Broad-Scale Climatic Gradients Drive Multiple Facets of Scorpion Beta Diversity in Northeastern Brazil

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  Broad-Scale Climatic Gradients Drive Multiple Facets of Scorpion Beta Diversity in Northeastern Brazil ABSTRACT Aim Beta diversity analyses clarify mechanisms structuring ecological communities, but their multidimensional facets remain poorly explored in arthropods. Here, we quantified taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional beta diversity in scorpions, partitioned these facets into species replacement and richness differences, and evaluated the relative importance of spatial structure and environmental conditions in driving community assembly. Location Northeastern Brazil, South America. Taxon Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Methods Taxonomic beta diversity was estimated using species presence across 70 sites in northeastern Brazil. Phylogenetic turnover was calculated from a multi-locus molecular tree, and functional beta diversity was derived from morphometric and ecological traits. All beta diversity facets were decomposed into replacement and richness-difference component...

Taxonomic notes on a comb-footed spider, Yunohamella mneon (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906), stat. rev. (Araneae: Theridiidae) in East Asia

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Taxonomic notes on a comb-footed spider, Yunohamella mneon (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906), stat. rev. (Araneae: Theridiidae) in East Asia

Abstract

Platnickina mneon (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) is a theridiid species originally described based on a female specimen collected in Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. Although P. mneon was recently considered a junior synonym of Yunohamella lyrica (Walckenaer, 1841), the two species can be clearly distinguished by body coloration and markings, genital morphology, and molecular data. Based on these findings, we reestablish P. mneon as a valid species under the genus Yunohamella, Yunohamella mneon stat. rev. Based on a partial mitochondrial COI gene sequence analysis, our study also revealed that the female of Y. mneon stat. rev. is conspecific to the male currently associated with Yunohamella varietas Lee & Kim, 2021 and we propose Y. mneon stat. rev. = Y. varietas syn. nov. The species is compared with Y. lyrica and Platnickina adamsoni Berland, 1934 and molecular data of Yunohamella species in East Asia are presented, with a summary of the taxonomic history of relevant species in Japan and Korea.

Suzuki, Y., Lee, J.-G. & Kumada, K.-I. (2025) Taxonomic notes on a comb-footed spider, Yunohamella mneon (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906), stat. rev. (Araneae: Theridiidae) in East Asia. Zootaxa, 5691 (2), 359–375. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5691.2.10