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

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  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...

First records of Hippasosa ghost (Jocque & Jocqué, 2017) (Araneae, Lycosidae) outside of the type locality in northwestern Madagascar

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First records of Hippasosa ghost (Jocque & Jocqué, 2017) (Araneae, Lycosidae) outside of the type locality in northwestern Madagascar

Abstract

The Malagasy endemic wolf spider Hippasosa ghost (Jocque & Jocqué, 2017), previously known from a single small patch of sandy habitat adjacent to a permanent lake in the Mariarano Classified Forest in northwestern Madagascar, is recorded from two additional localities with similar habitat along the Mariarano River, 10 km and 45 km from the type locality. These finds indicate the possibility that this highly specialized species could have a larger distribution than originally thought, but also they show the importance of protecting such vulnerable habitats.

Pett BL, Escobar-Toledo J, de Beer L, Murray KI, Rakotorahalahy M, Siméon F, Rivoson JL (2025) First records of Hippasosa ghost (Jocque & Jocqué, 2017) (Araneae, Lycosidae) outside of the type locality in northwestern Madagascar. Check List 21(6): 1257-1261. https://doi.org/10.15560/21.6.1257