Thermal ecology of Plesiopelma longisternale: novel insights and comparative analysis with a sympatric species

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  Thermal ecology of Plesiopelma longisternale: novel insights and comparative analysis with a sympatric species Abstract Understanding thermal responses in ectotherms is key to assessing vulnerability to climate change. Tarantulas (Theraphosidae) are informative models due to their sedentary lifestyle, long life cycles, and reliance on specific microhabitats. We present the first integrative assessment of the thermal ecology of Plesiopelma longisternale , a widespread Argentine species, combining experimentally derived thermal limits and thermal preferences with species distribution models, and compare its thermal profile with the sympatric Grammostola vachoni to explore patterns of thermal niche differentiation. Plesiopelma longisternale showed a minimum thermal limit near 4 °C, a maximum near 44 °C, a thermal optimum of 29.5 °C, a narrow thermal performance breadth, and a preferred temperature of approximately 32 °C. Models integrating climatic and thermal parameters predicted...

Two new species and a new combination in Aculithus Liu & Li, 2022 (Araneae: Phrurolithidae) from South China

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Two new species and a new combination in Aculithus Liu & Li, 2022 (Araneae: Phrurolithidae) from South China

Abstract

Background

Jiangxi Province has gradually become a hotspot for research on the family Phrurolithidae Banks, 1892, with 64 new species discovered in the past five years. Notably, over half of the currently known Aculithus species (5 species) were recorded in this region. However, studies have primarily focused on southern Jiangxi, while northern Jiangxi and remote mountainous areas remain under-surveyed. Many unknown Phrurolithidae species are still likely to be discovered within the Province.

New information

Two new species, Aculithus languan Jiang & Liu, sp. nov. and A. ruijin Jiang & Liu, sp. nov., are described from Jiangxi Province, China. Morphological illustrations, SEM pictures, photos of live specimens and a distribution map are given. Additionally, a new combination, A. taoyuan (Fu, Chen & Zhang, 2016) comb. nov., is proposed. The total number of the known species of Aculithus from China is raised to 12, including the three species treated in the present paper.

Jiang Z, Wang Z, Lyu X, Yang J, Liu K (2025) Two new species and a new combination in Aculithus Liu & Li, 2022 (Araneae: Phrurolithidae) from South China. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e153747. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e153747