna (P l a t n i c k , 2008; To p c u et al. 2005; L o g u n o v and D e m i r , 2006; L o g u n o v, 2006; D e m i r et al. 2006; 2008a, 2008b). They have stout bodies with strong legs and are usually found under stones or bark. They bear some resemblance to the genus Ozyptila Simon, 1864 but have the median ocular trapezium square or broader than long. The head region is generally furnished with fairly long spines whereas Ozyptila have shorter, club-shaped hairs. The abdominal patterns in Xysticus tend to be made up of triangles and bars, whereas Ozyptila generally have rounded marbling and swirls (Roberts, 1995). The spider fauna of Turkey, despite its outstanding zoogeographical interest, is rather poorly known when compared to other regions of the world. In this brief paper, we report X. marusiki Ono & Martens, 2005 as a new record for the Turkish araneofauna.

Checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of South Asia including the 2006 update of Indian spider checklist

After one year since publication of the Indian Checklist, this is an attempt to provide a comprehensive checklist of spiders of South Asia with eight countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Indian checklist is also updated for 2006. The South Asian spider list is also compiled following The World Spider Catalog by Platnick and other peer-reviewed publications since the last update. In total, 2299 species of spiders in 67 families have been reported from South Asia. There are 39 species included in this regions checklist that are not listed in the World Catalog of Spiders. Taxonomic verification is recommended for 51 species. Changes in the Indian spider checklist have been highlighted in this paper. The paper lists emendations, extralimital distribution, incertae sedis, new combinations, nomina nuda, nomina dubia, transfers, synonyms, etc. The checklist is updated up to 31 December 2006.

Indian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae): Updated checklist 2005

© Zoo Outreach Organisation; www.zoosprint.org Manuscript 1283; Received 09 November 2004; Revised received 20 May 2005; Finally accepted 24 August 2005; Date of publication 21 September 2005 1999 ABSTRACT This is the first attempt to update the list of spiders described formally in India. The list is compiled following Platnick's The World Spider Catalog. Extensive search of scientific peerreviewed publications in the region revealed 40 new species, which are not included in Platnick's list. The checklist is compared extensively with Tikader's list. In all, 1442 species of spiders in 59 families have been listed as described formally from India. Taxonomic verification is recommended for 51 species. Seventy-nine species listed by Tikader do not occur in India. Fifty-three species listed by Dyal and included in Platnick's list do not occur in India. The paper lists replacement names, incertae sedis, nomina nuda, nomina dubia, transfers, synonyms, wrong taxonomic placements, Dyal's species, etc. The checklist is updated up to 15 August 2005.