New and poorly known species of Palpimanus Dufour, 1820 (Araneae, Palpimanidae) from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Two new species, Palpimanus logunovi sp. n. () and P. rakhimovi sp. n. (), are described from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan respectively. Lectotype has been designated for the poorly known species, P. sogdianus Charitonov, 1946 from Uzbekistan and is redescribed based on type and newly collected material. (Re)descriptions, figures, diagnoses, distribution map and photograps of habitats of all the studied species are provided.

A taxonomic contribution to the genus Brachythele Ausserer, 1871 (Araneae, Nemesiidae) with a description of a new species from Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria.

We describe Brachythele rhodopensis sp. n. based on the holotype male from the eastern Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria. The new species is compared with its closest congeners. The diagnosis of B. langourovi Lazarov, 2005 is updated, and the species is reported from the North Macedonia for the first time. New photographs of B. langourovi and illustrations of B. bentzieni Zonstein, 2007 are provided. The male of B. media Kulczyski, 1987 is re-diagnosed and re-described.

Five-Year Monitoring of a Desert Burrow-Dwelling Spider Following an Environmental Disaster Indicates Long-Term Impacts.

Deserts are characterized by unpredictable precipitation and extreme temperatures. Their fauna and flora are sensitive to anthropogenic environmental changes, and often recover slowly from environmental disasters. The effects of oil spills on the biota of desert regions, however, have scarcely been studied. We predicted that terrestrial invertebrates suffer long-term negative effects from an oil spill, due to their close association with the substrate. Thus, we investigated the effects of two oil spills that occurred in 1975 and 2014 in the hyper-arid 'Arava desert (Israel), on a spider that constructs silk-lined nests in burrows in compact, sandy soil in this extreme desert habitat. The spider, Sahastata aravaensis sp. nov. (Filistatidae), is described herein. We assessed spider burrow abundance in plots located in oil-contaminated and nearby uncontaminated clean soil (control) areas over five consecutive years and measured habitat characteristics in these plots. In the laboratory, we determined the preference of individuals for clean vs. oil-contaminated soil as a resting substrate. Finally, as this species was previously undescribed, we added a new species description. The abundance of Sahastata was significantly lower in oil-contaminated plots, and this was the case in the 40-year-old oil spill (1975) as well as in the recent one (2014). In laboratory tests, spiders showed a significant preference for the clean soil substrate over the oil-contaminated substrate. In the field, soil crust hardness and vegetation density did not differ significantly between oil-contaminated and control plots, but these measures were highly variable. The burrows were significantly clustered, suggesting that the young disperse only short distances. In the laboratory adult spiders did not dig burrows, perhaps indicating that adults remain permanently in their natal burrows and that in the field they may use vacant burrows. We conclude that Sahastata populations were affected negatively by the oil spills and these effects were long-lasting. We propose that by monitoring their spatial distribution, burrow-dwelling spiders such as Sahastata can be used as effective bioindicators of soil pollution in desert habitats.

The first Western Palearctic record of Euprosthenops Pocock (Araneae, Pisauridae), with description of a new species from Israel.

The primarily Afrotropical genus Euprosthenops Pocock, 1897 is recorded in the Western Palearctic for the first time. A diagnosis and an illustrated description of E.insperatus sp. nov., based on a single male from southern Israel, are provided. Considering the structure of the male palp, the holotype of E.insperatus sp. nov. resembles males of two widespread African species, E.australis Simon, 1898 and E.proximus Lessert, 1916; it differs from them by colouration pattern as well as by the different shapes of the retrolateral tibial apophysis and the palpal sclerites. A short survey of the regional insect and spider genera of the paleotropical origin is also presented.

A new species of Raveniola (Araneae, Nemesiidae) from Western Tien-Shan.

An illustrated description of Raveniola mikhailovi sp. n. from Chatkal Mt. Ridge is provided. The new taxon resembles R. virgata (Simon, 1891); it differs from the latter species in having a somewhat more compact eye group, combined with a narrower tegulum and a relatively longer embolus, and with noticeably longer inner stalks of the spermathecae.

On Sahastata (Araneae: Filistatidae): complementary description of the generotype and two new species from Oman and Morocco.

The Filistatinae genus Sahastata Benoit, 1968 is distributed in arid and semi-arid areas, from westernmost Sahara to India, and includes seven known species. Four of these are only known from one sex, including Sahastata nigra (Simon, 1897), the type species. Here we present the first description of a male of this species collected near the type locality in Muscat, Oman. Additionally, two new species are described: S. wunderlichi sp. nov. (♂♀, Morocco) and S. wesolowskae sp. nov. (♂♀, Oman). Sahastata infuscata (Kulczynski, 1901) is newly recorded from Kenya and Yemen and S. nigra is newly recorded from the United Arab Emirates. DNA barcodes are given for S. nigra and the two new species. We observed some details of the life cycle of three Sahastata species, including clutch size, time to maturation, and a biased sex ratio for individuals raised from egg sacs, indicating that only 20-25% of specimens reaching adulthood are males. We provide SEM images of spiders of this genus, some observations on the morphology of spinnerets and male palps, and a distribution map of the species included in the genus.

A review of the Spider Genus Atmetochilus of Sumatra, Indonesia, with First Analysis of Male Characters and Description of Three New Species (Araneae, Nemesiidae).

Sergei L. Zonstein and Yuri M. Marusik (2016) The first Sumatran representatives of Atmetochilus Simon, 1887, the genus formerly known only from two species from Myanmar and one species from India, are currently revealed and reviewed. Three new species (listed below) are described and the current concept of Atmetochilus is redefined following study of the male characters previously almost completely unknown. Most of these characters are studied, illustrated and discussed for the first time. The studied genus is found to be represented in Sumatra by three new species described here: A. koponeni sp. n. (♂♀), A. lehtineni sp. n. (♂♀) and A. sumatranus sp. n. (♂).

Redescription of Phrurolithus flavipes (Araneae: Phrurolithidae), with the first description of the male.

Phrurolithus C.L. Koch, 1839, with 71 named species, is the largest genus of the family Phrurolithidae, which contains 188 species belonging to 14 genera (Platnick 2014). It has an almost exclusively Holarctic distribution: 34 species are known from the Palaearctic, 35 are known from the Nearctic and two species are known from Hispaniola. The genus is rather poorly studied and has never been the subject of wide-scale revision. Almost half of its species are known from a single sex: 23 from females and nine from males. Additionally, 45 species are known from the original description only, and one species has never been illustrated (Platnick 2014).

Eight new species of the spider genera Raveniola and Sinopesa from China and Vietnam (Araneae, Nemesiidae).

Eight new species, seven Raveniola Zonstein, 1987 and one Sinopesa Raven & Schwendinger, 1995 from China and Vietnam are described: Raveniola alpina sp. n., Raveniola bellula sp. n., Raveniola chayi sp. n., Raveniola gracilis sp. n., Raveniola rugosa sp. n., Raveniola spirula sp. n. and Raveniola yajiangensis sp. n. and Sinopesa ninhbinhensis sp. n. Keys to all East-Asian congeners, diagnoses of the new species, and new distribution data of Raveniola montana Zonstein & Marusik, 2012, with a first record for Sichuan, China, are provided.

On Levymanus, a remarkable new spider genus from Israel, with notes on the Chediminae (Araneae, Palpimanidae).

Levymanus gershomi gen. n. et sp. n., is described from southern Israel. The eye arrangement and structure of the male palp indicate that this genus belongs to Chediminae Simon, 1893. Levymanus gen. n. differs from other chedimine genera by its unusually long and slender legs, an elongate body, a unique shape of the bipartite thoracic fovea, reduced leg scopulae, smaller spinnerets, and other characters, which are presumably apomorphic. We propose two taxonomic changes: 1) based on widely spaced lateral eyes the Western African genus Badia Roewer, 1961 is transferred from Chediminae to Palpimaninae, and 2) Fernandezina gyirongensis Hu & Li, 1987 from China, based on palpal morphology, is transferred to the Asian genus Steriphopus Simon, 1887 for a new combination Steriphopus gyirongensis (Hu & Li, 1987) comb. n.

Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of Israel.

This checklist records 631 spider species and subspecies belonging to 49 families in Israel. Species distributions are given in both generalised (by main geographic areas of the country) and detailed (by localities) form. Twenty-seven records are considered as doubtful and another ten are based on misidentifications. A historical survey is provided. Each record is presented in its original combination. The list is dominated by members of the families Gnaphosidae and Salticidae (20.0% and 17.1% of total species, respectively). The level of regional endemism exceeds 37.0%.

Redescription of three species of Filistatidae (Araneae) described by C.F. Roewer from Afghanistan.

Types of three filistatid species described by Roewer (1960, 1962) from Afghanistan are redescribed and two of them transferred to other filistatid genera. The new combinations proposed are: Zaitunia afghana (Roewer 1962) comb. n. (ex. Filistata Latreille, 1810) and Tricalamus lindbergi (Roewer, 1962) comb. n. (ex. Pritha Lehtinen, 1967). The taxonomic position of Pholcoides afghana Roewer, 1960 is discussed and the species is placed in the filistatid subfamily Prithinae Gray, 1994.

A review of the genus Raveniola (Araneae, Nemesiidae) in China, with notes on allied genera and description of four new species from Yunnan.

The Chinese representatives of Raveniola Zonstein, 1987 are currently recognized to comprise seven species. Four new species - Raveniola montanasp. n. (♂♀), Raveniola shangrilasp. n. (♂), Raveniola songisp. n. (♂) and Raveniola yunnanensissp. n. (♂) - are described from the highlands of Yunnan Province, China. According to some characters (shape of the palpus, palpal tibia and tibia I in males) they can be placed together with Raveniola hebeinica Zhu, Zhang & Zhang, 1999 and with Raveniola guangxi (Raven & Schwendinger, 1995), comb. n., transferred here from Sinopesa Raven & Schwendinger, 1995. The current generic position of Raveniola xizangensis (Hu & Li, 1987) is confirmed. Other Chinese nemesiids referred previously to Raveniola are transferred to Sinopesa: Sinopesa chinensis (Kulczynski, 1901), comb. n., Sinopesa sinensis (Zhu & Mao, 1983), comb. n. and Sinopesa chengbuensis (Xu & Yun, 2002), comb. n. The relationships between these Asian genera and their relations to Afrotropical nemesiids are discussed.

A synopsis of East-Mediterranean Synaphris Simon, 1894 (Araneae, Synaphridae) with a description of a new species from Israel.

Three species of Synaphris occurring in the East Mediterranean - Synaphris orientalis Marusik & Lehtinen, 2003, Synaphris lehtineni Marusik, Gnelitsa & Kovblyuk, 2005 and Synaphris letourneuxi (Simon, 1884) - are surveyed; and a new species - Synaphris wunderlichisp. n. - is described from southern Israel on the basis of males. The new species differs from other East- Mediterranean congeners by its smaller size, a smaller lamella with fewer ridges, and a thick palpal femur. Comparative figures are provided for all species from the East Mediterranean.

Raveniola niedermeyeri from Iran: redescription and new data on distribution (Araneae, Nemesiidae).

Raveniola niedermeyeri (Brignoli, 1972), a poorly known species, is rediagnosed and redescribed from the types and from recently collected material from northern and central regions of Iran. This species differs from its congeners in having the male embolus curved distally, as well as in the unique conformation of the spermathecae. New data on the distribution of Raveniola niedermeyeri in Iran are also provided.