Hidden in the woods: A new species of Hexura (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Antrodiaetidae) from a highly restricted range in Idaho

Posted by
  Hidden in the woods: A new species of Hexura (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Antrodiaetidae) from a highly restricted range in Idaho Abstract A new species of Hexura Simon, 1885 is described from a very restricted geographic range in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, 500 km east of the previously known distribution of the genus in the Coastal Ranges and western Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington. This work provides the first taxonomic information for this group in almost 50 years, including a phylogenomic framework for the genus within the mygalomorph superfamily Atypoidea , based on Ultraconserved elements ( UCEs ). Hexura vandal sp. nov . can be distinguished from the other two described species by a combination of morphological, molecular, and geographic characteristics. Lastly, we discuss the need for conservation actions to secure the survival of the species. Calatayud-Mascarell A, Briggs EJ, Hamilton CA (2026) Hidden in the woods: A new species of Hexura (Araneae, Mygalomo...

New data on Indian nursery-web spiders (Araneae: Pisauridae)

Posted by

 


New data on Indian nursery-web spiders (Araneae: Pisauridae)

Abstract

Updated data on Indian nursery-web spiders of the genera Dendrolycosa Doleschall, 1859, Euprosthenops Pocock, 1897, Hygropoda Thorell, 1895a, Perenethis L. Koch, 1878, and Polyboea Thorell, 1895b are presented here. The following new synonymy is recognised: Dendrolycosa bobbiliensis (Reddy & Patel, 1993) syn. nov. is synonymised with D. robusta (Thorell, 1895). The validity of Dendrolycosa gitae (Tikader, 1970), D. sahyadriensis Sudhin, Sen & Jäger, 2023, and D. stauntoni Pocock, 1900 is discussed. The possible synonymy of Dendrolycosa sahyadriensis with D. gitae, as well as that of D. gitae with D. spadicaria (Simon, 1897a), and Polyboea zonaformis (Wang, 1993) with P. vulpina Thorell, 1895 are discussed. Euprosthenops ellioti (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877) is redescribed and illustrated based on its type material, and the vulva of the genus is illustrated for the first time. A lectotype is designated for Hygropoda gracilis (Thorell, 1891), which is redescribed based on the type and freshly collected material. A new species, Hygropoda kannimara Sankaran sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on male and female specimens collected from the southern Indian state of Kerala. Redescriptions of Perenethis sindica (Simon, 1897) and P. vulpina based on freshly collected material are provided, and doubt is cast on the possible synonymy of the former species with P. venusta L. Koch, 1878. Finally, discusion about the type locality of Perenethis dentifasciata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) is presented.

Sankaran, P.M., Abraham, A., Williams, S.H. & Asima, A. (2026) New data on Indian nursery-web spiders (Araneae: Pisauridae). Zootaxa, 5757 (1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5757.1.1