First record of Megaselia abdita (Schmitz, 1959) (Diptera: Phoridae) infestation in captive tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae

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  First record of Megaselia abdita (Schmitz, 1959) (Diptera: Phoridae) infestation in captive tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae Abstract Flies of the genus Megaselia Rondani, 1856 exhibit exceptional ecological flexibility, with certain species acting as facultative parasites. This study presents the first documented cases of Megaselia abdita (Schmitz, 1959) infesting captive tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae, Ceratogyrus darlingi Pocock, 1897 and Psalmopoeus irminia Saager, 1994) in terrarium settings. Our observations demonstrate that M . abdita colonise artificial habitats and exploit spider hosts similarly to Megaselia scalaris . Citation: Szymański, D.M., Szymański, D., Kłonowski, P. (2026). First record of Megaselia abdita (Schmitz, 1959) (Diptera: Phoridae) infestation in captive tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Dipteron, 42, 25-29. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23137389

Description of a new species of Zodarion Walckenaer (Araneae: Zodariidae) from Turkey

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Description of a new species of Zodarion Walckenaer (Araneae: Zodariidae) from Turkey

Introduction

Zodariidae Thorell, commonly known as ant-eating spiders, is one of the most diverse spider families, comprising over 1300 species across 90 genera (World Spider Catalog Citation2026). Members of the family are distributed worldwide, mostly in tropical and subtropical regions (World Spider Catalog Citation2026). Within this large family, the genus Zodarion Walckenaer, is represented by 176 species (World Spider Catalog Citation2026). Currently, 157 Zodarion species are known from Europe (Nentwig et al. Citation2026). In Turkey, the family Zodariidae comprises 37 species in four genera. Most of them, 34 species, belong to the genus Zodarion (Danışman et al., Citation2025). Within the genus, eight species of the ‘germanicum’ species group are found in Turkey: Zodarion abantense Wunderlich, Z. bigaense Bosmans, Özkütük, Varlı, and Kunt, Z. bozdagensis Coşar, Z. korgei Wunderlich, Z. izmirense Danışman and Coşar, Z. robertbosmans Wunderlich, Z. turcicum Wunderlich and Z. varoli Akpınar.

This article aims to describe and illustrate a new species from Turkey, found in Hakkari province in the Eastern Anatolia region. Its distribution is also presented.

Coşar, İ., Danışman, T., & Yağmur, E. A. (2026). Description of a new species of Zodarion Walckenaer (Araneae: Zodariidae) from Turkey. Journal of Natural History, 60(25–28), 1447–1452. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2026.2675403