New predatory interaction of Trichonephila clavipes (Araneae: Nephilidae) on Fidicinini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in a forest fragment of the Neotropical region

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  New predatory interaction of Trichonephila clavipes (Araneae: Nephilidae) on Fidicinini (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in a forest fragment of the Neotropical region Abstract Trichonephila clavipes (Araneae: Nephilidae) is an orb web-building spider whose diet is primarily based on flying insects. This note aims to report the first predatory interaction of T. clavipes on a cicada of the genus Fidicina (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The predation event was observed (ad libitum) in the Benjamin Maranhão Botanical Garden situated in the Mata do Buraquinho Wildlife Refuge, northeastern Brazil. A specimen of Fidicina sp. was found freshly dead and trapped in the web of T. clavipes. The nephilid was observed moving slowly between the ventral and dorsal regions of the Fidicina sp. without weaving a web around the cicadid. Then, T. clavipes was observed perched on the left side of the Fidicina sp., with its pedipalps and chelicerae manipulating the thorax ...

Notes on the identity of the orb-weaver spider Araneus nox Simon, 1877 (Araneae: Araneidae) from India, including its transfer to Eriovixia Archer, 1951 and one new synonymy

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Notes on the identity of the orb-weaver spider Araneus nox Simon, 1877 (Araneae: Araneidae) from India, including its transfer to Eriovixia Archer, 1951 and one new synonymy

The orb-weaver genus Araneus Clerck, 1757 has historically served as a heterogeneous assemblage for numerous araneid spiders lacking clear generic placement, and several Asian species formerly assigned to Araneus have subsequently been transferred to more narrowly defined genera. One species that still needs further investigation on its true identity is Araneus nox (Simon, 1877), originally described as Epeira nox Simon, 1877 from Basilan Island, Philippines, and later transferred to Araneus by Simon (1905). In the same year as the description of Epeira nox, Thorell (1877) described Epeira pilula from the Moluccas (Indonesia), which was subsequently synonymised under Epeira nox by Simon (1880). Despite its broad Oriental distribution, the taxonomic identity and generic placement of A. nox have remained insufficiently understood.

Joseph, M.M., G., A. & Shenoy, J.C. (2026) Notes on the identity of the orb-weaver spider Araneus nox Simon, 1877 (Araneae: Araneidae) from India, including its transfer to Eriovixia Archer, 1951 and one new synonymy. Zootaxa, 5837 (1), 187–194. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5837.1.11