What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae)

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  What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae) Abstract We designate a neotype for the Eurasian spider species Araneus angulatus Clerck, 1757, thereby fixing the objective application of the species name, the genus name Araneus Clerck 1757, the family name Araneidae Clerck 1757, and the superfamily name Araneoidea Clerck 1757. By etymology and arachnological tradition, it also unofficially fixes the application of the ordinal name Araneae Clerck 1757 and thus answers the uncontroversial question, “What’s a spider?” A. angulatus also happens to be historically the first animal species ever described because Clerck (1757) has priority over Linnaeus (1758). Neotype designation is justified for three reasons: the syntypes of A. angulatus are lost; “ A. angulatus ” contains significant COI sequence divergence, potentially representing intraspecific variation, misidentifications, or as many...

Description and phylogenetic placement of Dorrigocosa, a new genus of Venoniinae (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Australia

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Description and phylogenetic placement of Dorrigocosa, a new genus of Venoniinae (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Australia


Abstract

A new monotypic genus of lycosids Dorrigocosa gen. nov. and the type species D. framenaui sp. nov. are described from the montane rainforests of eastern Australia. Phylogenetic analysis using nuclear and mitochondrial markers places Dorrigocosa within Venoniinae as a sister lineage to Anomalosa. The genus is distinguished from Venonia and Anomalosa by a set of somatic and genitalic characters, including a distinct colour pattern, the basal segment of the posterior spinnerets not elongated, a male palp with a sclerotized median apophysis and an epigyne with semicircular copulatory ducts. These small spiders are rainforest specialists, constructing silk retreats within decaying logs. Specimens were found exclusively from the highly restricted, isolated rainforests of Dorrigo National Park, New South Wales. Photographic records from the citizen science platform iNaturalist from nearby localities further support a strong association with this threatened habitat.
Do Prado, A. W., & Piacentini, L. N. (2026). Description and phylogenetic placement of Dorrigocosa, a new genus of Venoniinae (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Australia. Zoologischer Anzeiger. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2026.07.001