First catalog of spiders of Egypt (Araneae)

Posted by
  First catalog of spiders of Egypt (Araneae) Abstract This study provides a comprehensive catalog of the spider fauna of Egypt, comprising 389 species assigned to 197 genera and 40 families. For each species, all published locality records are compiled and accompanied by complete bibliographic references. The dataset has been carefully reviewed and critically evaluated in light of the most recent taxonomic and faunistic information. Among the recorded species, 55 (14.13%) are currently known only from Egypt and are thus considered endemic. Based on the World Spider Catalog (2026), 28 species are treated as nomina dubia, 23 species lack confirmed records from Egypt, which is not correct, 10 have to be omitted from the Egyptian list and 8 are species inquirenda. Despite the relatively high number of documented species, the Egyptian araneofauna remains insufficiently explored. Given the country’s ecological diversity and biogeographical position, further research is expected to signi...

A comparative morphology of trichobothrial bases in araneoid spiders and its significance for the phylogeny and system of the superfamily Araneoidea (Arachnida, Araneae)

Posted by

 


A comparative morphology of trichobothrial bases in araneoid spiders and its significance for the phylogeny and system of the superfamily Araneoidea (Arachnida, Araneae)

Abstract

Bothrial morphology was studied by SEM in 137 araneoid genera representing all 22 currently recognized extant families and all 42 conventional subfamilies of the Araneoidea. The ancestral type in the superfamily Araneoidea is a ‘hooded’ bothrium with a single well-developed transverse ridge, dividing its proximal and distal plates (‘Erigone-type’); the advanced type is a solid dome-like bothrium without vestiges of the ridge (‘Theridion-type’); there are several intermediate types reflecting various pathways and stages of the ridge reduction (united here as ‘Argiope-type’). The parallel trends in bothrial evolution, recognized as continuous series from the ancestral type up to the advanced one through some intermediate stages, are distinguished in each of the seven main phylogenetic lineages of the superfamily: ‘tetragnathoids’, ‘araneoids’, ‘cyatholipoids’, and ‘theridioids’ possess a complete set of the three types, while ‘malkariods’, ‘symphytognathoids’. and ‘linyphioids’ lack the advanced, dome-like type (‘Theridion-type’). Only three taxa have been proposed earlier as the sister group of the superfamily Araneoidea: Nicodamoidea, Deinopoidea, and Leptonetoidea; morphology of bothria, as well as other cuticular microstructures, clearly supports the araneoid-nicodamoid relationship hypothesis, purely ‘molecular’ to date. Bothrial morphology provides the additional arguments for several taxonomic acts, e.g., for the reranking the Agnarsson’s (2004) ‘clade 35’ (Theonoe, Carniella, Robertus, and Pholcomma) up to the Theonoeinae Simon, 1894, stat. nov., and for the revalidation the micropholcommatid Plectochetos Butler, 1932, gen. revalid. and zygiellid Parazygiella Wunderlich, 2004, gen. revalid.

Eskov KY, Marusik YM (2024) A comparative morphology of trichobothrial bases in araneoid spiders and its significance for the phylogeny and system of the superfamily Araneoidea (Arachnida, Araneae). ZooKeys 1219: 1-60. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1219.133002