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...

First records of the harvestman Dicranopalpus larvatus (Canestrini, 1874) from Belgium and the Netherlands (Opiliones: Phalangiidae)

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First records of the harvestman Dicranopalpus larvatus (Canestrini, 1874) from Belgium and the Netherlands (Opiliones: Phalangiidae)

Abstract
The harvestman Dicranopalpus larvatus (Canestrini, 1874) is reported for the first time for Belgium as well as for the Netherlands. It is a very rare species of Italian origin. From 2019 onward, D. larvatus was found in Great Britain and several other British islands. It is a small and ground-dwelling species. Both sexes are easy to distinguish from the common Dicranopalpus ramosus Simon, 1909 by their contrasting dorsal colour pattern. As a 'winter species', adults are mostly observed from December to February. Climate change, resulting in milder winter temperatures, likely will allow this species to colonize Western European regions with an oceanic climate regime. 

De Smedt, Pallieter & Vanhercke, Luc & Stevens, Sebastiaan & Lock, Koen & Sluijter, Maarten & Wijnhoven, Hay. (2025). First records of the harvestman Dicranopalpus larvatus (Canestrini, 1874) from Belgium and the Netherlands (Opiliones: Phalangiidae). 2025.