A Remarkable Discovery: Exploring a Rare Eresus and Spider Wasp Interaction

  Photo Credit: © Antonino Rametta . All photographs are used with permission. No part of these images may be reproduced, distributed, or used in any form without the prior written permission of the photographer. A Remarkable Discovery: Exploring a Rare Eresus and Spider Wasp Interaction One of the most rewarding aspects of maintaining Arácnido Taxonomy is hearing from naturalists and photographers around the world who take the time to share their discoveries. Every so often, an email arrives that immediately captures your attention. Not because it claims to rewrite what we know about biodiversity, but because it documents something that very few people have the opportunity to witness. Recently, I was contacted by a naturalist in Sicily who shared a series of exceptionally high-quality photographs of a female ladybird spider ( Eresus ) during what appeared to be an interaction with a spider wasp. Along with the images came a simple question: "Could this be scientifically import...

Flatties in Italy: online naturalist networks confirm a wide distribution of Selenops radiatus (Araneae: Selenopidae) in southeastern Sicily

 


Flatties in Italy: online naturalist networks confirm a wide distribution of Selenops radiatus (Araneae: Selenopidae) in southeastern Sicily


Abstract


In Italy, the selenopid spider Selenops radiatus Latreille, 1819, was hitherto only known from the Aeolian Archipelago (northeastern Sicily), with a record from the island of Alicudi and plausible sightings from the island of Filicudi. In this paper, we present twentysix new records from Sicily sensu stricto and its satellite islands, consisting of observations gathered from online naturalist networks and one adult specimen collected from the area where most observations were made. Nearly all records were made in buildings or similar artificial habitats, supporting the hypothesis that occurrences of S. radiatus are mainly limited to synanthropic environments in Sicily.


Dentici, Antonino & Galasso, Paolo & Faraone, Francesco Paolo. (2024). Flatties in Italy: online naturalist networks confirm a wide distribution of Selenops radiatus (Araneae: Selenopidae) in southeastern Sicily. Arachnologische Mitteilungen Arachnology Letters. 67. 13-17. 10.30963/aramit6703.