Project description:A new Australasian genus in the orb-weaving spider family Araneidae Clerck, 1757 is described to include seven species: Salsafuliginata (L. Koch, 1871) comb. nov. (type species; = Epeirarubicundula Keyserling, 1887) syn. nov.) (Australia, introduced to New Zealand); S.brisbanae (L. Koch, 1867) comb. nov. (Australia); S.canalae (Berland, 1924) comb. nov. (New Caledonia); S.neneba sp. nov. (Papua New Guinea); S.recherchensis (Main, 1954) comb. nov. (Australia); S.rueda sp. nov. (Australia); and S.tartara sp. nov. (Australia; Lord Howe Island endemic). Salsa gen. nov. belongs to the Australasian informal backobourkiine clade and differs from other genera of this clade by a distinct abdominal shape (single posterior abdominal tubercle) and ventral colouration (pale lateral spindle-shaped bands), male pedipalp morphology (C-shaped median apophysis that has teeth-like tubercles inside the basal arch) and the shape of the female epigyne scape (partially translucent and generally shorter than the epigyne plate). Based mainly on male pedipalp morphology within the backobourkiines, Salsa gen. nov. has closest morphological affinities with Acroaspis Karsch, 1878 and Socca Framenau, Castanheira & Vink, 2022.
Project description:The complete mitochondrial genome of an orb-weaver spider Araneus angulatus is 14,205 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs, and a control region. The A + T content of the major strand is 75.4%. Nine of the protein-coding genes are initiated by typical ATN codons, one gene (COI) starts with TTA and other three genes (ND6, COII, and COIII) begin with TTG. The truncated stop codon (T) occurs in ND3, ND4L, and ND6, whereas the rest ten genes end with the canonical stop codon (TAA and TAG). Fifteen tRNAs lack the potential to form the typically cloverleaf-shaped secondary structure. The control region is 649 bp in length and contains a long tandem repeat region. The result of phylogenetic analysis shows that the relationship of A. angulatus was close to the species in the same family Araneidae.
Project description:Four new species of Araneus Clerck, 1757 from southern China are described: A.mayanghe Mi & Wang, sp. nov. (♂♀) from Guizhou, A.shiwandashan Mi & Wang, sp. nov. (♂♀) from Guangxi, and A.zhoui Mi & Wang, sp. nov. (♂♀) from Hainan are assigned to the A.sturmi group, and A.fenzhi Mi & Wang, sp. nov. (♂♀) from Hunan, Guizhou and Jiangxi is not assigned to any species group. A new combination is also proposed: Aoaraneusoctumaculalus (Han & Zhu, 2010) comb. nov.
Project description:BackgroundThe spider genus Argiope Audouin, 1826, comprises 88 species worldwide, including 23 species occurring in China. Two Argiope species were collected by the spider survey on Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon National Nature Reserve, Xizang, southwest China, conducted in 2023.New informationTwo species of the orb-weaver spider genus Argiope from Xizang, China are described, including a new species, A.beibeng Mi & Wang, sp. nov. (♂♀) and a known species, A.caesarea Thorell, 1897 (♂♀). The unknown male of A.caesarea is described for the first time.
Project description:Two new species of the orb-weaver genus Chorizopes from Yunnan Province, China are described: Chorizopes albussp. n. (male and female) from the Gaoligong Mountains and Ailao Mountains, and Chorizopes longussp. n. (male and female) from the Gaoligong Mountains. Chorizopes albussp. n. can be distinguished from the related species Chorizopes shimenensis by: 1) median apophysis widest at the middle part versus widest at the base in the latter; 2) median apophysis without the dorsal spur found in that of the latter; 3) spermathecae spherical versus ovoid in the latter; 4) having one pair of large white spots on posterior lateral area of abdomen versus having two pairs of crescent white patches with dark edges on dorsal abdomen in the latter. Chorizopes longussp. n. can be separated from the similar species Chorizopes tumens by: 1) the median apophysis having a knob on the distal half versus having a knob on the basic half in the latter; 2) male palp having a spur versus absent in the latter; 3) the width of the groove between the paracymbium and cymbium as thick as the paracymbium versus two times as thick as the paracymbium in the latter; 4) copulatory duct attached on anterior ventral of the spermatheca versus on anterior dorsal in the latter. Photos of body and copulatory organs, line drawings of copulatory organs, as well as the distribution data are provided. The type specimens are deposited in the College of Life Sciences, at the Hunan Normal University (HNU) and the Museum of Tongren University (MTU).
Project description:Six new species of the genus Araneus Clerck, 1757 from Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve in Guizhou Province, China are described: Araneuschenjingisp. nov. (♂♀), and A.yuboisp. nov. (♂♀) are assigned to the A.diadematus group; A.lihaiboisp. nov. (♂♀), A.shiisp. nov. (♂♀), A.wanghuaisp. nov. (♂♀), and A.yangchuandongisp. nov. (♂♀) are assigned to the A.sturmi group. Araneuscolubrinus Song & Zhu, 1992 is redescribed. A new synonym of Araneuscolubrinus Song & Zhu, 1992 is proposed: Araneusoctodentalis Song & Zhu, 1992 syn. nov.
Project description:Species of the genus Eriovixia Archer, 1951 from Menglun Town, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China are reviewed, including seven new species: E. ganae sp. nov. (♂♀), E. liuhongi sp. nov. (♂♀), E. tangi sp. nov. (♂♀), E. wangchengi sp. nov. (♂♀), E. yaoi sp. nov. (♂♀), E. yinae sp. nov. (♂♀) and E. zhengi sp. nov. (♂♀). The male of E. yunnanensis (Yin, Wang, Xie & Peng, 1990) is described for the first time. The previous description of E. yunnanensis from Tengchong, Yunnan by Mi et al. (2010) refers to E. pengi sp. nov. (♂♀). Diagnostic photos of the habitus and copulatory organs of the new species and E. yunnanensis from Xishuangbanna are provided.
Project description:Climate-driven changes in hydrological regimes are of global importance and are particularly significant in riparian ecosystems. Riparian ecosystems in California provide refuge to many native and vulnerable species within a xeric landscape. California Tetragnatha spiders play a key role in riparian ecosystems, serving as a link between terrestrial and aquatic elements. Their tight reliance on water paired with the widespread distributions of many species make them ideal candidates to better understand the relative role of waterways versus geographic distance in shaping the population structure of riparian species. To assist in better understanding population structure, we constructed a reference genome assembly for Tetragnatha versicolor using long-read sequencing, scaffolded with proximity ligation Omni-C data. The near-chromosome-level assembly is comprised of 174 scaffolds spanning 1.06 Gb pairs, with a scaffold N50 of 64.1 Mb pairs and BUSCO completeness of 97.6%. This reference genome will facilitate future study of T. versicolor population structure associated with the rapidly changing environment of California.
Project description:The mygalomorph spider genus Eucteniza Ausserer, 1875 comprises 15 nominal species known only from the southwestern United States (Texas) and Mexico (Northern, Central, and the Baja Peninsula). Eucteniza atoyacensis Bond & Opell, 2002 is considered a nomen dubium; E. rex (Chamberlin, 1940) and E. stolida (Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940) are both considered junior synonyms of E. relata (O.P.-Cambridge, 1895). Twelve new species are described: E. caprica, E. coylei, E. diablo, E. cabowabo, E. huasteca, E. zapatista, E. chichimeca, E. ronnewtoni, E. hidalgo, E. golondrina, E. panchovillai and E. rosalia.