ABSTRACT
recently, the Saint helenian oonopids have been discussed by Sherwood & Fowler (2022) who indicated all but one species was non-endemic. the sole remaining endemic species, Oonops erinaceus Benoit, 1977, was described based on the female and the type material has not been reconsidered in the taxonomic literature since its original description. Sherwood & Fowler (2022) did not make changes to the taxonomy of this species, stating the types had to be examined in order to resolve its systematic placement.In this work, following a visit to the royal Museum for Central Africa (rMCA) by the senior author in early 2023, where the types were examined, we can finally resolve the identity of Oonops erinaceus forty-five years after its original description. Photographs of the habitus and epigyne of the holotype were taken by DS at the rMCA using a leica DMC500 digital camera mounted on a leica Mz16A and stacked using the leica Application Suite (lAS) v. 4.13. Photographs of the rMCA specimens are accessible through the rMCA virtual Collection website (https://virtualcol.africamuseum.be). A non-type from Brazil deposited at the Instituto Butantan, São Paulo (IBSP) was used here for comparison to show a more recently preserved specimen. It is thus now the fact that the Saint helenian oonopidae taxa consist solely of invasive species, this information is important as the synonymy established here will allow for the future removal of O. erinaceus from the International union for the Conservation of Nature’s red list and demonstrates that oonopids should not be considered a priority concern for conservation on the island unless any true endemic (novel) species are discovered in the future.
ABSTRACT
Nhandu sylviae sp. nov. is described from Guyana, representing the first record of the genus Nhandu Lucas, 1983 from Guyana and the first record in northern South America.
ABSTRACT
A new species of Anisaspis Simon, 1892, Anisaspis awa sp. nov., is described from Volcán Chiles, Carchi, Ecuador, constituting the first record of Anisaspis from Ecuador.
ABSTRACT
The family Theraphosidae is the most speciose in the infraorder Mygalomorphae Pocock, 1892 with over one thousand described species (World Spider Catalog 2021). The taxonomy of the group has been subjected to considerable attention in modern times, with a focus on delineation based predominantly on genital organ and stridulatory organ morphology which has shown promise, both alongside molecular methods (where possible) and as a stand-alone line of evidence, in stabilising the group (e.g. Hamilton et al. 2016; Fabiano-da-Silva et al. 2020; see also Sherwood 2020). The predominant reference to the family is as Theraphosidae Thorell, 1870 with almost as many references to Theraphosidae Thorell, 1869. This non-congruence of dates is because Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (1830-1901) had his important work On European Spiders published in two parts during its publication by the Royal Society of Upsala in its journal Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis. The first half (pages 1-108 and the supplement I-XIII) was published in 1869 whereas pages 109-242 (despite being dated on the cover page as 1869) were published in 1870 (see Roewer 1942; Bonnet 1945; World Spider Catalog 2021). In the second part, the secretary of the society notes: "L'auteur avait proposé comme titre du présent mémoire: Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, preceded by some observations on Zoological Nomenclature and a Review of the European Genera of Spiders; mais, la partie, insérée dans le Tome VII, étant seule présentée à la Société des Sciences le 13 Fevr. 1869, il a été nécessaii'e d'y conformer le titre." [= The author proposed as the title of this memoir: Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, preceded by some observations on Zoological Nomenclature and a Review of the European Genera of Spiders; but, the part, inserted in Volume VII, being the only one presented to the Société des Sciences on 13 Feb. 1869, it was necessary to conform the title to it.].
Subject(s)
Spiders , Animals , Authorship , Genitalia , Spiders/classification , Spiders/physiologyABSTRACT
A new species of CymbiapophysaGabriel & Sherwood, 2020, C. magnasp. nov. is described from Colombia. Proshapalopus marimbaiPerafán & Valencia-Cuéllar, 2018 is transferred to Cymbiapophysa from ProshapalopusMello-Leitão, 1923, based on male palpal bulb and tibial apophysis morphology, female spermathecal morphology, comparative labial cuspule counts in both sexes, and biogeography, creating the new combination Cymbiapophysa marimbaicomb. nov. Aspects of some structures of the male palpal bulb are also discussed.
ABSTRACT
The family Theraphosidae is the most speciose in the infraorder Mygalomorphae Pocock, 1892 with over one thousand described species (World Spider Catalog 2021). The taxonomy of the group has been subjected to considerable attention in modern times, with a focus on delineation based predominantly on genital organ and stridulatory organ morphology which has shown promise, both alongside molecular methods (where possible) and as a stand-alone line of evidence, in stabilising the group (e.g. Hamilton et al. 2016; Fabiano-da-Silva et al. 2020; see also Sherwood 2020). The predominant reference to the family is as Theraphosidae Thorell, 1870 with almost as many references to Theraphosidae Thorell, 1869. This non-congruence of dates is because Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (1830–1901) had his important work On European Spiders published in two parts during its publication by the Royal Society of Upsala in its journal Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis. The first half (pages 1–108 and the supplement I–XIII) was published in 1869 whereas pages 109–242 (despite being dated on the cover page as 1869) were published in 1870 (see Roewer 1942; Bonnet 1945; World Spider Catalog 2021). In the second part, the secretary of the society notes: “L’auteur avait proposé comme titre du présent mémoire: Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, preceded by some observations on Zoological Nomenclature and a Review of the European Genera of Spiders; mais, la partie, insérée dans le Tome VII, étant seule présentée à la Société des Sciences le 13 Fevr. 1869, il a été nécessaii’e d’y conformer le titre.” [= The author proposed as the title of this memoir: Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, preceded by some observations on Zoological Nomenclature and a Review of the European Genera of Spiders; but, the part, inserted in Volume VII, being the only one presented to the Société des Sciences on 13 Feb. 1869, it was necessary to conform the title to it.].
ABSTRACT
Two species of the genus Diplura C. L. Koch, 1850, described from the Brazilian Amazon region: Diplura nigra (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896) and Diplura sanguinea (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896), are redescribed based on the examination of types and abundant new Amazonian material. The males of D. nigra and D. sanguinea are described for the first time, ecological data is presented and, for the first time, the female spermathecae are illustrated. New distributional data for these species is presented from the Amazonian region. We also give a short summary of species placements within Diplura based on the dorsal colour of the opisthosoma.
ABSTRACT
Aphonopelma braunshausenii Tesmoingt, 1996 is regarded as a nomen dubium due to the lack of a deposited holotype, an inadequate description which gives no stable taxonomic features to differentiate it from any other species and the absence of an exact type locality. The instability of some morphological characters which were given weight for species delineation in many earlier works is discussed and illustrated.
