Spiders in the mosaic: How habitat heterogeneity and structure drive local spider diversity in a Mediterranean forest

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  Spiders in the mosaic: How habitat heterogeneity and structure drive local spider diversity in a Mediterranean forest Abstract Addressing biodiversity loss requires knowing how different living beings are spatially distributed. For hyper-diverse groups such as spiders, biogeographic dispersal-related processes tend to be the main factor driving diversity patterns at large spatial scales, while the relevance of ecological filtering (species sorting) may increase at lower spatial scales. To determine how spider diversity and structure are shaped at local spatial scales, we sampled spider communities using a standardized optimized protocol and assessed habitat heterogeneity across 10 Mediterranean forest plots in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula. We compared the spiders' composition and structure among forest types and across vegetation layers using generalized linear models and linear mixed models for assessing patterns of alpha-diversity and constrained ordination analyses for u...

Systematic revision of Dongmoa Roewer (Arachnida: Opiliones: Podoctidae), with reassignment of two Chinese species from Bonea and description of a new species from Vietnam

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Systematic revision of Dongmoa Roewer (Arachnida: Opiliones: Podoctidae), with reassignment of two Chinese species from Bonea and description of a new species from Vietnam

ABSTRACT

A new species of the genus Dongmoa Roewer is described from Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, with its intricate external morphology examined using micro-CT scanning. Until now, Dongmoa included only two species, one from northern Vietnam and another from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Here, we provide a revised diagnosis of the genus, with detailed comparisons to the closely related genera Bonea and Erecanana. In addition, two species from Hainan Island, China, previously assigned to Bonea, are transferred to Dongmoa, increasing the total number of recognised species in the genus to five. This study represents the first modern systematic treatment of Dongmoa, substantially refining the traditional Roewerian framework and enabling a clearer delimitation of species distributed across Indochina and Japan. Moreover, the recognition of a previously overlooked but variable morphological structure, here called the insula lunata, highlights its potential relevance for taxonomy within Podoctidae, providing the basis for future phylogenetic studies.

Kury, A. B., Machado, G., & Pham, D. S. (2026). Systematic revision of Dongmoa Roewer (Arachnida: Opiliones: Podoctidae), with reassignment of two Chinese species from Bonea and description of a new species from Vietnam. Journal of Natural History, 60(17–20), 1005–1024. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2026.2650134