New locality records and future habitat suitability of Sassanidotus gracilis (Birula, 1900) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Iran–Afghanistan–Pakistan arid belt

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  New locality records and future habitat suitability of Sassanidotus gracilis (Birula, 1900) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Iran–Afghanistan–Pakistan arid belt Abstract This study reports new locality records from Iran and a climate-based habitat suitability assessment for Sassanidotus gracilis (Birula, 1900) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Iran–Afghanistan–Pakistan arid belt. We document new specimens from Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, with an updated distribution map and illustrations, and we model the species' potential distribution across south-eastern Iran and adjacent parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Habitat suitability was associated mainly with precipitation seasonality, precipitation of the wettest month, precipitation of the driest month, and slope. In an arid setting these rainfall variables are unlikely to indicate a need for moist habitat; they more plausibly track seasonal productivity and the terrain features that provide shelter. Present-day suitable areas...

Studies on spider nomenclature II: a synonymy and misidentification in Asian Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Pholcidae)

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Studies on spider nomenclature II: a synonymy and misidentification in Asian Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Pholcidae)

Abstract
In this work, the synonymy suggested by Yao, Tavano & Li (2013) is confirmed and proposed formally. Furthermore, the material tentatively identified by Huber (2011) as P. gracillimus is determined to be a new species, matching no species known at the time of Huber (2011), nor any of the Pholcus species described after 2011. It is thus formally described herein and nomenclatural implications for the naming of informal species groups in Pholcus is given. 

Sherwood, Danniella. (2025). Studies on spider nomenclature II: a synonymy and misidentification in Asian Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Pholcidae). Arachnology. 20. 34-36. 

Danni Sherwood via ResearchGate