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

  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...

Two new species of the genus Cladothela (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Nansei Islands, southwest Japan, with the description of the true female of C. auster

 


Two new species of the genus Cladothela (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Nansei Islands, southwest Japan, with the description of the true female of C. auster

Abstract
Examinations of spiders of the gnaphosid genus Cladothela collected from Nansei Islands, Japan revealed that two undescribed species of the genus occur in the area, and that in C. auster Kamura 1997, the previous understanding of the combination of male and female is incorrect. Two new species, Cladothela notus n. sp. and C. sakishima n. sp., and the true female of C. auster are described.
Takahide Kamura, Two new species of the genus Cladothela (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Nansei Islands, southwest Japan, with the description of the true female of C. auster, Acta Arachnologica, 2025, Volume 74, Issue 1, Pages 27-38, Released on J-STAGE August 20, 2025, Online ISSN 1880-7852, Print ISSN 0001-5202https://doi.org/10.2476/asjaa.74.27