SERKET COS ys The Arachnological Bulletin of the Middle East and North Africa Volume 20 Part 1 December, 2023 Cairo, Egypt HS 18 oR oS oo 2 eo oe ISSN: 1110-502X SERKET Volume 20 Part 1 December, 2023 Cairo, Egypt Contents Page The remarkable micro-scorpion genus Microbuthus Kraepelin, 1898 in North Africa; description of a new species with comments on its biogeography and ecology (Scorpiones: Buthidae) Wilson R. Louren¢go ] Plexippus C.L. Koch, 1846: a new genus for the Moroccan araneofauna (Araneae: Salticidae) Mohamed Mousaid & Hicham Bouithouline 1] Stegodyphus semadohensis Deshmukh, 2013 is a nomen nudum (Araneae: Eresidae) Danniella Sherwood & Hisham K. El-Hennawy 18 Harpactea umay sp. n., a new spider species from Turkiye (Araneae: Dysderidae) Kadir BoSac Kunt, Ersen Aydin YaSmur & Recep Sulhi Ozkiittik 20 Spiders as a bio-agent factor in a Mango greenhouse at Giza Governorate, Egypt Doaa M.A. Abdel-Ghani, Mourad F. Hassan & Gihan M.E. Sallam 26 DNA barcode and phylogenetic analysis for the araneid spider Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841) (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneidae) from India Sachin R. Patil 39 Volume 20 (2023-2025) Back issues: Vol. 1 (1987-1990), Vol. 2 (1990-1992), Vol. 3 (1992-1993), Vol. 4 (1994-1996), Vol. 5 (1996-1997), Vol. 6 (1998-2000), Vol. 7 (2000-2001), Vol. 8 (2002-2003), Vol. 9 (2004-2005), Vol. 10 (2006-2007), Vol. 11 (2008- 2009), Vol. 12 (2010-2011), Vol. 13 (2012-2013), Vol. 14 (2014-2015), Vol. 15 (2016-2017), Vol. 16 (2018-2019), Vol. 17 (2019-2021), Vol. 18 (2021-2022), Vol. 19 (2022-2023). Correspondence concerning subscription, back issues, publication, etc. should be addressed to the editor: Hisham K. El-Hennawy Postal address: 41, El-Mantega El-Rabia St., Heliopolis, Cairo 11341, Egypt E-mail: elhennawy @ gmail.com, el-hennawy@hotmail.com Webpage: http://serket1987.blogspot.com ok 2k 2k ok 2 2s 2k 2k ok ok ok ISSN: 1110-502X Serket (2023) vol. 20(1): 1-10. The remarkable micro-scorpion genus Microbuthus Kraepelin, 1898 in North Africa; description of a new species with comments on its biogeography and ecology (Scorpiones: Buthidae) Wilson R. Lourenco Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), UMR7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, CP 53, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France; e-mail: wilson.lourenco@ mnhn.fr Abstract A new species, Microbuthus saharicus sp. n., is described from the inland deserts of Mauritania; it represents the first exception to the general coastal distribution observed in the species of this genus. With this new description, the total number of known species in Africa is increased to five. The disrupted peri-Saharan pattern of distribution presented by the group is however confirmed. Some comments are also added on the biogeography and ecology of the species. Keywords: Scorpion, Microbuthus, Buthidae, new species, Mauritania. Introduction As previously summarized in earlier publications (Vachon, 1952; Loureng¢o, 2002, 2011; Lourengo & Duhem, 2007) the genus Microbuthus was originally described by Kraepelin (1898), with the type species being Microbuthus pusillus Kraepelin, 1898 which was collected from the region of Tadjura Bay (= Tadscharabay) in the Gulf of Aden (= Yemen). Subsequently, a second species Butheolus litoralis Pavesi, 1885 from Assab, on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea was transferred to the genus Microbuthus by Birula (1905). The genus Microbuthus was represented exclusively by these two species until the description of Microbuthus fagei by Vachon (1949) based on specimens collected at Nouakchott in the coastal region of the Atlantic Ocean in the South of Mauritania. More recently, Lourengo (2002) studied a larger sample of specimens from both Mauritania and Morocco and proposed the description of a subspecies for Microbuthus fagei for the region of Tan-Tan in South Morocco as Microbuthus fagei maroccanus Lourengo, 2002. Subsequently, Microbuthus maroccanus was raised to the rank of species (Lourengco & Duhem, 2007). The unexpected discovery of a quite particular specimen of Microbuthus in Egypt led to the description of a new species, Microbuthus flavorufus Lourengo & Duhem, 2007 (Fig. 1). This marked the first record of the genus Microbuthus for the country. In the subsequent years, there were no new contributions to the African Microbuthus. However, studies conducted in the Middle East, resulted in the description of new species, namely Microbuthus gardneri Lowe, 2010, Microbuthus kristensenorum Lowe, 2010 and Microbuthus satyrus Lowe, Kovarik, Stockmann & Stahlavsky, 2018 from Oman and Yemen (Lowe, 2010; Lowe et al., 2018). Some difficulties for the study of the species of the genus arise from the fact that most species are rare, and some original types have been mislaid. This was the case for the type of Butheolus litoralis (= Microbuthus litoralis) which could not be found in any Italian Museum, what led to the proposition of a neotype for this species (Lourenco, 2011). In this same occasion the synonym of Microbuthus pusillus Kraepelin, 1898 with Microbuthus litoralis (Pavesi, 1885) was confirmed (Lourengo, 2011). While the type material of Microbuthus fagei, consisting of two specimens, remains misplaced in the collections of the Muséum in Paris, the characterisation of topotypes of this species allows for its accurate definition. Among the wide array of known genera of Buthidae scorpions, Microbuthus remains enigmatic. The reasons for this are associated not only with the several unique morphological features of the different species, but are also due to the scarcity of available material for study. At present, a new species is described from the inland deserts of Mauritania, escaping therefore to the previous observed pattern of distribution along coastal zones. This discovery marks the fifth species documented in Africa. The disrupted peri-Saharan pattern of distribution observed among the species of the genus appears to be reaffirmed once more. ~~ “PoE - Fig. 1. Female holotype of Microbuthus flavorufus alive in the natural habitat in Egypt. Material and Methods Illustrations and measurements were produced using a Wild M5 stereo- microscope with a drawing tube and an ocular micrometre. Measurements follow Stahnke (1970) and are given in mm. Trichobothrial notations follow Vachon (1974), morphological terminology mostly follows Vachon (1952) and Hjelle (1990), and chelicerae dentition follows Vachon (1963). The type material described in this paper will be deposited in the collections of the ‘Museu Nacional’, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The recognized species of Microbuthus Kraepelin, 1898 (African species in bold) M. litoralis (Pavesi, 1885) M. fagei Vachon, 1949 M. maroccanus Lourenco, 2002 M. flavorufus Lourenco & Duhem, 2007 M. gardneri Lowe, 2010 M. kristensenorum Lowe, 2010 M. satyrus Lowe, Kovarik, Stockmann & Stahlavsky, 2018 M. saharicus sp. nov. Taxonomic treatment Family Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837 Genus Microbuthus Kraepelin, 1898 Microbuthus saharicus sp. n. (Figs. 2-10) Type material: Male holotype, Mauritania, Bivouac de Tinterkat (near to Wadane), 20°56°39.45” N, 11°33°36.69” W; 4/XI/2001 (P. Lluch). The holotype will be deposited in the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, as a contribution to the reposition of the collections destroyed by fire in 2018. Etymology: Specific name refers to the Sahara Desert where the new species was found. Diagnosis. A rather small species of scorpion; the total length reaches only 17.80 mm. Colouration dark as in some other species of the genus; the body is globally dark while the appendages are almost entirely yellow. Pectinal tooth count 12-13. Metasomal segment I wider than long; segments II to V longer than wide. Tibial spurs on leg III reduced; well developed on leg IV. Trichobothrial pattern: minorante neobothriotaxy; chela (hand + fixed finger) with the absence of trichobothria est, Esb, Eb3; patella with trichobothria dy absent and ds in a proximal position; seven external trichobothria, but with trichobothrium em strongly reduced; femur with the absence of trichobothria d2, and a reduced ds. Tibial spurs moderate on leg III and well developed on leg IV. Relationships: By its general morphology the new species shows some affinities to both Microbuthus maroccanus from Morocco and Microbuthus fagei from Mauritania. However, the new species can be readily distinguished by its overall darker pigmentation on the tergites and sternites and a distinct number of trichobothria equally disposed in distinct positions. Description based on male holotype (measurements following the description). Figs. 2-3. Microbuthus saharicus sp. n. Male holotype. Habitus, dorsal and ventral aspects. Colouration (Figs. 2-3). Body dark brown with appendages yellow to pale yellow; only coxa and trochanter of pedipalps are dark. Prosoma: carapace dark brown; eyes intensely marked with a black pigmentation. Mesosomal tergites dark brown; tergite VII slightly paler with some yellowish zones. Metasomal segments I to V brown to dark brown with some yellowish zones; segments IV and V darker than I to III. Vesicle reddish-yellow; aculeus yellowish at the base and reddish at the tip. Venter, coxapophysis, sternum, genital operculum and pectines yellowish; pectines paler than the other structures; sternites yellowish with marked brownish zones; sternite VII darker than the others. Chelicerae yellow with some dark reticulated spots at the base of fingers; fingers yellowish with reddish teeth. Pedipalps pale yellow with coxa and trochanter dark brown, including proximal zone of femur; granulations on cutting edge of fingers slightly reddish. Legs pale yellow without any spots. Morphology. Carapace strongly narrowed anteriorly, almost triangular; anterior margin with a vestigial median concavity; almost straight. Carinae weakly marked; granulations moderately to strongly marked by pearl-like granules. Furrows weak. Median ocular tubercle only slightly anterior to the centre of the carapace; median eyes separated by one and half ocular diameters. Three pairs of lateral eyes; the third pair reduced. Sternum triangular, longer than wide. Mesosomal tergites moderately to strongly granular. Median carina moderate and present in all tergites; the two lateral carinae vestigial. Tergite VII pentacarinate, moderately crenulate. Venter: genital operculum of moderate to large size divided longitudinally and wider than the sternum. Pectines: pectinal tooth count 12-13; basal middle lamellae of the pectines not dilated; fulcra moderate. Sternites III-VI with thin granulations; granules on VII stronger with four vestigial carinae; two lateral furrows present on sternites III-VI. Short slit-like spiracles. Metasoma: segments rounded with ten 4 AAR BA 8 A = ) ie ge sare . o e , . ote hme Ne Te be Pee ee 2 dhe & LNG Figs. 4-10. Microbuthus saharicus sp. n. Male holotype. 4. Metasomal segments HI-V and telson, lateral aspect. 5. Chelicera, dorsal aspect. 6-10. Trichobothrial pattern. 6-7. Chela dorso-external and ventral aspects. 8-9. Patella, dorsal and external aspects. 10. Femur, dorsal aspect. (Scale bars: 4: 2 mm, 5: 0.5 mm, 6-10: 1 mm). Carinae moderately marked on segments I to HI; carinae on segment III partially fused with the granulations; segments IV and V with only vestigial dorsal carinae and with numerous punctuations. Intercarinal spaces moderately granular. Telson slightly punctuated, with two small lateral furrows and one ventral carina with a serrula shape; aculeus very short and strongly curved; subaculear tooth absent. Cheliceral dentition characteristic of the family Buthidae (Fig. 5): the basal teeth in the movable finger are almost fused (Vachon, 1963). Pedipalps: femur pentacarinate; patella with seven weak carinae and the internal face without any spinoid granule; chela with vestigial carinae; all faces with thin but intense granulation. Fixed and movable fingers with one linear row of granules divided by some stronger accessory granules; extremity of the fingers with one strong accessory granule giving the shape of forceps to the fingers. Trichobothriotaxy (Figs. 6-10): minorante neobothriotaxy; A-B (beta) for the disposition of the dorsal trichobothria of the femur (Vachon, 1974, 1975); chela (hand + fixed finger) with the absence of trichobothria est, Esb, Eb3; patella with trichobothria dy absent and d3 in a proximal position; seven external trichobothria, but with trichobothrium em strongly reduced; femur with the absence of trichobothria d2, and a reduced ds. Legs: tarsus with a few median fine setae ventrally; pedal spurs moderate on legs HI and IV; tibial spurs moderate on leg III and well developed on leg IV. Morphometric values (in mm) of the new species. Total length, 17.80*. Carapace: length, 2.41; anterior width, 1.54; posterior width, 2.87. Mesosoma length, 3.94. Metasomal segments (Fig. 4). I: length, 1.34; width, 1.47; II: length, 1.62; width, 1.34; III: length, 1.74; width, 1.62; IV: length, 2.21; width, 1.74; V: length, 2.47; width, 1.87; depth, 1.54. Telson length 2.07; vesicle: width, 0.87; depth, 0.84. Pedipalp: femur length, 2.21, width, 0.67; patella length, 2.27, width, 0.87; chela length, 4.21, width, 0.87, depth, 0.81; movable finger length, 2.54 (* including telson). Biogeography of the genus Microbuthus The description of the new species, although collected in more inland deserts of Mauritania, suggests a potential disrupted peri-Saharan distribution pattern for African Microbuthus species (Fig. 11). This pattern was initially proposed by Vachon (1952) and subsequently re-affirmed by Lourengo (2002, 2011) and Lourengo & Duhem (2007). However, it was rejected by Lowe (2010) and Lowe et al. (2018) who stated as follows: ‘The apparent widely disjunct distribution of Microbuthus in eastern and western coastal locations of North Africa was proposed to reflect a fragmentation or regression of ancient mesic faunas that were unable to adapt to xeric conditions that accompanied advent of the Sahara Desert’. In addition, they also stated ‘The fact that the few available museum specimens of Microbuthus were collected near coastal areas may reflect a bias in the sampling of small cryptic faunas for more densely populated and easily traveled coastal routes. ’ 400 km _ 014°00 W q é " Ca, r ot Ey: ~~ MAURITANIA ® Microbuthus fagei ees Nouakchott @ ® Microbuthus maroccanus @ Microbuthus saharicus sp. n. - SENEGAL Fig. 11. Map of Occidental North Africa with the type localities of Microbuthus species known from this area. These statements involve some degree of speculation. In fact, intense collecting predominantly occurred in what was formerly the ‘Afrique Occidentale Frangaise’ field trips have been conducted not only over coastal areas, but very often in the inland regions (see Lourengo, 2019). Besides, Microbuthus is not the only genus presenting a particular pattern of distribution. Another example is the distribution pattern of the genus 6 Butheoloides Hirst, 1925. This genus is globally absent from the Central compartment of the Sahara Desert with all its species distributed in more mesic environments surrounding the Desert areas (see Lourengo, 2013). Consequently, the earlier hypothesis (Lourenco, 2002; Lourenco & Duhem, 2007) may still hold until new evidence emerges from the central portion of North Africa. I summarize here again some aspects of what was suggested before. Furon (1951) suggested that the flora and fauna now present in the Sahara region may have ancient origins. Their present pattern is not solely the consequence of palaeogeographic factors, but is also significantly shaped by various palaeoclimatic events. These palaeoclimatic events had an important impact during the Quaternary period when Europe (and North America) underwent glaciation cycles. Meanwhile, Africa experienced periods of heightened rainfall and a notable increase in ice accumulation on its mountains, particularly in Eastern Africa. The most recent wet period in the Sahara occurred very recent, only some 5,000 years BP. Qi & Lourengo (2007) emphasized that the current composition of the Saharan fauna likely represents the legacy of ancient faunas that have been present in North Africa since the early Cenozoic, or at least since mid-Cenozoic times (Vachon, 1952). North Africa has experienced numerous other palaeoclimatological vicissitudes in the last few million years, some of which occurred in more recent Quaternary times. The Sahara has undergone a long series of wet periods, the most recent occurring 10.000-5000 years BP. It was not until approximately 3000 years BP that the Sahara assumed its present arid state (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1971, 1974, 1984). Recent studies suggest that the Sahara Desert may be much older than was previously thought (Schuster et al., 2006). It seems reasonable, therefore, to postulate that extremely arid areas may have existed as patchy desert enclaves for a very long time, even when the overall climate in North Africa enjoyed more mesic conditions. Within these desert regions, a specialized scorpion fauna would have evolved. In contrast, other lineages less well adapted to drought, and previously present only in mesic environments, have regressed markedly in their distribution. They have therefore experienced negative selection and are on the road to extinction. In other cases, populations have been reduced to very limited and patchy zones sometimes with remarkable disjunctions in their distribution patterns. Among the patterns observed today in the distribution of North African scorpions (Qi & Lourencgo, 2007) one of the most intriguing is the disjunction presented by the distribution of the genus Microbuthus, with two species known in Mauritania and Morocco in the West and two others respectively in Egypt, Eritrea and Dyibouti in the East (and three more species in the Middle East). Vachon (195la, 1952) had already drawn attention to this extremely localized pattern of distribution of the species of Microbuthus and defined it as a ‘disrupted and limited territory’. Vachon also attempted to explain the observed pattern and made reference to Braestrup (1947) who had suggested a mechanism for exchanges through the Sahara Desert. According to this mechanism, Southern elements (Ethiopian) were able to reach the Northern regions, and Northern elements (Palaearctic) were able to disperse to the Southern regions of the Sahara. However, this hypothesis primarily applies to dynamic elements with a strong dispersal capacity. Scorpion populations, in contrast, are often stable and less adaptable to new environments. The present distribution patterns of several scorpion groups, particularly the one presented by the genus Microbuthus, likely reflect a broader range of distribution in the past. The distinct palaeoclimatic vicissitudes experienced by the Sahara have constituted an important selective factor over its scorpion populations. The reaction of these to abiotic factors was certainly varied depending on their own ecological strategies (Polis, 1990; Lourenco, 1991). In some cases, the populations showed a 7 significant regression in their distribution, and some populations may well have totally vanished. These regressions led to marked disruptions in geographic distributions and resulted in their present patchy distribution. This hypothesis offers a potential explanation for the disrupted distribution pattern of Microbuthus species. Ecological and biological comments According to Vachon (1951b), Microbuthus species could be classified as halophiles, since up to that date these were exclusively found in coastal zones, stretching from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. This ecological particularity was further confirmed for other species such as M. maroccanus (see Lourengo, 2002 for details). Lowe (2010) however, rejected this ecological trait and argues that for the species found in the Middle East this characteristic was unreliable. The new species described here, seems to confirm in part this assumption (Fig. 12). It was collected far from coastal zones and on an arid environment. Further discoveries should bring a more precise ecological pattern. Fig. 12. Typical desert formation in Central Mauritania, near to the type locality of Microbuthus saharicus sp. n. The fluorescence observed in Microbuthus species appears to be variable. In fact, for some living specimens of M. litoralis it proved to be rather weak. Fluorescence was previously considered as a global trait in scorpions, but more and more exceptions are presently found (see Lourengo, 2012). The reproductive biology of most micro-scorpions remains relatively unexplored, but preliminary observations have revealed certain peculiarities. For instance, limited observations on M. fagei demonstrated that broods are composed of very small numbers, ranging from 3 to 4 (Lourengo, 2002, 2007). In contrast, pro-juveniles at birth are very large at birth. Female body length averages 8.4 mm, while pro-juveniles body length averages 4.2 mm. No precise data, however, are available on the embryonic and postembryonic development of the species. Nevertheless, using indirect methods and the morphometric values of juveniles collected in nature, it can be estimated that four moults are required to reach adulthood. Acknowledgments I am most grateful to Adriano B. Kury (Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro) and Eric Ythier (BYG France) for useful comments to the manuscript. Thanks go also to Elise- Anne Leguin (Muséum, Paris) for preparing the photos of the holotype, to Philippe Geniez for authorising the use of figure (1) and the field photo (Fig. 12) and to Lucienne Wilmé for the preparation of the map (Fig. 11). References Birula, A.A. 1905. Skorpiologische Beitrage, 1-3. Microbuthus littoralis (Pav.), Anomalobuthus rickmersi Krpl. und Buthus zarudnianus n. nom. Zoologisher Anzeiger, 29(14): 445-450. Braestrup, F.W. 1947. Remarks on faunal exchange through the Sahara. Viddenskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk naturhistorisk Forening i KjObenhavn, 110: 1-15. Cloudsley-Thompson, J.L. 1971. Recent expansion of the Sahara. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 2: 35-39. Cloudsley-Thompson, J.L. 1974. The expanding Sahara. Environmental Conservation, 1: 5-13. Cloudsley-Thompson, J.L. 1984. (Editor). Key Environments: Sahara Desert. 348 pp. Furon, R. 1951. Les grandes lignes de la paléogéographie de la Berbérie et du Sahara; leur sens biogéographique. Compte Rendu Sommaire des Séances de la Société de Biogéographie, 241 : 46-48. Hjelle, J.T. 1990. Anatomy and morphology. Pp. 9-63. In: Polis, G. A. (ed.). The Biology of Scorpions. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 587 pp. Kraepelin, K. 1898. Neue Pedipalpen und Skorpionen des Hamburger Museums. Mitteilungen aus dem Naturhistorischen Museum (2. Beiheft zum Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen wissenschaftlichen Anstalten, 1897), 15: 39-44. Lourengo, W.R. 1991. Biogéographie évolutive, écologie et les stratégies biodémographiques chez les scorpions néotropicaux. Compte Rendu Sommaire des Séances de la Société de Biogéographie, 67: 171-190. Lourengo, W.R. 2002. Nouvelles considérations sur la classification et la biogéographie du genre Microbuthus Kraepelin (Scorpiones, Buthidae); caractérisation d’une nouvelle sous-espéce pour le Maroc. Biogeographica, 78: 165-176. Lourengo, W.R. 2007. Litter size in micro-buthoid scorpions (Chelicerata, Scorpiones). Boletin de la Sociedad Entomolégica Aragonesa, 40: 473-477. Lourengo, W.R. 2011. The genus Microbuthus Kraepelin, 1898 in North Africa and redescription of Microbuthus litoralis (Pavesi, 1885) (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Entomologische Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum Hamburg, 15(186): 327-333. Lourengo, W.R. 2012. Fluorescence in scorpions under UV light; can chaerilids be a possible exception? Comptes Rendus Biologies, 335(12): 731-734. Lourencgo, W.R. 2013. The remarkable peri-Saharan distribution of the genus Butheoloides Hirst (Scorpiones, Buthidae), with the description of a new species from Cameroon. Comptes Rendus Biologies, 336(10): 515-520. Lourengo, W.R. 2019. Nouvelles considérations sur les Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 collectés dans la région du Tibesti, Tchad et description d’une nouvelle espece (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Revista Ibérica de Aracnologia, 34: 133-137. Lourengo, W.R. & Duhem, B. 2007. Observations on the remarkable disrupted geographical distribution of the genus Microbuthus Kraepelin, 1898 in North Africa, with the description of a new species from Egypt (Scorpiones, Buthidae). Comptes Rendus Biologies, 330: 439-445. Lowe, G. 2010. New picobuthoid scorpions (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Oman. Euscorpius, 93: 1-53. Lowe, G., Kovarik, F., Stockmann, M. & St'ahlavsky, F. 2018. Review of Microbuthus with description of M. satyrus sp. n. (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Oman and Yemen. Euscorpius, 263: 1-22. Polis, G.A. 1990. Ecology: Pp. 247-293. In G.A. Polis (ed.), The Biology of Scorpions. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, USA, 1990, pp. 247-293. Qi, J.X. & Lourengo, W.R. 2007. Distribution of endemic relict groups of Saharan scorpions, with the description of new genus and species from Mauritania. Comptes Rendus Biologies, 330(1): 80-85. Schuster, M., Duringer, P., Ghienne, J.-F., Vignaud, P., Mackaye, H.T., Likius, A. & Brunet, M. 2006. The age of the Sahara Desert. Science, 311: 821. Stahnke, H.L. 1970. Scorpion nomenclature and mensuration. Entomological News, 81(12): 297- 316. Vachon, M. 1949. Etudes sur les Scorpions. III (suite). Description des Scorpions du Nord de l’ Afrique. Archives de |’Institut Pasteur d’Algérie, 27 (4): 334-396. Vachon, M. 1951la. Biogéographie des Scorpions du Nord de Il’Afrique. Compte Rendu Sommaire des Séances de la Société de Biogéographie, 241 : 61-65. Vachon, M. 1951b. Sur quelques Scorpions ‘halophiles’ (Microbuthus fagei Mesobuthus confucius et Euscorpius flavicaudis). Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 23: 256- 260. Vachon, M. 1952. Etudes sur les Scorpions. Publications de 1’Institut Pasteur d’ Algérie, 482 pp. Alger. Vachon, M. 1963. De l’utilité, en systématique, d’une nomenclature des dents des chéliceres chez les Scorpions. Bulletin du Muséum national d Histoire naturelle, Paris, 2e sér., 35(2): 161-166. Vachon, M. 1974. Etude des caractéres utilisés pour classer les familles et les genres de Scorpions (Arachnides). 1. La trichobothriotaxie en arachnologie. Sigles trichobothriaux et types de trichobothriotaxie chez les Scorpions. Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, 3é sér., n° 140, Zool. 104: 857-958. Vachon, M. 1975. Sur l’utilisation de la trichobothriotaxie du bras des pédipalpes des Scorpions (Arachnides) dans le classement des genres de la famille des Buthidae Simon. Comptes Rendus des Séances de |’Académie des Sciences, 281(D): 1597-1599. Microbuthus saharicus Lourenco, 2023 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0F365209-468C-4436-A 1 DD-9FEF18F736A8 10 Serket (2023) vol. 20(1): 11-17. Plexippus C.L. Koch, 1846: a new genus for the Moroccan araneofauna (Araneae: Salticidae) Mohamed Mousaid ' & Hicham Bouihouline ” ' Department of biology, Faculty of Sciences and Technics Fez, B.P. 2202, Morocco * Department of biology, Faculty of Sciences and Technics Beni Mellal, 22030, Morocco E-mail address: ' mousaid.mohamed2023 @ gmail.com, * bouihouline2@ gmail.com Abstract This is the first record of genus Plexippus C.L. Koch, 1846 from Morocco through the records of two species: Plexippus devorans (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) based on three male specimens collected from Tinghir (southeastern Morocco) and Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825) based on three specimens (two males from Beni Mellal, and one single female from Fez). Keywords: Plexippus, Plexippus devorans, Plexippus paykulli, Morocco. Introduction Morocco has an important biodiversity, and this includes spiders as well. Our knowledge about Moroccan araneofauna is very limited and needs more studies, as we indicated in a previous study (Mousaid & Bouihouline, 2023). The jumping spiders are diurnal animals, unlike most other spiders. And they largely live in urban areas in close proximity to humans. Morocco has only 24 different genera of jumping spiders (Nentwig et al., 2023). Genus Plexippus C.L. Koch, 1846 is not one of them. Plexippus devorans (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) is one of the small species of the genus whose distribution, according to the World Spider Catalog (2023), includes Cyprus and Palestine/Israel. According to the original description of this species, it is characterized by the absence of the two dark bands on the cephalothorax, unlike Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825) for example (Pickard-Cambridge, 1872). The status of this species and Plexippus strandi Spassky, 1939 (this species is very similar to Plexippus devorans even in palp morphology) is somewhat ambiguous. Proszynski (2003) described some specimens from Palestine/Israel as P. devorans, but later in 2017 he refuted this and described it as a new species: Plexippus gershomi Proszynski, 2017 (Proszynski, 2017). Later, Logunov (2023) proposed the synonymy of Plexippus strandi with Plexippus gershomi and Plexippus strandi dushanbinus Andreeva, 1969, like Nenilin (1985) who proposed the synonymy of the species name with Plexippus coccineus Simon, 1902. The problem with Plexippus devorans is that the original specimens are lost; there is no holotype to refer to for a new description and a genetic test. It is possible that Plexippus devorans and Plexippus strandi are the same species. Overall, three male specimens were collected and examined from Morocco, and we identified them as Plexippus devorans with the help of a group of senior researchers. Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825) also known as a pantropical jumping spider, is a cosmopolitan species of African origin and introduced to Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, southern Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands (Pupin & Brescovit, 2023). This species is recorded in all North African countries except Morocco (Nentwig et al., 2023). However, the distribution of the species in the country remains very likely. In this paper we also present the first record of P. paykulli from Morocco based on three specimens. Material and Methods Three male specimens of Plexippus devorans were collected from Douar Achtat, Tinghir region in July 2023. Also, two male specimens of Plexippus paykulli were collected from the courtyard of the Beni Mellal university complex in Mghila in June 2023 and a single female specimen of P. paykulli was collected from Faculty of Sciences and Technics Fez in October 2023 (Fig. 1). All specimens were preserved in 96% ethanol and microscopically examined in the Functional Ecology and Environmental Engineering laboratory in the Faculty of Sciences and Technics Fez, where the specimens were placed. oeMille Espagne™ i? “Ceuta e Melilla e ecasablanca Béni ke Tinghir 132 km ; mms | adil MET KoXes Fig. 1. Map of northern Morocco showing specimens collecting stations: Plexippus paykulli, 24 (white star), 19 (white banded star) and Plexippus devorans, 33.4 (black star). 12 Results Plexippus devorans (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) (Figs. 2-6) Salticus devorans O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872: 327 (D@). Hasarius devorans Simon, 1876a: 90. For more synonyms, see the World Spider Catalog (2023). Identification reference: Proszynski (2003: 144, figs. 584-585). Material examined: 344, Douar Achtat, Tinghir region (31°26'33.7"N, 5°26'17.6"W), collected on 27/07/2023, examined on 02/11/2023. hi a Fig. 2. Plexippus devorans (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) @, alive, from Ifrane Anti- Atlas, Morocco (© Abderahim Elaouad). | mm 3 4 Figs. 3-4. Plexippus devorans (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) 4, habitus. 3. dorsal view. 4. ventral view. 13 Description of the male (Figs. 2-4): Small spiders, 5.5 mm long, general colouration is yellowish white, with two dark bands on the sides of the opisthosoma. Four dark spots in the prosoma two of which are located in the position of the posterior eyes (Fig. 3). These males are similar to the larger males of P. paykulli, but it is easy to distinguish the two species based on the difference of size, as well as the obvious difference in the prosoma. Unlike P. devorans, P. paykulli prosoma is yellowish white with two dark bands on sides. Palpal organ: the sperm duct is large and prominent unlike what we see in P. paykulli palp (Figs. 5-6). Figs. 5-6. Plexippus devorans (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872), male palpal organ, ventral view. Description of the habitat: These specimens were collected from Douar Achtat, Tinghir (Southeastern Morocco) (altitude: 1240 m) (Fig. 7). Generally this region is characterized by its arid climate and special vegetation interspersed with Phoenix dactylifera (the distinctive vegetation of the region), Vachellia tortilis subsp. raddiana, Tamarix sp., Ziziphus lotus, Olea europaea (planted). Fig. 7. Arid habitat in Tinghir, southeastern Morocco. 14 Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825) (Figs. 8-15) Attus paykullii Audouin, 1825: 409, pl. 7, f. 22 (D3). Attus ligo Walckenaer, 1837: 426, pl. 12, f. 4 (D). Euophrys vetusta C.L. Koch, 1846: 219, f. 1264 (D&). Salticus vaillantii Lucas, 1846: 136, pl. 5, f. 2 (D3). Salticus culicivorus Doleschall, 1859: 14, pl. 9, f. 5 (D&). Attus africanus Vinson, 1863: 52, 301, pl. 10, f. 3 (D&). For more synonyms, see the World Spider Catalog (2023). Identification references: Metzner (1999: 255, fig. 101 a-b-c-d). El-Hennawy et al. (2015: 132, figs. 8-11). Pupin & Brescovit (2023: 3, figs. 1-6). Material examined: 263, University complex (Sultan Moulay Slimane) in Mghila (32°22'16.4"N, 6°19'02.1"W) on 17/06/2023; 12, Faculty of Sciences and Technics Fez (33°59'58.2"N, 4°59'20.6"W) on 09/10/2023. Examined: 2¢ 4, 17/06/2023, 19° 02/11/2023. Description of the female (Figs. 8-9): The specimen was approximately 7.5 mm long, the colouration is dark brown with a light band in the middle of both the prosoma and the opisthosoma with two light spots in the posterior third of the opisthosoma (Fig. 8). Epigynum: mainly covered by semitransparent brown waxy secretion (Figs. 10, 15) as Proszynski (2003) indicated in his description of the species. l mm 10 Figs. 8-10. Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825) 2. 8-9. Habitus. 8. dorsal view. 9. ventral view. 10. Epigynum, ventral view (S = spermatheca). 15 Description of the male (Figs. 11-12): Body length 8 mm, general colouration yellowish white with two dark bands on either sides of prosoma and opisthosoma (mostly with two light spots in the posterior third) (Fig. 11). Ventrally, the body is yellowish white or brownish white with a clear dark area at the opisthosoma (Fig. 12). Palpal organ: dorsally, hairy and somewhat earthy in its colouration; with a white spot in the middle; ventrally, dark with light tibia and long rather white-yellow hair, with a small sperm duct compared to Plexippus devorans palp (Figs. 13-14). Figs. 11-13. Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825) @. 11-12. Habitus. 11. dorsal view. 12. ventral view. 13. Palpal organ, ventral view. Figs. 14-15. Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825). 14. ¢ palp, ventral view. 15. 9 epigynum, ventral view. 16 Discussion The possibility that Plexippus strandi is a synonym of Plexippus devorans is very high, and unfortunately without the examination of the holotype of P. devorans, it will be difficult to resolve the problem decisively. Therefore, we must rely to the identical descriptions given for both species which indicate a very great similarity. Acknowledgments We present this work first to our friend Abderahim Elaouad, who allowed us to use the picture he took, and second to Dr. Lahsen El Ghadraoui the head of Functional Ecology and Environmental Engineering laboratory for his valuable assistance. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Dr. Robert Bosmans, Dr. Youcef Alioua, and our friend Ghassen Kmira for their valuable assistance to identify Plexippus devorans specimens. References El-Hennawy, H.K., Mohafez, M.A. & El-Gendy, A.A. 2015. The first record of Plexippus clemens (QO. P.-Cambridge, 1872) (Araneae: Salticidae) in Egypt. Serket, 14(3): 128-133. Logunov, D.V. 2023. On the jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from Iran collected by Antoine Senglet (1927—2015). Arachnology, 19(4): 732-768. Metzner, H. 1999. Die Springspinnen (Araneae, Salticidae) Griechenlands. Andrias, 14: 1-279. Mousaid, M. & Bouihouline, H. 2023. First record of Hersilia caudata Savigny, 1825, Tama edwardsi (Lucas, 1846) (Hersiliidae) and Mimetus laevigatus (Keyserling, 1863) (Mimetidae) from Morocco. Serket, 19(4): 391-397. Nenilin, A.B. 1985. Materials on the fauna of the spider family Salticidae of the USSR. II. Results of the study in the USSR. Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta Akademii Nauk SSSR, Leningrad, 139: 129-134. Nentwig, W., Blick, T., Bosmans, R., Gloor, D., Hanggi, A. & Kropf, C. 2023. Spiders of Europe. Version 11.2023. Online at https://www.araneae.nmbe.ch, accessed on 25.11.2023. Pickard-Cambridge, O. 1872. General list of the spiders of Palestine and Syria, with descriptions of numerous new species, and characters of two new genera. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 40(1): 212-354, pl. 13-16. Proszynski, J. 2003. Salticidae (Araneae) of the Levant. Annales Zoologici, Warszawa, 53: 1-180. Proszynski, J. 2017. Remarks on the genus Plexippus C. L. Koch, 1846 (Araneae: Salticidae). Ecologica Montenegrina, 13: 39-69. Pupin, G.B. & Brescovit, A.D. 2023. The alien synanthropic Salticidae in Brazil (Araneae). Theringia, Série Zoologia, 113(e2023002): 1-16. Simon, E. 1902. Etudes arachnologiques. 32e Mémoire. LI. Descriptions d'espéces nouvelles de la famille des Salticidae (suite). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 71(1-2): 389- 421. Spassky, S.A. 1939. Araneae palaearcticae novae. IV. Folia Zoologica et Hydrobiologica, Riga, 9: 299-308. World Spider Catalog 2023. World Spider Catalog. Version 24.5. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, accessed on 25.11.2023. 17 Serket (2023) vol. 20(1): 18-19. Stegodyphus semadohensis Deshmukh, 2013 is a nomen nudum (Araneae: Eresidae) Danniella Sherwood |” & Hisham K. El-Hennawy : ! Arachnology Research Association, London, United Kingdom ? Fundacion Ariguanabo, San Antonio de los Bafios, Cuba 41 El-Mantega El-Rabia St., Heliopolis, Cairo 11341, Egypt j Corresponding author e-mail address: danni.sherwood @ hotmail.com Ujjwala Shivaji Deshmukh described Stegodyphus semadohensis based on a holotype female from the village of Semadoh in the state of Maharashtra, India (Deshmukh, 2013; note: the surname of the author is Deshmukh not Shivaji). The description is very short, and several of the figures are of poor quality. Nonetheless, the illustrations of the epigyne and vulva are sufficient enough to recognise that it is an adult female of Stegodyphus pacificus Pocock, 1900. This was subsequently proposed by El- Hennawy (2016), who synonymised S. semadohensis with S. pacificus. Since both sexes of §. pacificus were described and illustrated in an extensive revision of Stegodyphus Simon, 1873 by Kraus & Kraus (1989), it is hard to understand why Deshmukh (2013) only diagnosed the female of S. semadohensis from the more distantly related Stegodyphus mirandus Pocock, 1899, and failed to recognise it as a specimen of S. pacificus. Regardless, it has been overlooked by El-Hennawy (2016) and the World Spider Catalog from 2015 to the present day (see World Spider Catalog, 2023) that the name Stegodyphus semadohensis Deshmukh, 2013 was, in any case, unavailable. Nowhere in the original description can be found a statement that the type material has been deposited in a specific collection, nor the name and location of a collection (Deshmukh, 2013). Therefore, the name is unavailable per Article 16.4.2 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1999). The purpose of this short note is to state that Stegodyphus semadohensis Deshmukh, 2013 is anomen nudum. Of note, Deshmukh (2013) was, initially, seemingly not fully accessible or widely known to the arachnological community. It was not until 2015 that it was first indexed in the World Spider Catalog, at that time still maintained by Norman I. Platnick at the American Museum of Natural History. In this entry (Platnick, 2015) is an accompanying note stating “only abstract seen”, indicating the full work (as “Shivaji, 2013”) was not able to be accessed. In version 15.5 of the Catalog — maintained from thereafter (and until the present day) by the Naturhistorisches Museum Bern following Platnick’s retirement — the note added previously was omitted, and a portable document file of the work added, without recognition S. semadohensis was a nomen nudum (World Spider Catalog, 2015). Acknowledgment We would like to thank Theo Blick (World Spider Catalog) for commenting on this note. References Deshmukh, U.S. [not Shivaji, D.U.] 2013. Stegodyphus semadohensis: a new species from family Eresidae, recorded from Satpuda, Maharashtra, India (Arachnida: Araneae: Eresidae). Environment Conservation Journal, 14(3): 109-111. El-Hennawy, H.K. 2016. Stegodyphus tibialis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869) in Central India (Araneae: Eresidae), with notes on Indian Stegodyphus species. Indian Journal of Arachnology, 5(1-2): 28-35. ICZN 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Fourth edition. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, 106 pp. Kraus, O. & Kraus, M. 1989. The genus Stegodyphus (Arachnida, Araneae). Sibling species, species groups, and parallel origin of social living. Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg (NF), 30: 151-254. Platnick, N.I. 2015. Eresidae. In: World Spider Catalog. Version 15.0. Archived version available online at: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/resources/archive/catalog_15.0/ERESIDAE.html. Pocock, R.I. 1899. Diagnoses of some new Indian Arachnida. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 12(4): 744-753. Pocock, R.I. 1900. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Arachnida. Taylor and Francis, London, 279 pp. Simon, E. 1873. Etudes arachnologiques. 2e Mémoire. III. Note sur les espéces européennes de la famille des Eresidae. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, (5) 3: 335-358, pl. 10. World Spider Catalog 2015. Eresidae. In: World Spider Catalog. Version 15.5. Archived version online at: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/resources/archive/catalog_15.5/Eresidae.html. World Spider Catalog 2023. World Spider Catalog. Version 24.5. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, accessed on 14.11.2023. 19 Serket (2023) vol. 20(1): 20-25. Harpactea umay sp. n., a new spider species from Turkiye (Araneae: Dysderidae) Kadir Bogac Kunt ', Ersen Aydin Yagmur ~ & Recep Sulhi Ozkiitiik ° ' Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute, Taskent, Kyrenia, Cyprus * Alasehir Vocational School, Manisa Celal Bayar University, TR-45600 Alasehir, Manisa, Tiirkiye * Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Eskisehir Technical University, TR-26470 Eskisehir, Ttirkiye * Corresponding author e-mail address: chaetopelma@ gmail.com Abstract Harpactea umay sp. n. is described based on both sexes from Tiirkiye. The new species belongs to the rubicunda species group as defined by Deeleman-Reinhold in 1993 and is closely related to H. bilecenoglui Kunt & Ozkiitiik, 2023, H. elvericii Kunt & Ozkiitiik, 2023 and H. sanctaeinsulae Brignoli, 1978. Keywords: Fauna, Harpacteinae, Mediterranean, Anatolia, Tiirkiye. Introduction Harpactea Bristowe, 1939, one of the 25 known genera of the family Dysderidae, consists of 208 species generally distributed in the Mediterranean basin (World Spider Catalog, 2023). Recently, studies on the genus Harpactea in and around Tiirkiye and the new species described have attracted attention (Bosmans & Gavalas, 2023; Kunt & Ozkiitiik, 2023). Every newly discovered species contributes to our understanding of the species diversity of the genus, even if it has long been said that the genus requires a drastic revision (see Chatzaki & Arnedo, 2006). The aim of this study is to describe a new species of Harpactea from Tiirkiye. The general appearance of the holotype of the new species and photographs detailing the male and female copulatory organs are here presented. Material and Methods All specimens were collected by pitfall traps from Konya province of Tiirkiye. The samples were preserved in 96% ethanol. The descriptions of the samples were made from alcohol samples caught in pitfall traps. Digital images of the pedipalp were taken with a Leica DFC295 digital camera attached to a Leica S8APO stereomicroscope and 5- 15 photographs were taken in different focal planes and combined. All measurements are in millimetres (mm). Terminology for the body measurements follows Chatzaki & Arnedo (2006). Terminology for the copulatory organs is adapted from Deeleman- Reinhold (1993) and Platania et al. (2020). The following abbreviations are used in the text and figures: Carapace and abdomen: AL = abdominal length, CL = carapace length, Clh = clypeus height, CWmax = maximum carapace width, CWmin = minimum carapace width, TL = Total lenght. Chelicera: ChF = length of cheliceral fang, ChG = length of cheliceral groove, ChL = total length of chelicera (lateral external view). Eyes: AE = anterior eyes, AEd = diameter of anterior eyes, 1AE = interdistance of anterior eyes, PLE = posterior lateral eyes, PLEd = diameter of posterior lateral eyes, PME = posterior median eyes, PMEd = diameter of posterior median eyes. Legs: Cx = coxa, Fe = femur, Me = metatarsus, Pa = patella, Ta = tarsus, Ti = tibia. Spination: d = dorsal, pl = prolateral, rl = retrolateral, v = ventral. Male copulatory bulb: E = embolus, T = tegulum. Vulva: AA = Anterior margin of the anterior arch, AC = anterior arc, PD = posterior diverticulum, RS = roundish structure, S = spermatheca, SK = spermathecal keel, TB = transversal bar. Depository: AZMM = Alasehir Zoological Museum, Manisa, Turkiye. Taxonomy Family Dysderidae C.L. Koch, 1837 Genus Harpactea Bristowe, 1939 Harpactea umay sp.n. (Figs. 1-2) Material examined: Holotype 14 (AZMM), Tiirkiye, Konya Prov., Seydisehir Dist., Geyik Mountains (37°27'24.00"N, 31°43'0.50"E), asl c. 1644 m, 22 Nov. 2016-26 Oct. 2017, Leg. E.A. Ya&mur. Paratypes 720’, 32 9 (AZMM) same data as holotype. Etymology: Umay is the goddess of fertility in Turkic mythology. Diagnosis: Males of H. umay sp. n. resemble those of H. bilecenoglui Kunt & Ozkiitiik, 2023, H. elvericii Kunt & Ozkiitiik, 2023 and H. sanctaeinsulae Brignoli, 1978 by the in terms of the general structure of the bulb, lack of a conductor, and spiniform embolus. In addition, there is a significant difference between the average lengths of H. umay sp. n. and the aforementioned species. Namely, the total length of the holotype male of H. umay sp. n. is 2.55, while the total lengths of the holotype males of the other species are 3.50, 4.35, and 3.87, respectively. There are also slight differences in the morphology of the bulb and embolus. In H. bilecenoglui, H. elvericii, and H. sanctaeinsulae the bulb is more spherical, while in H. umay sp. n. it is more oval and the embolus is more delicate (see Brignoli (1978) and Kunt & Ozkiitiik (2023)). The vulva of H. umay sp. n. resembles that of H. bilecenoglui in the general structure of the anterior arc. However, there are proportional differences between the anterior, central, and posterior parts of the spermatheca between species. In H. bilecenoglui, the anterior part of the spermatheca is usually longer than the posterior part, whereas in H. umay sp. n., the lengths of both parts are almost equal (see Kunt & Ozkiitiik (2023)). 21 Description: Measurements: [Holotype < / Paratype 2] TL 2.55/3.60; AL 1.40/2.25; CL 1.15/1.35; Clh 0.02/0.03; CWmax 1.00/1.10; CWmin 0.50/0.60; AEd 0.07/0.08; iAE 0.02/0.02; PLEd 0.05/0.07; PMEd 0.05/0.05; ChF 0.23/0.29; ChG 0.11/0.16; ChL 0.52/0.62. Small-sized harpacteine spiders. Male and female individuals do not differ morphologically from one another. Leg length does not significantly differ between the sexes, despite the fact that females’ body parts are clearly larger. Carapace hexagonal, brown. Fovea longitudinal and distinct. AE, PLE and PME arranged annularly. AE and PLE in contact with each other. The distance between the AE is approximately one- quarter of the diameter of the anterior eye. Fig. 1. Harpactea umay sp. n. A-B. Habitus of holotype male. A. dorsal view. B. ventral view. C. Chelicerae, ventral view (red dots, promarginal; white dots, retromarginal teeth). 22 Sternum, labium and gnathocoxae brown. Chelicerae dark brown. Cheliceral groove with four teeth (Fig. 1C). Promarginal teeth are more strongly developed than retromarginal teeth. Of the promarginal teeth, the one at the base of the cheliceral groove is approximately twice as large as the one in the centre. The distance between the two is close to the base length of the larger one. Of the retromarginal teeth, the one in the centre of the cheliceral groove is larger than the one at the base. The distance between them is about three times their basal length. Fig. 2. Harpactea umay sp. n. A-B. Bulb (right). A. prolateral view. B. retrolateral view. C-D. Vulva. C. dorsal view. D. ventral view. Abbreviations: AA = anterior margin of the anterior arch; AC = anterior arc; E = embolus; PD = posterior diverticulum; RS = roundish structure; S = spermatheca; SK = spermathecal keel; T = tegulum; 7B = transversal bar. 23 Legs brownish. The anterior tarsi have very weak scopulae, while the posterior tarsi and metatarsi have weak scopulae. Prolateral side of the posterior coxae with spines. Leg formula: IV, I, II, HI. Detailed leg spination and measurements are given in Tables (1-2, respectively). Abdomen and spinnerets greyish yellow. Palp (Figs. 2A-B): palpal tarsus (0.27) slightly longer than tibia (0.23). Tegulum oval, longer than wide. Narrowing towards distally. Embolus spiniform. Tegulum (0.27) longer than embolus (0.21). Conductor and median apophysis absent. Vulva (Figs. 2C-D): tip of spermathecal keel straight. Centre of spermatheca large, quadrangular (Fig. 2C). Posterior part of spermatheca more strongly sclerotized than anterior part. Anterior part is also longer than posterior one. Anterior margin of the anterior arch shorter than transversal bar (Fig. 2C). In dorsal view, roundish structures prominent, chevron-shaped (Fig. 2D). Transversal bar slightly concave. Posterior diverticulum distinct, membranous, approximately equal in width to length (Fig. 2C). Table 1. Leg spination of Harpactea umay sp. n. (Holotype & / Paratype &). Eas SE a a 0 | Mea 0 | Oo | tp UTC SS Se Sa aS SSS a mea || a pliddni,t2v | 2pli,id3nii,2v | | Me | 0 | 0 | 3pl3ri2v_ | 3plid3rii,1,2v__| ae eee ee ees - Micmm 0 | Oo | ip | ip | 2 a a a a ae Moe || pliddrltj2v | Splijid3nit2v | | Me | 0 | 0 | 3pl3r2v | 3pliid3rli,1,2v_| Table 2. Leg measurements of Harpactea umay sp. n. (Holotype ¢ / Paratype °). | Pa | 0.65/0.65 | —0.60/0.60_ | 0.30/0.25 | 0.44/0.58 0.65/0.60 0.65/0.65 0.65/0.63 1.00/1.10 0.30/0.30 0.30/0.30 0.30/0.28 0.40/0.30 3.45/3.30 3.30/3.14 2.60/2.44 3.92/4.16 Distribution: Known only from type locality. Notes Deeleman-Reinhold (1993) divided the genus Harpactea into 4 groups according to the characteristics of the copulatory organs of both sexes. Based on her classification, H. umay sp. n. should be included in the rubicunda (D) group based on the structure of the male copulatory organ and the 3rd patellae and 4th coxae with spines. This species increases the number of Harpactea species known from Tiirkiye to 36; 29 of them are endemic. 24 Acknowledgments We are grateful to Dr. Sinan Anlas, Dr. Semih Orgel, and Serkan Yaman (Manisa, Ttirkiye) for their help in field trips. References Bosmans, R. & Gavalas, I. 2023. The spiders (Araneae) of the tiny Greek island Iraklia (Kiklades), with the descriptions of 5 new Harpactea species (Araneae: Dysderidae), 3 species new to Europe and 8 new to Greece. Parnassiana Archives, 11 (Supplementum 1): 1-91. Brignoli, P.M. 1978. Ragni di Turchia V. Specie nuove o interessanti, cavernicole ed epigee, di varie famiglie (Araneae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 85(3): 461-541. Chatzaki, M. & Arnedo, M.A. 2006. Taxonomic revision of the epigean representatives of the spider subfamily Harpacteinae (Araneae: Dysderidae) on the island of Crete. Zootaxa, 1169: 1-32. Deeleman-Reinhold, C.L. 1993. The genus Rhode and the harpacteine genera Stalagtia, Folkia, Minotauria, and Kaemis (Araneae, Dysderidae) of Yugoslavia and Crete, with remarks on the genus Harpactea. Revue Arachnologique, 10(6): 105-135. Kunt, K.B., Ozkiitiik, R.S. 2023. New data on the Harpacteinae of Turkey (Araneae, Dysderidae). Zootaxa, 5375(3): 379-408. Platania, L., Pavlek, M. & Arnedo, M. 2020. Testing the monophyly of the ground-dweller spider genus Harpactea Bristowe, 1939 (Araneae, Dysderidae) with the description of three new species. Systematics and Biodiversity, 18(7): 688-707. World Spider Catalog 2023. World Spider Catalog. Version 24.5. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, accessed on 09.12.2023. Harpactea umay Kunt, Yagmur & Ozkiitiik, 2023 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B8B8613A-178C-44C 1-AEB2-A42B467F60F0 25 Serket (2023) vol. 20(1): 26-38. Spiders as a bio-agent factor in a Mango greenhouse at Giza Governorate, Egypt Doaa M.A. Abdel-Ghani ais Mourad F. Hassan * & Gihan MLE. Sallam ' ' Plant Protection Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt * Department of Zoology and Agriculture Nematology, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt * Corresponding author e-mail address: doaamahmoud18 @ gmail.com Abstract Spiders were collected from Mango greenhouse at Giza Governorate. There were 27 species belonging to 13 families found on ground and 11 species belonging to 6 families found on foliage. There were 22 species recorded as new locality records of Giza governorate and one species as a new record in Egypt, i.e. Theridion hannoniae. From these species, there are two _ species in terms’ of _ toxicity: Loxosceles rufescens and Latrodectus geometricus. Most families found on mango trees do not spin webs to catch their prey, they are active hunter spiders: Dysderidae, Gnaphosidae, Lycosidae, Oonopidae, Philodromidae, Salticidae, and Cheiracanthiidae. These families play an important role in reducing the pest below the economic threshold level, whereas their predators are more specialised and good hunters. Photos of external genitalia of several species are added to facilitate identification. Keywords: Foliage habitat, ground-dwelling habitat, greenhouse, Mango, Theridion hannoniae, Giza, Egypt. Introduction Greenhouse system is one of the protected cultivation types used to produce vegetables and flowers. High-density planting is a way to get high yield in short time. The increase in area, easier harvest and pest management, and high yield in short time for high profit can be listed for the reasons to approach high-density planting (Cary, 1981). High density culture, which allows for a greater yield in less time than traditional cultivation, is becoming more and more common in the fruit industry. By using various applications, this strategy has promoted the development of dwarf trees under controlled culture. Fruit production in greenhouses has the potential to improve fruit crops' output, quality, off-season cultivation, and exportability. In the greenhouses, you may now grow a variety of fruit trees while maintaining environmental control to guarantee a bountiful harvest. In brief, if you start with a clean greenhouse and plants, bugs shouldn't be an issue while managing insect and mite pests in greenhouses. Stability in predator-prey systems is achieved by density-dependent responses of the predator to the prey. As prey populations increase, predation pressure should increase, and predation pressure should lessen as prey population decreases (Morin, 1999). All spiders are predaceous and insects constitute their primary prey (Turnbull, 1973). They are generalist predators that may be of importance in reducing and even preventing outbreaks of insect pests in agriculture (Sunderland et al., 1986). A diverse group of spiders may be effective in biological control because they differ in hunting strategies, habitat preferences, and active periods (Marc et al., 1999). Numerous researchers have stressed that an assemblage of spider species is more effective at reducing prey densities than a single species of spider (Greenstone, 1999). Spiders can be very helpful in controlling greenhouse pests and are important general predators. For that reason we should consider allowing them to coexist with our plants (Smith, 2000). Material and Methods Methods of collecting Spiders were collected from Mango (cultivar Keitt) greenhouse. Abundance was carried out during December 2017 to May 2018 in greenhouses at Giza governorate, twice a month, by two collecting methods: a. Beating net (branch shaking), b. Hand sorting. The hand sorting method was used to pick the spider individuals around each plant or on the ground. After collecting, the specimens were picked up and kept individually in plastic vials. Fig. 1. Mango trees inside greenhouse at Giza Governorate. 2} Identification and preservation of spiders After counting the individuals of spiders, they were preserved in 70% ethyl alcohol in glass vials. Adult males and females were used to recognize the different species, while immature stages were used to recognize only the families. Genitalia of females were carefully separated and mounted in Berlese medium on microscopic glass slides for identification by using light microscope. Table 1. Spider families found on ground below Mango trees. Dysderidae Dysdera crocata C.L. Koch, 1838 Berlandina venatrix (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) Micaria dives (Lucas, 1846) Gnaphosidae Poecilochroa pugnax (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874) Setaphis subtilis (Simon, 1897) Synaphosus syntheticus (Chamberlin, 1924) Zelotes laetus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) Hogna ferox (Lucas, 1838) , | Lycosidae Do not spinweb 7, chosa urbana O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876 Active hunter spider | Wodgicosa fidelis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) Obnonid Dysderina scutata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876) ia ania Opopaea santschii Brignoli, 1974 Philodromus sp. Philodromidae Pulchellodromus glaucinus (Simon, 1870) Thanatus fabricii (Audouin, 1825) Heliophanillus fulgens (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) Salticidae : Phlegra bresnieri (Lucas, 1846) Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825) Scytodidae Do not spin web Scytodes velutina Heineken & Lowe, 1832 Passive spider Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820) Uroctea limbata (C.L. Koch, 1843) Synaphridae Spin web Sinai ee eer ae ape | Steatoda erigoniformis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) __ Theridiidae Theridion hannoniae Denis, 1945 Nurscia albomaculata (Lucas, 1846) Results and Discussion Linyphiidae Agyneta rurestris (C.L. Koch, 1836) Dominance and occurrence of spider species on Mango trees in greenhouses in Giza governorate The physiognomy or structural features of habitats has an important influence on habitat selection, and ultimately on spider species composition of habitats (Uetz, 1991). Vegetation structure, diversity, and architecture all play significant roles in habitat selection and residency (Jennings et al., 1990). During the present work, it was found that 38 spider species belonging to 17 families were collected among mango trees in greenhouses in Giza governorate. 28 The spiders of 14 species of seven families that spin webs were found (Dictynidae, Linyphiidae, Oecobiidae, Synaphridae, Theridiidae, Titanoecidae, and Uloboridae). The most abundant family was Theridiidae, which included eight spider species. The spider families that do not spin webs were divided into: a) Active hunter spiders, which included 21 species of seven families (Cheiracanthiidae, Dysderidae, Gnaphosidae, Lycosidae, Oonopidae, Philodromidae, and Salticidae). The most abundant family was Gnaphosidae which included six spider species. b) Passive hunter spiders, which included three species of three families (Scytodidae, Sicariidae, and Thomisidae) (Table 1). In foliage, there are six families, of which the dominant family that does not spin web, active hunter is Cheiracanthiidae, represented by one species, followed by Theridiidae, represented by six species that spin web in Table (2). In two different habitats, there are different behaviours of these families. On the ground, there are 13 families; the dominant family that does not spin a web and is an active hunter is Salticidae, represented by three species, followed by Lycosidae, represented by four species, and the lowest family is Dysderidae represented by one species in Table (1). From these species, there are 20 species recorded as new locality records at Giza governorate, i.e. Agyneta rurestris, Berlandina venatrix, Dysdera crocata, Dysderina scutata, Heliophanillus fulgens, Latrodectus geometricus, Loxosceles rufescens, Micaria dives, Nigma conducens, Opopaea santschii, Phlegra bresnieri, Poecilochroa pugnax, Setaphis subtilis, Steatoda erigoniformis, Synaphosus syntheticus, Thanatus fabricii, Trochosa urbana, Uloborus plumipes, Wadicosa fidelis, and Zelotes laetus. A new record in Egypt is Theridion hannoniae. The dominant spider species that do not spin webs as active hunter spiders, 21 species of them are good searchers to find their prey. Table 2. Spider families found on foliage of Mango trees. ae Do not spin web Cheiracanthium isiacum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874 Salticidae Active hunter spider | Thyene imperialis (Rossi, 1846) | Thyene imperialis (Rossi, 1846) imperialis (Rossi, 1846) Do not spin web Thomisidae Thomisus citrinellus Simon, 1875 Passive spider |Dictynidae | Nigma conducens (O. Pickard- ee 1876) i | Euryopis episinoides (Walckenaer, 1847) (Walckenaer, 1847) Kochiura aulica ee L. Koch, 1838) Latrodectus fae C.L. Koch, 1841 Theridiidae Spin web Se incanescens Simon, 1890 Theridion | Theridion jordanense Levy & Amitai, 1982 ae es ee ee & Amitai, 1982 Theridion melanostictum O. Pickard- eerie ae 1876 |Uloboridae | Uloborus | Uloborus plumipes Lucas, 1846. Lucas, 1846 Seventeen spider families were recorded in mango cultivars (Keitt) (Table 3). Their dominances ranged from 0.2% to 20.6%. Cheiracanthiidae and Theridiidae are the 29 dominant families at 18.3% and 20.6%, respectively, while Dictynidae 2.1%, Dysderidae 0.2%, Linyphiidae 1.7%, Oecobiidae 0.6%, Oonopidae 1.2%, Philodromidae 4.2%, Scytodidae 2.9%, Sicariidae 1%, Thomisidae 1.7%, and Titanoecidae 0.4% are the accidental families. Gnaphosidae 10.2%, Lycosidae 9.1%, Salticidae 13.1%, Synaphridae 5.6%, and Uloboridae 7.1% are accessory families. These results are consistent with (Mohafez et al., 2010) that in the collected samples of spiders from orchards of mango in Tahta district, the dominant families were Lycosidae, Gnaphosidae, and Theridiidae. In Temma district the dominant families were Lycosidae and Miturgidae (now Cheiracanthiidae). Table 3. Dominance of spider families on Mango in greenhouse. FOccobiidue «|S | ne Accessory | Data given in Table (4) indicated that the family Cheiracanthiidae was the most abundant on mango in the greenhouse (100), followed by the family Theridiidae (74) as juveniles. Both spider families Dysderidae and Oonopidae were collected as adult female specimens only. And the lowest families abundant were Titanoecidae, Oecobiidae, and Linyphiidae (1, 4, 7), respectively. One hundred twenty-five adult individuals (49 @, 76 9) were collected, representing 35 species belonging to 15 families. The family Theridiidae, with eight species: Euryopis episinoides, Kochiura aulica, Latrodectus geometricus, Steatoda erigoniformis, Theridion incanescens, T. jordanense, T. melanostictum, and T. hannoniae, was the most frequent family, followed by Synaphridae with one species, Synaphris letourneuxi, and the family Salticidae with four species, Heliophanillus fulgens, Phlegra bresnieri, Plexippus paykulli, and Thyene imperialis. Even if collecting was not strictly standardised, some differences in abundance and frequency were obvious. The most frequent species in mango greenhouse was Synaphris letourneuxi, but the most abundant species were Kochiura aulica and Theridion incanescens. The two most important species of spiders in terms of toxicity are Loxosceles rufescens and Latrodectus geometricus, which were recorded in Giza governorate as a new locality. 30 Table 4. Occurrence of spider families as juveniles and adults of Mango trees in greenhouse during six months. Months of collecting Total Number on "amie |efadus [cheats | 22 [2 [we [asi | 0 | 7 Dewnidee [i [> [2[1]1[o > [« [empties [3 [a [«>o[s> «| « [3 Linpiae [0 [i [s[1]i[a [7 [2 izes [sf [+ fr [s> | a [8 foxes [1 [1 [ofr fifo] « [0 fruicdromites [4 [5 [2 [3 [ipo] is [4 suiiae | [4 [wl folo | # | 6 sqtwae [1 [s[ols]«>o] 3 | s_ siariaae fo [a fif«fsps | 2 [0 there [fu fs [ful s | | 2 Fmomisive [1 [0 [ola [s>s [wo | + Tiimeeane [1 [0 [olo}olo [1 [1 furteiae [a [s[i [ol] » [+ Taxonomical characters of male and female genitalia The external sexual organ is often so specific to a species that systematists use them as decisive characters for species identification. In the haplogyne male spiders the simplest form of a palp is seen. The tarsus of the palp (cymbium) carries an extension in the form of pear-shaped bulb, or palpal organ. The male palps are much more complex in entelegyne spiders because the wall of the palpal organ consists of hard, sclerotized parts and soft area; both can bear special protrusions which play an essential role during copulation. In haplogyne female spiders, the spermathecae are typically blind sacks connected to a duct or stalk, in entelegynes at least one spermatheca on each side connects to both the copulatory and the fertilization ducts. Entelegynes usually have two pairs of ball- shaped receptacles, the primary and secondary spermathecae (Foelix, 1996). During the present study several families were collected, males and females genitalia were separated to identify spider species. Photos of external genitalia of several species are added below to facilitate identification. Haplogyne families Here, there are three families of this group of spiders: Dysderidae, Oonopidae, and Scytodidae (Figs. 1-4). 31 x all Figs. 1-3. 2 genitalia. 1. Family Dysderidae, Dysdera crocata. 2-3. Family Oonopidae, 2. Dysderina scutata. 3. Opopaea santschii. Fig. 4a-b. Family Scytodidae, Scytodes velutina. a. 2 genitalia. b. 3 palp, lateral views. Entelegyne families In this work, there are 12 families of this group of spiders: Cheiracanthiidae, Dictynidae Gnaphosidae, Linyphiidae, Lycosidae, Philodromidae, Salticidae, Synaphridae, Theridiidae, Thomisidae, Titanoecidae, and Uloboridae (Figs. 5-29). =, — | bE Fig. 5a-b. Family Cheiracanthiidae, Cheiracanthium isiacum. a. 9° epigynum, ventral view. b. 3 palp, lateral views. Fig. 6a-b. Family Dictynidae, Nigma conducens. a. 2 epigynum, ventral view. b. 3 palp, retrolateral and ventral views. 32 Figs. 7-11. Family Gnaphosidae Fig. 11. Zelotes laetus. a. 9° epigynum, dorsal view. b. @ palp, mesoventral and retrolateral views. 33 Fig. 12. Family Linyphiidae, A gyneta rurestris, ° epigynum, ventral view. Figs. 13-15. Family Lycosidae Figs. 14-15. ¢ palp, lateral and ventral views. 14. Trochosa urbana. 15. Wadicosa fidelis. Fig. 16. Family Philodromidae, Pulchellodromus glaucinus, 8 epigynum, dorsal view. 34 Figs. 17-18. Family Salticidae Fig. 17. Heliophanillus fulgens. a. 2 epigynum, dorsal view. b. @ palp, retrolateral and mesoventral views. Fig. 19. Family Synaphridae, Synaphris letourneuxi. a. 9 genitalia, dorsal view. b. 3 palp, retrolateral and ventral views. Figs. 20-26. Family Theridiidae Fig. 20. Euryopis episinoides. a. ° genitalia, dorsal view. b. @ palp, retrolateral view. 35 Fig. 22. Theridion hannoniae mesoventral views. 24 Figs. 24-25. ° genitalia, dorsal view. 24. Theridion jordanense. 25. Theridion melanostictum. 36 a b Fig. 26. Latrodectus geometricus. a. 2 epigynum, dorsal view. b. 3 palp, retrolateral view. Fig. 27. Family Thomisidae, Thomisus citrinellus [T. spinifer]. a. 2° genitalia, dorsal view. b. 3 palp, ventral and retrolateral views. Fig. 28. Family Titanoecidae, Nurscia albomaculata. a. 9 genitalia, ventral view. b. 3 palp, lateral views. Fig. 29. Family Uloboridae, Uloborus plumipes. a. 2 genitalia, dorsal view. b. @ palp, retrolateral and ventral views. 3h Acknowledgments Sincere thanks are due to late Dr. Mohamed Abd El-Aziz Zaher professor of Acarology, faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University for his supervision of the thesis of the first author and his help. Grateful appreciation to Colonel Hisham Kamal El-Din El- Hennawy (Arachnid Collection of Egypt) for helping in identification of some spider samples. References Cary, P.R. 1981. Citrus tree density and pruning practices for the 21st century. In: Proceedings of the International society of Citriculture, pp. 165-168. Foelix, R.F. 1996. Biology of spiders. 2nd Ed. Oxford University Press, 330 pp. Greenstone, M.H. 1999. Spider predation: how and why we study it. Journal of Arachnology, 27(1): 333-342. Jennings, D.T., Vander Haegen, W.M. & Narahara, A.M. 1990. A sampling of forest-floor spiders (Araneae) by expellant, Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Maine. Journal of Arachnology, 18(2): 173-179. Marc, P., Canard, A. & Ysnel, F. 1999. Spiders (Araneae) useful for pest limitation and bioindication. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 74: 229-273. Mohafez, M.A., Al-Akraa, T.M.M. & El-Danasory, M.A.M. 2010. Incidence and seasonal fluctuation of true spiders inhabiting different orchard trees at Sohag governorate. Mansoura University Journal of Plant Protection and Pathology, 1(15): 241-250. Morin, P.J. 1999. Community ecology. Blackwell Science, Inc., Malden, MA. 424 pp. Smith, S. 2000. Greenhouse gardener's companion: Growing food and flowers in your greenhouse or sunspace. Fulcrum Publishing. 497 pp. Sunderland, K.D., Fraser, A.M. & Dixon, A.F.G. 1986. Field and laboratory studies on money spiders (Linyphiidae) as predators of cereal aphids. Journal of Applied Ecology, 23(2): 433-447. Turnbull, A.L. 1973. Ecology of the true spiders (Araneomorphae). Annual Review of Entomology, 18(1): 305-348. Uetz, G.W. 1991. Habitat structure and spider foraging. In: Bell, S.S., McCoy, E.D., Mushinsky, H.R., eds. Habitat structure: the physical arrangement of objects in space. London, England: Chapman and Hall. pp. 325-348. 38 Serket (2023) vol. 20(1): 39-57. DNA barcode and phylogenetic analysis for the araneid spider Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841) (Arachnida: Araneae: Araneidae) from India Sachin R. Patil Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Western Regional Centre (WRC), Pune 411044, India E-mail: srpatil17 @ gmail.com Abstract Present study reports the orb-weaver spider Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841) from the Northern Western Ghats, India with its DNA barcode studies and a preliminary phylogenetic analysis. Although the species is taxonomically well established with wide range of distribution, DNA barcode with verifiable voucher specimen in a National Repositories are wanting. In the data driven era and metabarcoding, DNA barcode library with verifiable voucher specimens are crucial. In the present account taxonomic account of the species is revisited, along with DNA barcode and discussion are made on the utility of DNA barcodes and reference barcode library. Keywords: Araneidae, Neoscona theisi, DNA Barcode library, Phylogeny, northern Western Ghats, India. Introduction Spiders constitute a varied group of invertebrates with archaeological records dating back to the Devonian period and having ancient evolutionary history (Tyagi et al., 2019). Araneid spiders, also known as orb-weaving spiders, are a family of spiders classified under the family Araneidae. These spiders are known for their intricate, circular-shaped webs that they use to capture prey. These spiders are generally nocturnal and rebuild their webs each night. They exhibit a remarkable ability to sense vibrations on their webs, allowing them to detect prey or potential threats. Araneid spiders are found worldwide, except in extremely cold regions. The current world count of spiders has 51,784 species of 136 families (World Spider Catalog, 2023). They typically prefer areas with vegetation and places where their webs are less likely to be disturbed. Neoscona Simon 1864 is a genus of spiders belonging to the family Araneidae. These spiders are commonly known as "spotted orb-weavers" or "spotted garden spiders." The genus Neoscona has a wide distribution across various regions, including North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia (World Spider Catalog, 2023). These spiders are medium to large-sized orb-weavers. They typically have a round abdomen with a range of colours, including shades of brown, yellow, or grey. One distinctive feature of Neoscona spiders is the presence of spots or markings on their abdomen called sigilla which can vary in pattern and colouration among different species. Genus Neoscona is represented by 32 species known from India (Table 1). Pioneer studies on spider’s documentation from India has been by Tikader from 1980’s and since then the number of species recorded till date has increased from 1067 species in 1987 to present day reported diversity comprised in 61 families, 495 genera with 1954 species (Caleb & Sankaran, 2023). The present diversity of 1954 species may be under representation of the group from India, as most of the studies are limited to morphology-based reports or checklists with poor representation of the group on genetic scale from India. In the present era of DNA barcoding there are marginal studies encompassing the genetic studies on this diverse class of arachnids. Despite of being a megadiverse country harbouring rich diversity of life forms, the rate of species documentation from India is slow which needs to be paced up in the immediate future for which DNA barcodes represent a handy tool. DNA barcodes having the potential of species delimitation will help in filling the gaps of faunal documentation and improve our current understanding of faunal diversity, distribution, and related aspects, additionally it will aid in future in identification and other studies when actual specimen collection may be a limitation. DNA barcoding studies from a taxonomically identified voucher specimens in India are still in upcoming stages in many groups especially among arthropods including spiders (Tyagi et al., 2019). Only countable studies exist at present (Dinesh et al., 2023; Tyagi et al., 2019; Gaikwad et al., 2017) in context to spiders documentation in aid with DNA barcodes from India, while spider’s documentation from the global biodiversity hotspot, the Western Ghats outlining the western peninsula of India is negligible and remains poorly explored. As suggested by Robinson et al. (2009) DNA barcodes not only assist in species identity confirmation but also plays a significant role in resolving taxonomic uncertainties. Hence it becomes necessary to have DNA barcode data in a group as vast as that of spiders from the Western Ghats which is substantially reported to inhabit endemic and unique lineages. DNA barcoding is a valuable tool for specimen identification and species discovery of Indian spiders by detection of cryptic species and species complex (Tyagi et al., 2019). The morphological identification and analysis are tedious and time-consuming tasks due to sexual dimorphism, polymorphism, morphological variations and lack of identification keys for juveniles (Coddington & Levi, 1991; Magalhaes er al., 2017). DNA barcoding is a very useful and emerging technique to overcome these hurdles for identification (Hebert et al., 2003). This tool is widely used in biodiversity research, as it provides accurate species identification (Hebert et al., 2003). DNA barcoding has emerged as an additional tool for taxonomy and as an aid to taxonomic impediments (Gaikwad et al., 2017). Gaikwad et al. (2017) had conducted DNA barcoding study of spiders from India which included 17 morphologically identical species. Wheeler et al. 40 (2017) studied the spider tree of life, phylogeny of Araneae based on target-gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling. The present study is an attempt to report a species of Neoscona from the Northern Western Ghats (NWG) with its DNA barcode, and the phylogeny of Neoscona 1s provided to affirm the genetic identity and discussion are made on the utility of DNA barcodes and reference barcode library. Material and Methods Specimens Collecting: The specimens were collected from the campus of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Western Regional Centre (WRC), Pune (18.648 N, 73.760 E; altitude 580 m) as a part of training under Green Skill Development Program (GSDP) on 06.09.2018 by Shazia Quasin. The specimens are deposited in the National Zoological Collection (NZC) of ZSI, WRC, Pune (ID. Register No. Ar/715). Molecular studies: DNA isolation was performed from a single leg using DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit (Qiagen) as per the manufacturer’s protocol, followed by quantitation utilizing the HS dsDNA assay kit on Qubit 2.0 fluorometer. Amplification of the mt COI gene was performed using Folmer’s universal primer, LCO1490 and HCO2198 (Folmer et al., 1994) in 25uL reaction volume constituted by 12.5 uL of 2X Go Taq Hot Start Master Mix (Promega), 0.4uM of each forward and reverse primer along with 50mg of template DNA and Nuclease free water up to Q.S. Thermal cycling profile included one cycle of denaturation at 95°C for 2 mins, followed by 35 cycles of initial denaturation at 95°C for 0.5 minutes, annealing at 47-49°C for 45 secs, and extension at 72°C for one min; and final extension at 72°C for 5 minutes. Amplified PCR product was confirmed by Gel Electrophoresis stained by SYBR safe DNA gel stain (Invitrogen), and visualized under UV by Gel Documentation system. Amplified PCR products were purified by Invitrogen’s Pure Link PCR Purification Kit. Purified PCR product was outsourced for bidirectionally Sanger’s sequencing to Barcode Biosciences Pvt Ltd, Bangalore. Obtained chromatograms were manually checked for quality and _ corrections. Additionally, 784 mt COI sequences of Neoscona were downloaded from the GenBank, of which only two sequences per species were kept, except for the species of our interest while rest of the sequences were excluded from the analysis. Sequence alignment, name editing, and translation checking were performed in MEGA XI software (Tamura et al, 2021). Maximum Likelihood analysis was built in IQ tree webserver with 1000 ultrafast bootstraps and SH-aLRT branch test under TIM2+F+I+G4 model auto selected according to Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) with 220 sequences (Appendix 1). Resultant tree was visualized by Fig Tree v1.4.0 treating species Araneus as out group following Xu et al. (2019) and Tyagi et al. (2019). The present collection from Pune was identified as Neoscona theisi based on the literature studies as well as DNA barcode studies. Abbreviations used in the text: AL = abdomen length, ALE = anterior lateral eye, AME = anterior median eye, AW = abdomen width, CL = carapace length, CW = carapace width, PLE = posterior lateral eye, PME = posterior median eye, sps. = group of different species of the same genus, TL = total length. Leg measurements: TL (Femur, Patella, Tibia, Metatarsus, Tarsus). All measurements are in millimetres (mm). 4] Results Systematic Account Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Chelicerata Class Arachnida Order Araneae Infraorder Araneomorphae Family Araneidae Genus Neoscona Species Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841) Epeira theis Walckenaer, 1841 For all synonyms, see the World Spider Catalog (2023). Material Examined: ID. Reg. No. Ar/715 (NZC: ZSI WRC Pune), 1 female, ZSI Akurdi Campus, 06.09.2018, Coll. S. Quasin. Measurements (female): TL 7.57, CL 2.79, CW 2.64, AL 4.79, AW 3.86. Interocular distance: AME-AME 0.36, ALE-AME 0.50, ALE-ALE 1.21, PME-PME 0.21, PLE-PME 0.57, PLE-PLE 1.25, ALE-PLE 0.11, AME-PME 0.18 Legs: I 12.57 (3.29, 1.43, 3.00, 3.71, 1.14); Il 9.57 (1.86, 1.14, 2.71, 3.00, 0.86); III 6.43 (1.71, 1.00, 1.29, 1.57, 0.86); IV 12.29 (3.43, 1.43, 2.86, 3.57, 1.00). Leg formula 1423. Morphological Description Diagnostic Characters (Fig. 1) Colouration: Cephalothorax and legs yellowish brown, abdomen brownish white. Cephalothorax: longer than wide, narrowing in front, clothed with pubescence and hairs, provided with two lateral and one rnedian longitudinal dark brown bands; thoracic region provided with distinct longitudinal groove. Ocular quad longer than wide and wider in front than behind. Anterior median eyes larger than posterior medians; lateral eyes close; both rows of eyes slightly recurved. Sternum heart-shaped, pointed behind, clothed with pubescence and hairs, dark brown, provided with a conspicuous mid-longitudinal bar. Labium wider than long, dark brown. Maxillae longer than wide, dark brown in colour but anterior border pale, distal end provided with scapulae. Chelicerae strong, light brown with prominent boss. Legs long and strong, clothed with hairs and spines, provided with transverse black bands. Abdomen: Sub-oval, longer than wide, anterior end wider than posterior end, clothed with pubescence and hairs, overlapping on the cephalothorax. Dorsum of abdomen provided with a conspicuous mid-longitudinal chalk white bar having four pairs of lateral projections. Four pairs of sigilla present on the dorsum, arranged mid-longitudinally. Ventral side light brownish, mid-ventrally having a deep brown broad patch in between epigastric furrow and the spinnerets, lateral sides of this patch guarded by chalk white patches. Field Ecology: Very common spider generally found below fresh leaves during the day and sits in an inverted position in the orb web during evenings. Generally, it builds fresh web in evenings indicates that this species is more active in darkness to hunt on nocturnal flying insects. The most preferred habitat for the species is grasslands and gardens with marshy habitats. It is one of the predominant spiders in the homestead areas. 42 Fig. 1. Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841) a-b, d-f. female. a. dorsal view. b. ventral view. c. subadult male, ventral view. d. cephalothorax, dorsal view. e. eyes, frontal view. f. abdomen, ventral view showing epigyne. Distribution: India: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, and West Bengal; Mediterranean to South-East Asia and Australia (Tikader, 1982; Biswas & Biswas, 1992; Barrion & Litsinger, 1995; Gajbe, 2004; World Spider Catalogue, 2023). DNA Barcode studies: The mt DNA barcodes generated in our study were matching with sequences of Neoscona theisi in the NCBI Blast searches (Appendix 1). To check the monophyly of our generated N. theisi sequence and those available in the NCBI database, a preliminary mt COI phylogenetic tree was built which confirmed the monophyly of N. theisi. On the tree, N. theisi has representation from nine countries other than ours namely, Australia, China, French Polynesia, Germany, Japan, Oman, Pakistan, South Korea, and Spain (Fig. 2). Although Gaikwad et al. (2017) have published an 43 article on spiders from the Western Ghats, India, the same is not updated in the NCBI and as per GenBank they are unpublished. Most of the sequences of N. theisi in the GenBank are from different regions of Pakistan according to the studies of Ashfaq et al. (2019) generating a comprehensive DNA barcode library for N. theisi. Overall genetic distance ranged from 0.6 to 2.5% showing the genetic heterogeneity among the populations of N. theisi. Neoscona adianta 88 Neoscona adianta 99 Bees || Neoscona theisi 93 a Neoscona pseudonautica 98 Neoscona nautica 4 Neoscona scylla Neoscona tianmenensis 7 | Neoscona arabesca Neoscona multiplicans 89 Neoscona crucifera 100 92 | Neoscona sps. 70 Neoscona pratensis Neoscona polyspinipes 99 : £4, Neoscona vigilans 95 ( Neoscona mukerjei 64 99 a 93 Neoscona sps. - —— Neoscona sps. 100 Neoscona subfusca —— Neoscona punctigera Neoscona sps. Araneus bicentenarius OUT GROUP . Araneus bicentenarius 0.04 Fig. 2. Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree for the species of Neoscona based on 650 bp of mt COI DNA. Discussion In India, the species being wide range distributed their DNA barcode studies are very limited when compared to the DNA barcode studies from Pakistan which is reliable and comprehensive (Ashfaq et al., 2019). Among the reported diversity of 125 species of Neoscona represented globally (World Spider Catalogue, 2023) we could include 19 lineages in our analysis occurring as separate clades on the tree. The Indian diversity of the genus Neoscona is reported to be 29 species of which five are represented on the phylogenetic tree while for rest of the 24 species DNA barcode data doesn’t exist suggesting a poor reference library for the genus Neoscona from India. More studies for Neoscona from India are warranted inclusive of genetic data for building comprehensive reference library from the country. The authentic DNA barcode library from India will reinforce thorough documentation of species from diverse geographic ranges cementing the gap in Wallacean and Darwinian shortfalls of biodiversity documentation. The present study is expected to have utility not only for species identification in the future but also in other applied aspects where taxonomy remains fundamental. 44 Table 1. Checklist of species under genus Neoscona Simon, 1864 known from India. Species name Type locality information Neoscona achine (Simon, 1906) Deposited at M.N.H.N., Paris, Regd. No. 21732 B 2551 Neoscona bengalensis Tikader & Bal, 1981 Neoscona bihumpi Patel, 1988 Gadhada, 72 Kms south west of Bhavnagar, Gujrat, India Neoscona biswasi Bhandari & Gajbe, 2001 | Vijaynagar, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India Neoscona bomdilaensis B. Biswas & K. Bomdila Circuit House, Dist. Biswas, 2006 Tawang, Alt. 8.400' ft., Arunachal Pradesh, India Neoscona chrysanthusi Tikader & Bal, 1981 | Mangan, near Singhik, Bhutan, India N ow ie Neoscona dhruvai Patel & Nigam, 1994 Pradesh, India Neoscona dhumani Patel & Reddy, 1993 Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Neoscona dyali Gajbe, 2004 Pradesh, India Neoscona elliptica Tikader & Bal, 1981 ee eee | Neoscona enucleata (Karsch, 1879) Neoscona molemensis Tikader & Bal, 1981 Neoscona mukerjei Tikader, 1980 Neoscona murthyi Patel & Reddy, 1990 Bhavnagar University Campus, Dist. Bhavnagar, Gujrat, India Neoscona nautica (L. Koch, 1875) African coast of the Red Sea near Suakin Neoscona odites (Simon, 1906) deposited at M.N.H.N., Paris, Regd. No. 6499 B 2551 Neoscona parambikulamensis Patel, 2003 Karianshola, Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Dist. Palakkad, Kerala, India Neoscona pavida (Simon, 1906) deposited at M.N.H.N., Paris, Regd. No. 11562 B 2551 Neoscona platnicki Gajbe & Gajbe, 2001 Sanjivaninagar, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India OQ | Neoscona punctigera (Doleschall, 1857) 1 | Neoscona raydakensis Saha, Biswas, Majumder & Raychaudhuri, 1995 Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India 2 | Neoscona sanghi Gajbe, 2004 Pradesh, India 0 1 3 4 5 6 i) 18 9 i) 3 | Neoscona sanjivani Gajbe, 2004 Sanjivani Nagar, Jabalpur, Madhya 4 Neoscona shillongensis Tikader & Bal, 1981 | Shillong, Meghalaya, India Neoscona sinhagadensis (Tikader, 1975) Sinhagad Fort, Pune, Maharashtra Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841) Guam, Mariana Island, South New Guinea 45 Pradesh, India 6 Nn | 27 | Neoscona triangula (Keyserling, 1864) [--- Cid Neoscona ujavalai Reddy & Patel, 1992 Tadikalapudi, Dist. West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, India 29 | Neoscona usbonga Barrion & Litsinger, Hinaplanan, Claveria, Misamis 1995 Oriental Province, Mindanao Island, Philippines 3 8 0 | Neoscona vigilans (Blackwall, 1865) Shire River Basin- Zambesi, East of Central Africa 31 | Neoscona xishanensis Yin, Wang, Xie & Peng, 1990 32 | Neoscona yptinika Barrion & Litsinger, Magsaysay, Siniloan, Luzon Island, 1995 Laguna Province, Philippines Acknowledgments The author is grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and the Officer-in-Charge, Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune. He is also grateful to Shazia Quasin for her help in collecting samples and taxonomic studies and Mehrun Raje for the support in wet lab studies. Special thanks to my colleagues A. Shabnam and K.P. Dinesh (ZSI, WRC). Thanks are due to two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved this manuscript. References Agnarsson, I. & Blackledge, T.A. 2009. Can a spider web be too sticky? 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World Spider Catalog 2023. World Spider Catalog. Version 24.5. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, accessed on 24.12.2023. Xu, K., Lin, X., Yang, D., Yang, W. & Li, C. 2019. Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Neoscona scylla and phylogenetic analysis. Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 4(1): 416-441. Appendix 1. Sequences details of ~650 bp of mt COI gene used for ML phylogenetic ~~ ie ea 1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Mateela Kotmomin Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field MK154964.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chak No. 33 S.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field 3 MK154497.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, NIBGE, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Faisalabad (2019) JN306190.1 Unpublished 5 MK154760.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, JHELUM, | Neoscona theisi | Ashfaq et al. P.D KHAN (2019) | 6 | JN306330.1_| Pakistan | Neoscona theisi_| Unpublished _ Bahawalpur, Multan Bypass (2019) a ee (2019) _ -9_{ IN306030.1__ /Pakistan Bahawalpur Lodhara (2019) Rasheedabad (2019) JN306039.1 Unpublished 13. | MK154992.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chichawatni, Chichawatni (2019) Forest PARS (2019) Bahawalpur, Bakkar Pur (2019) 17 | MK154040.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. a ila Chak No. 90 S.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field 48 HQ991602.1 Unpublished MK154897.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Multan, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Ch (2019) 19 | 20 | JF884433.1 | Pakistan | Unpublished 21 | MK154599.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Bahawalpur, Multan Bypass (2019) 22 | MK154931.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chichawatni, Chichawatni (2019) Forest bhagtanwala, Citric field (2019) Bahawalpur, Channan Walla (2019) 25 | MK154526.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. ea Chak No. 90 S.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field Rasheedabad (2019) Saliawalpus Lodhara (2019) a Garhi (2019) | 30 | HQ991605.1 /Pakistan Unpublished JN306149.1 Unpublished 32 | MK154674.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Lahore, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Punjab University, Maize (2019) Field Khokhara Basti (2019) Punjab University, Rice field (2019) Bahawalpur, Bakkar Pur (2019) Naag Shah (2019) P.D KHAN (2019) 38 | MK154656.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Jhang, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Shorkot City, Basti Haider (2019) Abad, Trifolium Field P.D KHAN (2019) JN306120.1 Unpublished JF884424.1 Unpublished 42 | KT383679.1 | India: Maharashtra, Pune Neoscona theisi_ | Gaikwad et al. (2017) KT383768.1 | India: Maharashtra, Pune al. 2017 49 44 | MK154156.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chichawatni, Chichawatni (2019) Forest island, mount pohue (2017) French Polynesia: raiatea Neoscona theisi_ | Ramage et al. island, pension croix du sud (2017) faaroa bay gardens island, Marae taputapuatea (2017) island, motu maeva (2017) island, marae taputapuatea (2017) island, Mount mauru dike (2017) island, Vaiare paopee track (2017) ie faie river area (2017) _ Australia 54 MK154469.1 Pakistan: Punjab, Nescone theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. eee ae Lodharan Road (2019) | 55 | HQ991597.1 /Pakistan Unpublished Tober ally (2019) Faisalabad (2019) o_o (201 2) Pakistan Khokhara Basti. (2019) a7 Pakistan: Punjab, Jhang, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Shorkot City, Basti Haider (2019) Abad, Trifolium Field Rasheedabad (2019) 63 | MK154417.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chak No. 34 S.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field P.D Khan (2019) ied nadia PN mei Bahawalpur, Channan Walla (2019) Sujaabad (2019) | 68 MK153933.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Faisalabad, Ashfaq et al. 50 po PARS 09) eee ee en me Khokhara Basti (2019) Bahawalpur, Channan Walla (2019) Naag Shah (2019) Bahawalpur, Channan Walla (2019) Bahawalpur, Multan Bypass (2019) Bahawalpur, Bakkar Pur (2019) Sujaabad (2019) Khewra (2019) JF884361.1 Unpublished id ison = —Saetanill amnaad | ol Suj aabad (2019) er ee Saliabad (201 Jie /Pakistan Valley, jhalar, vegetation (2019) Khewra (2019) MK950521.1 Unpublished | 86_| MK950520.1 Unpublished JN306320.1 Unpublished 88 | MK154346.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chak No. 33 S.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field | 89 | JN306199.1 [Pakistan | Necoscona theisi_| Unpublished _| bal aie sale nemo! aa Naag Shah (2019) Khokhara Basti (2019) 92 | MK154377.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Mateela Kotmomin Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field lilah road (2019) Khewra (2019) Sujaabad (2019) 51 Gal end aa Bahawalpur, Multan Bypass (2019) Rajana Forest (2019) Sal abs lel mmc al Kasba Marral (2019) rs dhap shareef, vegetation (2019) Bahawalpur, Lodhara (2019) Sujaabad (2019) Rasheedabad (2019) Bahawalpur, Channan Walla (2019) PARS (2019) Bahawalpur, Bakkar Pur (2019) Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chak No. 37 S.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field Pakistan: Punjab, Lahore, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Punjab University, Maize (2019) Field Sujaabad (2019) Sadiqabad (2019) Faisalabad (2019) lilah road (2019) Bahawalpur, Bakkar Pur (2019) Bahawalpur, Multan Bypass (2019) bhagtanwala, Citrus field (2019) 119 | MK153925.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. i Chak No. 87 N.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field Tober valley (2019) mye bhagtanwala, Citrus field (2019) Sujaabad (2019) Bolail Wala (2019) JN306319.1 Unpublished 125 | MK153996.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Jhelum, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Khewra (2019) JF884306. 1 Unpublished JN306297.1 Unpublished JN306141.1 Unpublished Pakistan: Punjab, Lahore, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Punjab University, Maize (2019) field Rajana Forest (2019) JN306278.1 Unpublished Sujaabad (2019) Multan (2019) Rajanpur (2019) P.D KHAN (2019) Naag Shah (2019) Bahawalpur, Bakkar Pur (2019) Faisalabad (2019) 139 | MK154386.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Mateela Kotmomin Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field Pune. Pune. Sujaabad (2019) Pun) ab University, Rice field (2019) jana Forest Forest (2019) | 146 _ MK559320. 1 ‘India a sti—<isSSCSY Unpublished 147 | MK154465.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Multan, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Sujaabad (2019) 53 JN306334.1 Unpublished 149 | MK154297.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Jhelum, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Tober a | (2019) | 150. | JN306161.1 Pakistan Unpublished HQ991607.1 Unpublished JN306119.1 Unpublished Sujaabad (2019) Rajana Forest (2019) Pakistan: Punjab, Jhang, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Shorkot City, Basti Haider (2019) Abad, Trifolium Field Bahawalpur, Channan Walla (2019) Bahawalpur, Lodhara (2019) Basti Jalalabad (2019) Pakistan: Punjab, Jhang, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Shorkot City, Basti Haider (2019) Abad, Trifolium Field Faisalabad (2019) Sargodha (2019) Tober valle (2019) Beggar Garhi (2019) 164 | MK154385.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chak No. 34 S.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field Bahawalpur, Bakkar Pur (2019) HQ991599.1 Unpublished JN306322.1 pPakistan aes P.D KHAN (2019) 170 | MK153853.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chichawatni, Chichawatni (2019) Forest JN306228. 1 Unpublished Khewra (2019) 173. | MK154224.1 | Pakistan: Punjab, Sargodha, Neoscona theisi_ | Ashfaq et al. Chak No. 37 S.B. Sargodha, (2019) Citrus field 54 JN306215.1 Unpublished AB969823.1 | Japan: Okinawa, Onna Unpublished JN817155.1 Unpublished (2017) (2017) 179 | KP100667.1 | Guo Xiang Qiao Zhong Lu, Neoscona theisi_ | Unpublished ha el Yu Yao Shi, Ning Bo Shi, Zhe Jing Sheng, China (2017) Bahawalpur, Chandi Garh (2019) 182 | KX054026.1 | French Polynesia: moorea Neoscona theisi_ | Ramage et al. island, Opunohu three (2017) coconut ridge 183 | MT607826.1 | Spain: Castilla-La Mancha, Neoscona Macias- i | laa Ciudad Real, Alcoba, La adianta Hernandez et Quesera al. (2020) Germany: Saxony, Dresdener | Neoscona Astrin et al. Heller, Umgebung Dresdener | adianta (2016) Heller pseudonautica pseudonautica nautica nautica Punjab, Sargodha, Chak No. | Neoscona sps. Ashfaq et al. 87 N.B. Sargodha, Citrus (2019) field 190 | MK155031.1 | Pakistan: Khyber Neoscona scylla_ | Ashfaq et al. Pakhtunkhwa, Kaghan, (2019) SARS, Summer Agri Res.St 191 | MK154903.1 | Pakistan: Khyber Neoscona scylla_ | Ashfaq et al. Pakhtunkhwa, Shogran, (2019) Shogran tianmenensis arabesca arabesca a et al. (2009) multiplicans FI525327.1 55 a (2009) crucifera (2020) 198 | KC662168.1 | New York, Cold Spring Neoscona sps. Lu et al. Harbor, Cold Spring Harbor (2013) Laboratory Bay Canada: Ontario, Point Pelee | Neoscona sps. Unpublished National Park, Woodland Trail 200 | MF812071.1 | Canada: Ontario, Point Pelee | Neoscona sps. Unpublished National Park, Woodland Trail 201 | MF813442.1 | Canada: Ontario, Point Pelee | Neoscona sps. Unpublished National Park, Woodland Trail Canada: Ontario, Point Pelee | Neoscona sps. Unpublished National Park, Woodland Trail 203 | KM840069.1 | Canada: Saskatchewan, Neoscona Blagoev et al. io Grasslands NP, Grasslands pratensis (2016) Nat. Park Butte trail 204 | KM837328.1 | Canada: Saskatchewan, Neoscona Blagoev et al. aie Grasslands NP, Grasslands pratensis (2016) Nat. Park Butte trail argenteoalba (2019) punctigera punctigera shahpur, Citrus field (2019) subfusca subfusca Khewra polyspinipes (2019) Khewra polyspinipes (2019) vigilans Khewra vigilans (2019) mukerjei mukerjei 56 (2015) KT383727.1 | India: Maharashtra, Pune Unpublished Kejimkujik, Kejimkuyik bicentenarius al. (2019) bicentenarius (2020) 57