What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae)

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  What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae) Abstract We designate a neotype for the Eurasian spider species Araneus angulatus Clerck, 1757, thereby fixing the objective application of the species name, the genus name Araneus Clerck 1757, the family name Araneidae Clerck 1757, and the superfamily name Araneoidea Clerck 1757. By etymology and arachnological tradition, it also unofficially fixes the application of the ordinal name Araneae Clerck 1757 and thus answers the uncontroversial question, “What’s a spider?” A. angulatus also happens to be historically the first animal species ever described because Clerck (1757) has priority over Linnaeus (1758). Neotype designation is justified for three reasons: the syntypes of A. angulatus are lost; “ A. angulatus ” contains significant COI sequence divergence, potentially representing intraspecific variation, misidentifications, or as many...

Description of a new species of the genus Potosa Goodnight & Goodnight, 1947 (Opiliones: Laniatores: Stygnopsidae: Karosinae) from Hidalgo, Mexico

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Description of a new species of the genus Potosa Goodnight & Goodnight, 1947 (Opiliones: Laniatores: Stygnopsidae: Karosinae) from Hidalgo, Mexico

Abstract

Potosa pisaflores sp. nov.is described based on specimens  collected  from  Cueva  del  Caracol,  Pisaflores,  Hidalgo, Mexico. This is the fourth species of the genus and only the second in which females have been collected. The new   species   is   similar   to   Potosa   dybasi   Goodnight   &   Goodnight,  1947,  but  it  can  be  recognized  by  the  high  number  of  tarsomeres  on  legs  II  and  the  general  shape  of  male genitalia.

Cruz López, Jesús Alberto. 2025. «Description of a New Species of the Genus Potosa Goodnight & Goodnight, 1947 (Opiliones: Laniatores: Stygnopsidae: Karosinae) from Hidalgo, Mexico ». ACTA ZOOLÓGICA MEXICANA (N.S.) 41 (1):1-8. https://doi.org/10.21829/azm.2025.4112769.