First record of Thaumasia Perty, 1833 nursery web spider (Araneae: Pisauridae) preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Neotropical region

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  First record of Thaumasia Perty, 1833 nursery web spider (Araneae: Pisauridae) preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Neotropical region Abstract Thaumasia Perty, 1833 are opportunistic spiders that inhabit the Neotropical region. This study reports a spider of the genus Thaumasia preying upon Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) in semiarid region of Brazil. A spider of the genus Thaumasia was observed moving rapidly from the fountain's water surface to capture an individual of P. canadensis . After successfully capturing the wasp, Thaumasia sp. was observed partially perched on the wall of the fountain, with the prey still on the water surface and trapped by its chelicerae. The pedipalps and chelicerae of Thaumasia sp. manipulated the head of P. canadensis , which stopped moving shortly after being captured, probably because of the action of the spider's venom. The study records a wasp in the diet of Thaumasia based on the ca...

Wishbone spiders of the genus Kwonkan Main, 1983 (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Anamidae) in south-western Australia: Redescription of legacy species, two new species, and an assessment of agricultural zone diversity

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Wishbone spiders of the genus Kwonkan Main, 1983 (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Anamidae) in south-western Australia: Redescription of legacy species, two new species, and an assessment of agricultural zone diversity

Abstract

The collar-door wishbone spiders of the genus Kwonkan Main, 1983 are an Australian-endemic lineage of mygalomorph spiders that often construct elaborate burrow entrances, including collars and turrets, and remain poorly documented across their range, despite museum collections indicating high local endemism and substantial undescribed diversity. Much of the existing taxonomy, including nine of the 14 currently described species, was based on limited material and lacked modern morphological or molecular approaches to species delimitation, hindering efforts to document the remaining diversity and address conservation concerns. Here, we redescribe all nine legacy species and review Kwonkan diversity within the south-western Western Australian (SWWA) agricultural region, a highly fragmented and mostly cleared landscape harbouring extensive undescribed diversity and the threatened species K. eboracum Main, 1983. In the process, we clarify species identities, present the first molecular data for several species including K. eboracum, and describe two new species (K. elatus sp. nov. and K. yorkrakine sp. nov.) that were previously attributed to legacy species. In our review of the SWWA agricultural region fauna we identify 29 putative undescribed species and a pattern of extensive sympatry, fine-scale species turnover, and extremely restricted ranges. These findings highlight the need for continued revisionary work and potential conservation listing of additional described species such as K. wonganensis (Main, 1977).

Wilson JD, Urso A, Rix MG, Volschenk ES, Bedón VC, Harvey MS (2026) Wishbone spiders of the genus Kwonkan Main, 1983 (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Anamidae) in south-western Australia: Redescription of legacy species, two new species, and an assessment of agricultural zone diversity. Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 84: 510-547. https://doi.org/10.3897/asp.84.e189518