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On a new genus of dwarf tarantulas (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) endemic from Peru: evidence from morphology and molecular phylogeny, with description of three new species

  On a new genus of dwarf tarantulas ( Araneae : Mygalomorphae : Theraphosidae ) endemic from Peru: evidence from morphology and molecular phylogeny, with description of three new species Abstract Recent field campaigns conducted in Peru along with the examination of museum specimens allowed us to identify small tarantulas that do not fit with any known Theraphosidae genera. Morphology and additional molecular evidence from the mitochondrial gene COI led us to propose Kiskalla gen. nov . from southern Peru, at Puno region. Three new species of Kiskalla gen. nov . ( K. ignacioi sp. nov ., K. yeisoni sp. nov . and K. zukuapasanka sp. nov .) are herein described, diagnosed and illustrated. Kiskalla gen. nov . differs from the known Theraphosinae genera in the presence of lateral stripes on the abdomen and a small dorsal arrowhead-shaped patch of type III urticating setae, presence of a large number of spines on all legs, short and stout setae on the dorsal metatarsi encirc...

Death-feigning behavior following dragline escape in a huntsman spider Heteropoda venatoria (Araneae: Sparassidae)

Predation of the Sharqiyah Sand Gecko Trigonodactylus sharqiyahensis Metallinou & Carranza, 2013 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) by Perez’s Huntsman Spider Eusparassus perezi (Simon, 1902) (Araneae: Sparassidae) in Oman

Description of the first continental European species of the huntsman spider Cebrennus (Araneae, Sparassidae), confirming the presence of the genus in the region