A new species of Dolomedes Latreille, 1804 (Araneae: Dolomedidae) from the island of New Guinea

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  A new species of Dolomedes Latreille, 1804 (Araneae: Dolomedidae) from the island of New Guinea Abstract A new species, Dolomedes afi sp. n., is diagnosed and described from New Guinea Island (Papua New Guinea) based on both sexes. The new species is similar to the Australian species D. alexandri Raven & Hebron, 2018, D. vicque Raven & Hebron, 2018 and D. wollemi Raven & Hebron, 2018, but differs from them in the structure of the copulatory organs. The new species exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism in body coloration. A detailed description and digital photographs are provided. The collecting localities of Dolomedes species in New Guinea are mapped. Fomichev, A. A., & Omelko, M. M. (2026). A new species of Dolomedes Latreille, 1804 (Araneae: Dolomedidae) from the island of New Guinea.  Acta Biologica Sibirica ,  12 , 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19563050

Persian treasures: integrative taxonomy reveals high species’ diversity of ladybird spiders (Araneae: Eresidae: Eresus)

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Persian treasures: integrative taxonomy reveals high species’ diversity of ladybird spiders (Araneae: Eresidae: Eresus)

Abstract

The genus Eresus Walckenaer, 1805 includes some of the world’s most charismatic spiders; however, its taxonomy requires considerable improvement. Not only are morphological studies lagging behind, but the molecular exploration of the genus is still in its infancy. This is especially true for the Caucasian, Middle Eastern, and East Asian faunas. In this study, we describe seven new Eresus species from Iran based on males. We also provide new illustrations of E. hermani Kovács et al., 2015 based on both male paratypes and of E. sandaliatus (Martini and Goeze, 1778) based on specimens from the Netherlands. Previous records of the genus in Iran are also re-evaluated. In total, we generated 18 new DNA barcodes (representing 16 species), and performed phylogenetic analyses for 33 sequences. We also performed species’ delimitation analyses for these sequences recovering 24 species. The phylogeny revealed six distinct maternal lineages, three of which we recognize formally as species groups. The newly described taxa reveal high species’ diversity in Iran, bringing the total to eight species. Based on our preliminary results, we see the eastern Caucasus as a potential refugium for the sandaliatus species group of the genus.

Alireza Zamani, Krisztián Szabó, Tamás Szűts, Persian treasures: integrative taxonomy reveals high species’ diversity of ladybird spiders (Araneae: Eresidae: Eresus), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 204, Issue 4, August 2025, zlaf086, https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf086