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

Posted by
  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  Citation 2026 ). Members of the family are distributed worldwide, mostly in tropical and subtropical regions (World Spider Catalog  Citation 2026 ). Within this large family, the genus Zodarion Walckenaer, is represented by 176 species (World Spider Catalog  Citation 2026 ). Currently, 157 Zodarion species are known from Europe (Nentwig et al .  Citation 2026 ). In Turkey, the family Zodariidae comprises 37 species in four genera. Most of them, 34 species, belong to the genus Zodarion (Danışman et al. ,  Citation 2025 ). Within the genus, eight species of the ‘ germanicum ’ species group are found in Turkey: Zodarion abantense Wunderlich, Z. bigaense Bosmans, Özkütük, Varlı, and Kunt, ...

On the synanthropic occurrence of Falconina gracilis in Venezuela and the type locality of F. brignolii

Posted by

 


On the synanthropic occurrence of Falconina gracilis in Venezuela and the type locality of F. brignolii

Human activity facilitates the dispersal of spiders beyond their native ranges, often allowing populations to establish in synanthropic environments. Synanthropic spiders provide well-documented cases of arthropods adapting to human-modified habitats, with examples across multiple families (e.g. Dippenaar-Schoeman et al. 2023, Henrard 2023, Murcia-Moreno & Gálvez 2024), including corinnids such as Meriola arcifera (Simon, 1886), M. cetiformis (Strand, 1908) and Falconina gracilis (Keyserling, 1891), all confirmed as synanthropic and introduced species (Taucare-Ríos et al. 2013, Nieto-Ruiz & Maldonado-Carrizales 2024).

Villarreal M., O. & Brescovit, A. D. (2026). On the synanthropic occurrence of Falconina gracilis in Venezuela and the type locality of F. brignolii (Araneae: Corinnidae). Spixiana 48(2): 149-150.