An Overlooked Species of Enigmatic Wolf Spider (Araneae: Lycosidae) Clarifies the Mysterious Distribution of its Sibling

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  An Overlooked Species of Enigmatic Wolf Spider (Araneae: Lycosidae) Clarifies the Mysterious Distribution of its Sibling Abstract Several wolf spiders exhibit a peculiar geographical distribution. One good example of this is Pardosa aenigmatica Tongiorgi, 1966, recently recognized in Italy and the Middle East but missing in the Balkans. A comparison of populations from the disjunctive areas revealed that they would be better described as two distinct species. As a result, here we describe Pardosa sepidehae sp. nov. The paper includes detailed descriptions and comparative illustrations of male and female copulatory organs for the newly discovered species and P. aenigmatica. Pardosa sepidehae sp. nov. is distributed in the Middle East, whereas P. aenigmatica remains endemic to the Apennine Peninsula. Adile Akpinar, Petr Dolejš "An Overlooked Species of Enigmatic Wolf Spider (Araneae: Lycosidae) Clarifies the Mysterious Distribution of its Sibling," Annales Zoologici, 76(29), ...

A Review of the Relationships of Australian Funnel-Web Spiders with a New Species of Funnel-Web Spider from Far North-Eastern Tasmania (Hexathelidae: Atracinae: Araneae)

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A Review of the Relationships of Australian Funnel-Web Spiders with a New Species of Funnel-Web Spider from Far North-Eastern Tasmania (Hexathelidae: Atracinae: Araneae)

Abstract

A new species of funnel-web spider, Hadronyche simonfearni, is described from far north-eastern Tasmania. The family status is reviewed. Shortcomings including misidentifications and absence of supporting procedures in molecular analyses placing Atracidae as sister group to the Actinopodidae are identified and solutions proposed. The use of unanalysed venom data of the Atracidae in proposing relationship is rejected. The diagnoses of Macrothelidae and Porrhothelidae, as well as that of the Atracidae are rejected as non-diagnostic. They are the closest relatives to each other, as shown by repeated morphological analyses, with further doubt being cast upon limited molecular analyses through misidentifications. The Atracinae are replaced in the Hexathelidae and the Macrothelidae and Porrhothelidae placed in the Macrothelinae, also in the Hexathelidae. New genera and a subgenus proposed by Hoser (2017) are rejected.

Raven, R. J. & Douglas, J. C. (2025). A review of the relationships of Australian funnel-web spiders with a new species of funnel-web spider from far north-eastern Tasmania (Hexathelidae: Atracinae: Araneae). Record of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery 122: 1-16.