Big Spider, Big Genome: Chromosome-level genome of a North American tarantula (Aphonopelma marxi) and comparative genomics across 300 million years of spider evolution

Posted by
  Image Credit: WikiCommons Big Spider, Big Genome: Chromosome-level genome of a North American tarantula (Aphonopelma marxi) and comparative genomics across 300 million years of spider evolution Abstract The comparison of chromosome-level genomes allows biologists to investigate new axes of organismal evolution. Spiders comprise a significant proportion of known arachnid diversity, with many complex morphologies and unique natural histories, yet comparative genomics in spiders has been limited due to the number of available genomes. We present a de novo chromosomal reference genome of a mature male tarantula, Aphonopelma marxi, and comparatively examine spider genome evolution across the Order Araneae. Using PacBio HiFi and Hi-C sequencing, the final 6.5 Gb assembly consists of 17 autosomes, 1 X chromosome, and 127 unplaced scaffolds, with an N50 of 370 Mb and Arachnida (odb10; 2934 genes) BUSCO of 96.7%. By comparing 20 additional spider genomes from 15 families, we find mygalomo...

A web of canopy discoveries part I (Araneae: Araneidae). New astonishing species of orb-weaving spiders from Ecuador and the first country record of Pozonia Schenkel, 1953

Posted by

 


A web of canopy discoveries part I (Araneae: Araneidae). New astonishing species of orb-weaving spiders from Ecuador and the first country record of Pozonia Schenkel, 1953

Abstract

Two new species from the family Araneidae are described: a new species from the monotypic orb-weaving genus Spinepeira Levi, 1995, Spinepeira erwini sp. nov. (♀), and a new species of Scoloderus Simon, 1887, Scoloderus neilli sp. nov. (♀), are described from the Ecuadorian Amazon. Both species were collected with insecticidal canopy knockdown. Furthermore, herein, we present the first images of Spinepeira’s internal genitalia, and the first country record of Pozonia Schenkel, 1953 is reported with Pozonia bacillifera (Simon, 1897) collected in the canopy of Tiputini in Ecuador.

Díaz-Guevara, D.R. & Dupérré, N. (2025) A web of canopy discoveries part I (Araneae: Araneidae). New astonishing species of orb-weaving spiders from Ecuador and the first country record of Pozonia Schenkel, 1953. Zootaxa, 5660 (4), 587–595. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5660.4.9