Two New Lynx Spider Species of Hamadruas and Oxyopes and the First Record of Hamadruas Thorell, 1887 (Araneae: Oxyopidae) from Wai, Maharashtra, India

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  Two New Lynx Spider Species of Hamadruas and Oxyopes and the First Record of Hamadruas Thorell, 1887 (Araneae: Oxyopidae) from Wai, Maharashtra, India Abstract The present study reports two oxyopid spider species from Wai, Satara District, Maharashtra, India, based on morphological examination of specimens collected from the Kisan Veer Mahavidyalaya campus. The specimens were collected using hand-collection and sweep-net methods, preserved in 70% ethanol, and examined under a stereotrinocular microscope. Diagnostic structures, including the female epigyne and male palp, were studied after dissection, and distribution maps were prepared using QGIS. Hamadruas kvmensis sp. nov. is characterised by distinct dark elongated spermathecal lobes, a rounded central region forming the median fertilisation duct, curved copulatory ducts, and a male palp with an elongated curved cymbium, large bulb, prominent tegulum, slender embolus, conductor, tibial apophysis and sensory setae. Oxyopes wai...

Different, but still the same: integrative taxonomy confirms a new species of Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae) from the South Caucasus

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Different, but still the same: integrative taxonomy confirms a new species of Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae) from the South Caucasus

Abstract

This study represents the first step toward a systematic revision of the velvet spider genus Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 in the Caucasus. Here, Eresus transcaucasicus sp. nov. is described using an integrative approach, based on male specimens collected from the South Caucasus. The species was previously reported as E. kollari Rossi, 1846 from Armenia and as Eresus sp. from Georgia. Intraspecific variations in both coloration patterns and conductor shape, which have been rarely documented in this genus, are illustrated. The validity of previous records of E. kollari in the region is discussed.

Zamani A, Seropian A, Zarikian N, Bulbulashvili N, Szűts T (2025) Different, but still the same: integrative taxonomy confirms a new species of Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae, Eresidae) from the South Caucasus. ZooKeys 1249: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1249.159081