On a new genus of dwarf tarantulas (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) endemic from Peru: evidence from morphology and molecular phylogeny, with description of three new species

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  On a new genus of dwarf tarantulas ( Araneae : Mygalomorphae : Theraphosidae ) endemic from Peru: evidence from morphology and molecular phylogeny, with description of three new species Abstract Recent field campaigns conducted in Peru along with the examination of museum specimens allowed us to identify small tarantulas that do not fit with any known Theraphosidae genera. Morphology and additional molecular evidence from the mitochondrial gene COI led us to propose Kiskalla gen. nov . from southern Peru, at Puno region. Three new species of Kiskalla gen. nov . ( K. ignacioi sp. nov ., K. yeisoni sp. nov . and K. zukuapasanka sp. nov .) are herein described, diagnosed and illustrated. Kiskalla gen. nov . differs from the known Theraphosinae genera in the presence of lateral stripes on the abdomen and a small dorsal arrowhead-shaped patch of type III urticating setae, presence of a large number of spines on all legs, short and stout setae on the dorsal metatarsi encirc...

On a new synonym in the genus Sphingius Thorell, 1890 from India (Araneae: Liocranidae)

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On a new synonym in the genus Sphingius Thorell, 1890 from India (Araneae: Liocranidae)

Simon (1906) described the liocranid species Sphingius bilineatus Simon, 1906 based on a single female specimen collected from the Puducherry Union Territory of India. The original description of this species (Simon 1906) lacks illustrations of the genital organs, which hinders its accurate taxonomic identification. Gravely (1931) redescribed and illustrated S. bilineatus based on male and female specimens collected from the southern Indian state of Kerala, located approximately 283 km away from its type locality (Mahé). In the same work, he also described another species, Sphingius barkudensis Gravely, 1931 based on male and female specimens, collected from the Barkuda Island (Odisha) and Bengaluru (Karnataka), India. While redescribing S. barkudensis, Sankaran et al. (2020) suggested, but did not formally establish, a possible synonymy of S. barkudensis with S. bilineatus, based on Gravely’s illustration of the latter species (Gravely 1931: fig. 19J–K). A recent examination of the holotype female of S. bilineatus supports this assumption. 

Therefore, the synonymy of S. barkudensis with S. bilineatus is formally proposed here. Abbreviations used in the text: MNHN—Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; NZC-ZSI—National Zoological Collections, Arachnida Section, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. 

I am grateful to Elise-Anne Leguin, MNHN, Paris for sharing the information and the images of the holotype female of S. bilineatus. Many thanks to Dr Jimmy Paul, Division of Arachnology, Sacred Heart College, Thevara for the distribution map. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Drs John Caleb (Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Tamil Nadu, India) and Feng Zhang (Hebei University, China) for their constructive comments on the manuscript, and to Dr Charles Haddad (University of the Free State, South Africa) for his editorial efforts.