What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae)

Posted by
  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...

ERGA-BGE reference genome of Leviellus thorelli, a common orb-weaving spider representing the Zygiellidae family

Posted by

 


ERGA-BGE reference genome of Leviellus thorelli, a common orb-weaving spider representing the Zygiellidae family

Abstract

The Leviellus thorelli reference genome provides the first high-quality genomic resource for Zygiellidae, a family of orb-weaving spiders with a dynamic systematic history and distinct for constructing webs with a characteristic spiral-free sector. As part of the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA), we generated a chromosome-level assembly for L. thorelli that is organized into 13 contiguous chromosomal pseudomolecules. This chromosome-level assembly encompasses 2.20 Gb and is composed of 939 contigs and 130 scaffolds, with contig and scaffold N50 values of 5.4 Mb and 167.1 Mb, respectively. This genome represents a valuable addition to the growing collection of spider genomes. With Zygiellidae now included among the available genomes of true orb-weavers, this is a key resource for comparative studies into the genomic basis of orb web and silk evolution.

Gregorič M, Bužan E, Böhne A et al. ERGA-BGE reference genome of Leviellus thorelli, a common orb-weaving spider representing the Zygiellidae family [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]. Open Res Europe 2025, 5:365 (https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.21671.1)