Notes on Indian wolf spiders: IV. Transfer of species previously included in the genera Crocodilosa Caporiacco, 1947 and Geolycosa Montgomery, 1904 (Araneae: Lycosidae)

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  Notes on Indian wolf spiders: IV. Transfer of species previously included in the genera Crocodilosa Caporiacco, 1947 and Geolycosa Montgomery, 1904 (Araneae: Lycosidae) The enigmatic Crocodilosa Caporiacco, 1947 sensu lato currently consists of five nominal species distributed in Africa and Asia (World Spider Catalog 2026). It was established for C. kittenbergeri Caporiacco, 1947, with a superficial generic diagnosis relying only on somatic features such as length of eye rows, leg spination and relative leg lengths (Caporiacco 1947). Roewer (1955), following Caporiacco’s (1947) generic diagnosis, drastically increased the number of Crocodilosa species by transferring several species from other lycosid genera, but most of these subsequently added species were later reassigned to their appropriate genera (World Spider Catalog 2026), highlighting the need for a re-examination of the type species and remaining congeners to clarify the validity of Crocodilosa. At present, the genus ha...

Five new species of mouse spiders in the genus Missulena (Mygalomorphae: Actinopodidae) from national parks and conservation reserves in Western Australia

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Five new species of mouse spiders in the genus Missulena (Mygalomorphae: Actinopodidae) from national parks and conservation reserves in Western Australia


Abstract


We describe five new species of mouse spiders, genus Missulena Walckenaer, 1805 (family Actinopodidae Simon, 1892), from national parks and / or conservation reserves in Western Australia, based on somatic and genitalic characteristics, and molecular data where these were available: Missulena durokoppin sp. nov., M. gelasinos sp. nov., M. ignea sp. nov., M. minima sp. nov., and M. terra sp. nov. Three of these species, M. ignea sp. nov., M. durokoppin sp. nov., and M. minima sp. nov have very limited known distributions, being known only from a single park or reserve.


Marsh, J. R. et al. (2023) Five new species of mouse spiders in the genus Missulena (Mygalomorphae: Actinopodidae) from national parks and conservation reserves in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Taxonomy. [Online] 361–23. [online]. Available from: https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/Five-new-species-of-mouse-spiders/991005602568507891#file-0.