New locality records and future habitat suitability of Sassanidotus gracilis (Birula, 1900) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Iran–Afghanistan–Pakistan arid belt

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  New locality records and future habitat suitability of Sassanidotus gracilis (Birula, 1900) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Iran–Afghanistan–Pakistan arid belt Abstract This study reports new locality records from Iran and a climate-based habitat suitability assessment for Sassanidotus gracilis (Birula, 1900) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Iran–Afghanistan–Pakistan arid belt. We document new specimens from Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, with an updated distribution map and illustrations, and we model the species' potential distribution across south-eastern Iran and adjacent parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Habitat suitability was associated mainly with precipitation seasonality, precipitation of the wettest month, precipitation of the driest month, and slope. In an arid setting these rainfall variables are unlikely to indicate a need for moist habitat; they more plausibly track seasonal productivity and the terrain features that provide shelter. Present-day suitable areas...

A new species of the genus Cicurina Menge, 1871 (Araneae: Cicurinidae) from Hachijojima Island, Tokyo, with notes on the congeners in Japan and China

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A new species of the genus Cicurina Menge, 1871 (Araneae: Cicurinidae) from Hachijojima Island, Tokyo, with notes on the congeners in Japan and China

Abstract
A new species of Cicurina, C. auster sp. nov. is described from Hachijojima Island, Tokyo, Japan. The morphology of the copulatory organs of the new species is similar to those of some Cicurina species known in China, while it is clearly different from all the known species from Japan. The results of a comparative examination between the new species and congeners from Japan and China are presented. A presumption about a possibility of the human introduction of the new species from the Ryukyu Islands is mentioned.
Ken-ichi Okumura, Hirotsugu Ono, A new species of the genus Cicurina Menge, 1871 (Araneae: Cicurinidae) from Hachijojima Island, Tokyo, with notes on the congeners in Japan and China, Acta Arachnologica, 2025, Volume 74, Issue 1, Pages 45-49, Released on J-STAGE August 20, 2025, Online ISSN 1880-7852, Print ISSN 0001-5202, https://doi.org/10.2476/asjaa.74.45