New data on Wangaraneus Mi, Wang & Li, 2024 (Araneae, Araneidae), with descriptions of two new species from Xizang, China

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  New data on Wangaraneus Mi, Wang & Li, 2024 (Araneae, Araneidae), with descriptions of two new species from Xizang, China Abstract New data on Wangaraneus Mi, Wang & Li, 2024 are provided based on morphological examination and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ( COI ) sequencing. Two new species from Xizang, China, W. delicatus Mi & Wang, sp. nov . and Wangaraneus fencha Mi & Wang, sp. nov ., are described and illustrated based on both sexes. In addition, two new combinations are proposed and established: W. cruciformis (Yin, Peng & Wang, 1994), comb. nov ., transferred from Singa C.L. Koch, 1836, and W. quadrituberculatus (Roy, Sen, Saha & Raychaudhuri, 2014), comb. nov ., transferred from Chorizopes O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871. Wangaraneus zioni (Mi, Li & Pham, 2023), syn. nov . is synonymized with W. cruciformis . The newly described species are diagnosed based on detailed comparisons of somatic morphology and copulatory org...

Non-Acarine Arachnids in the Ndumo Game Reserve: Celebrating 100 Years of Research

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Non-Acarine Arachnids in the Ndumo Game Reserve: Celebrating 100 Years of Research

Abstract

The state of scientific research on the non-acarine arachnids of the Ndumo Game Reserve is presented and its status as a biodiversity hotspot is supported by the exceptionally rich diversity of spiders (573 spp.), pseudoscorpions (11 spp.), scorpions (8 spp.), harvestmen (6 spp.), solifuges (2 spp.) and whip spiders (1 sp.), totalling 601 spp. Aside from baseline biodiversity research, biological research on spiders has focused on microhabitat preferences, reproductive biology and competition in web-building spiders; dietary breath, spatiotemporal distribution and predatory behaviour of myrmecophagous, araneophagous and termitophagous spiders; mimicry in myrmecomorphic spiders; and the provision of information on the microhabitat preferences of a broad range of species. Ecological studies have investigated bark-, ground- and canopy-dwelling assemblages, while karyological and taxonomic studies have covered a broad range of spider, harvestmen and pseudoscorpion taxa. Future research should build on this foundation by continuing biological research on the broad range of species available, generating more information on assemblage differences between biotopes and over longer temporal scales, and utilizing spiders and potentially other arachnids as bioindicators of ecological change.

Charles R. Haddad "Non-Acarine Arachnids in the Ndumo Game Reserve: Celebrating 100 Years of Research," African Journal of Wildlife Research, 55(sp1), (5 February 2025) https://doi.org/10.3957/056.055.0081