First record of Thaumasia Perty, 1833 nursery web spider (Araneae: Pisauridae) preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Neotropical region

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  First record of Thaumasia Perty, 1833 nursery web spider (Araneae: Pisauridae) preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Neotropical region Abstract Thaumasia Perty, 1833 are opportunistic spiders that inhabit the Neotropical region. This study reports a spider of the genus Thaumasia preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) in semiarid region of Brazil. A spider of the genus Thaumasia was observed moving rapidly from the fountain's water surface to capture an individual of P. canadensis . After successfully capturing the wasp, Thaumasia sp. was observed partially perched on the wall of the fountain, with the prey still on the water surface and trapped by its chelicerae. The pedipalps and chelicerae of Thaumasia sp. manipulated the head of P. canadensis , which stopped moving shortly after being captured, probably because of the action of the spider's venom. The study records a wasp in the diet of Thaumasia based on the ca...

A revision of the genus Monoblemma Gertsch, 1941 (Araneae: Tetrablemmidae) in Central America and the Caribbean

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A revision of the genus Monoblemma Gertsch, 1941 (Araneae: Tetrablemmidae) in Central America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The armored spider genus Monoblemma Gertsch, 1941 is revised. The examination of the type specimens of Caraimatta cambridgei (Bryant, 1940) from Soledad, Cuba indicates that the species is misplaced in the genus Caraimatta. It is here transferred to Monoblemma based on morphological evidence and is designated as the senior synonym of Monoblemma muchmorei Shear, 1978. A new species, Monoblemma cubaensis sp. nov., is described from Santiago de Cuba based on both sexes. The transfer of Monoblemma browni Shear, 1978 to Shearella Lehtinen is reinstated, the species is redescribed, and the female is described for the first time. Images of the type species Monoblemma unicum Gertsch, 1941 are provided, along with an updated distribution map and an identification key for the species of the genus.

Martínez, L. (2025) A revision of the genus Monoblemma Gertsch, 1941 (Araneae: Tetrablemmidae) in Central America and the Caribbean. Zootaxa, 5636 (2), 287–315. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5636.2.4