A new Cataleptoneta species (Araneae, Leptonetidae) from sulfidic caves in Greece and Albania

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  A new Cataleptoneta species (Araneae, Leptonetidae) from sulfidic caves in Greece and Albania Abstract A new species of the genus Cataleptoneta Denis, 1955, Cataleptoneta sulfur sp. nov ., is described from caves in the Vromoner Canyon (Sarandaporo River Valley), on the Greek–Albanian border (northwestern Greece and southern Albania), on the basis of both sexes. Drawings, scanning electron micrographs, and digital images of diagnostic features are presented. Analysis of COI mitochondrial barcode sequences confirmed the species distinction from all the other sequences. Within the species two separate lineages, unique to each cave were found. The genus Cataleptoneta is not monophyletic as now circumscribed and confirmed also by the phylogenetic analysis of the sequences. Urák I, Ştefan A, Motoc RM, Brad T, Zsigmond A-R, Sarbu SM, Szűts T (2026) A new Cataleptoneta species (Araneae, Leptonetidae) from sulfidic caves in Greece and Albania. ZooKeys 1294: 89-107. https://doi.org/...

And they just keep coming: four new genera of dark sac spiders from southern Africa (Araneae, Trachelidae)

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And they just keep coming: four new genera of dark sac spiders from southern Africa (Araneae, Trachelidae)

Abstract

As part of ongoing revisions of the Afrotropical Trachelidae, four new genera are described from southern Africa: Foordana gen. nov., with F. distincta sp. nov. from South Africa (Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape) as the type species, F. flavipoda sp. nov. from the Free State, F. kasouga sp. nov. from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and a fourth undescribed species from Zimbabwe; the monotypic Mushimane gen. nov., with M. tswibilinki sp. nov. from KwaZulu-Natal as the type species; Namaquella gen. nov., with N. arida sp. nov. from the Northern Cape as the type species and N. samanthae sp. nov. from the Western Cape; and Rukuluk gen. nov. from South Africa, with R. gramineus sp. nov. from the Northern Cape as the type species and a second undescribed species from KwaZulu-Natal known only from juveniles.

Haddad CR (2025) And they just keep coming: four new genera of dark sac spiders from southern Africa (Araneae, Trachelidae). African Invertebrates 66(1): 19-64. https://doi.org/10.3897/AfrInvertebr.66.139299