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...

Taxonomic revision of the wolf spider genus Artoria (Araneae, Lycosidae, Artoriinae) from Northern Territory and Queensland, with additions to the fauna of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory

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Taxonomic revision of the wolf spider genus Artoria (Araneae, Lycosidae, Artoriinae) from Northern Territory and Queensland, with additions to the fauna of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

Artoria Thorell, 1877 is revised for the Northern Territory and Queensland. Three species are recorded from the Northern Territory: A. parvula Thorell, 1877 (♂♀, type species), A. superelliptica sp. (♀) and A. vectis sp. Nov. (♂♀). Twenty-seven species (including 18 new ones) are recorded from Queensland: A. albopilata (Urquhart, 1893) (♂♀), A. berenice (L. Koch, 1877) (♂♀), A. bicornuta sp. nov. (♂), A. catinata sp. nov. (♂♀), A. coclearia sp. nov. (♂♀), A. cunicularia sp. nov. (♂♀), A. geniculata sp. ( ♂♀), A. globula sp. nov. (♂♀), A. grahammilledgei Framenau & Baehr, 2018 (♂♀), A . halterata sp. nov. (♀), A. hamifera sp. ( ♂♀), A. laciniata sp. nov. (♀), A. lineata (L. Koch, 1877) (♂♀), A. lingulata sp. nov. (♂♀), A. mckayi Framenau, 2002 (♂♀), A. nasuta sp. nov. (♂), A. orcina sp. nov. (♂♀), A. proboscidea sp. nov. (♂♀), A. quadrata Framenau, 2002 (♂♀), A. reniformis sp. nov. (♀), A. scapulata sp. nov. (♀), A. semicircularis sp. nov. (♂), A. terania Framenau & Baehr, 2018 (♂♀), A. triangularis Framenau, 2002 (♂♀), A. velata sp. nov. (♂), A. victoriansis Framenau, Gotch & Austin, 2006 (♂♀) and A. werrikimbe sp. Nov. (♂♀). This study also added 13 new species of Artoria to New South Wales, seven of these species endemic to the state— A. abscondita sp. nov. (♀), A. ancorata sp. nov. (♀), A. cucurbita sp. nov. (♀), A. limitata sp. nov. (♀), A. longinqua sp. nov. (♀), A. serpentidens sp. (♂♀), and A. tenuis sp. nov. (♀), and one also occurring in the Australian Capital Territory— A. pedroi sp. nov.(♂♀). Summing up, 39 species are taxonomically treated in this paper, including 28 new ones. In addition, we propose the beaury and lingulata species-groups, and redefine the lineata species-group based on male and female genital characteristics.

Prado, A. W. do, Baptista, R. L. C. & Framenau, V. W. (2026). Taxonomic revision of the wolf spider genus Artoria (Araneae, Lycosidae, Artoriinae) from Northern Territory and Queensland, with additions to the fauna of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Megataxa 19(2): 379-456. doi: 10.11646/megataxa.19.2.3