Two New Lynx Spider Species of Hamadruas and Oxyopes and the First Record of Hamadruas Thorell, 1887 (Araneae: Oxyopidae) from Wai, Maharashtra, India

Posted by
  Two New Lynx Spider Species of Hamadruas and Oxyopes and the First Record of Hamadruas Thorell, 1887 (Araneae: Oxyopidae) from Wai, Maharashtra, India Abstract The present study reports two oxyopid spider species from Wai, Satara District, Maharashtra, India, based on morphological examination of specimens collected from the Kisan Veer Mahavidyalaya campus. The specimens were collected using hand-collection and sweep-net methods, preserved in 70% ethanol, and examined under a stereotrinocular microscope. Diagnostic structures, including the female epigyne and male palp, were studied after dissection, and distribution maps were prepared using QGIS. Hamadruas kvmensis sp. nov. is characterised by distinct dark elongated spermathecal lobes, a rounded central region forming the median fertilisation duct, curved copulatory ducts, and a male palp with an elongated curved cymbium, large bulb, prominent tegulum, slender embolus, conductor, tibial apophysis and sensory setae. Oxyopes wai...

Phrynus abstrusus : a new troglophilous whip spider (Amblypygi, Phrynidae) from southern Texas (American Museum novitates no. 4050)

Posted by

 


Phrynus abstrusus : a new troglophilous whip spider (Amblypygi, Phrynidae) from southern Texas (American Museum novitates no. 4050)

Abstract

The arachnid order Amblypygi Thorell, 1883, currently comprises 299 described species in 18 genera and five families, a surprisingly low diversity compared to other globally distributed arachnid orders. The genus Phrynus Lamarck, 1801, the most speciose genus of the Neotropical family Phrynidae Blanchard, 1852, is one of several amblypygid genera that contain much undescribed diversity. For example, its type species, Phrynus operculatus Pocock, 1902, allegedly distributed from southern Texas to Guatemala, appears to represent a complex of more range-restricted cryptic species. Existing records suggest a disjunction in the distribution of P. operculatus, with the Texan population separated from Mexican populations by considerable distance and a potential barrier of unsuitable desert habitat. The recent collection and examination of new material from the Big Bend area of southern Texas revealed that the Texan population is not conspecific with typical P. operculatus material from Mexico and Central America. It differs from the latter in being almost entirely depigmented and is the third troglomorphic species of Phrynus. The morphology and habitat of this unusual troglophilous species, named Phrynus abstrusus, sp. nov., are described herein.

Cazzaniga, Nicolas, Prendini, Lorenzo. (2026). Phrynus abstrusus: A new troglophilous whip spider (Amblypygi, Phrynidae) from southern Texas (American Museum Novitates No. 4050). American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved from https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/items/112d8b7c-04ba-4474-aeb6-943782ffd690