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Ten Aelurillus species are treated in the present paper, seven of which are described as new: A. cretensis sp. n. (male, female; from Crete), A. improvisus sp. n. (male, female; from northern India), A. marusiki sp. n. (male, female; from Iran), A. minimontanus sp. n. (male, female; from northern India), A. minutus sp. n. (male; from Syria), A. nen...
Citations
... The usual collecting techniques such as beating, sweeping, and hand-collecting were used on most sites and are not repeated under the descriptions of each site. The numbers are plotted on the map presented in figure 7. Amaurobius is a species rich genus in the Balkans and is quite well studied (Thaler & Knoflach, 1995, 1998, 2002Marusik et al., 2020). However, new species, or at least species difficult to identify, can still be found in this region. ...
... Aelurillus m-nigrum was described by Kulczyński in Chyzer and Kulczyński from Hungary (Chyzer & Kulczyński, 1891), which is also the westernmost record. Since then the species has been reported from Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan and China (Azarkina, 2002), Iran (Azarkina & Zamani, 2019), Romania (Fuhn & Gherasim, 1995), and North Macedonia (Komnenov, 2005). The record for Crete is doubtful, and most likely refers to A. leipoldae (Logunov & Chatzaki, 2003), this is, therefore, the first record for Greece. ...
During the spring of 2019, 187 spider species were collected and identified from the north of Greece, in the regional units of Chalkidiki, Serres and Thessaloniki of the administrative region of Central Macedonia. A list of collected species is given. Siwa dufouri (Simon, 1874), Improphantes turok Tanasevitch, 2011, Phrurolithus nigrinus (Simon, 1878), Aelurillus m-nigrum Kulczyński, 1891, Euryopis dentigera Simon, 1880 and Tetragnatha intermedia Kulczyński, 1891 are reported as new for Greece. Some species could not be identified so far: Amaurobius sp., Pritha sp. and Zodarion sp. The female of Pelecopsis pavida (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) is described for the first time.
... Almost all of the new species descriptions were based on morphological data alone, with molecular data used only in the descriptions of two species (Tahami et al. 2017;Shafaie et al. 2018a). Publications from this period providing taxonomic and nomenclatural data on Iranian spiders, involving descriptions of new taxa and unknown sexes, redescriptions and proposal of synonymies, new combinations and other taxonomic acts are as follows: Aharon et al. (2017), Azarkina (2002Azarkina ( , 2004, Azarkina & Mirshamsi (2014), Azarkina & Zamani (2019, Blick & Ono (2021), Esyunin & Zamani (2019, Esyunin et al. (2011Esyunin et al. ( , 2017, Huber (2011Huber ( , 2022, Kranz-Baltensperger et al. (2009), Logunov (2001a, 2001b, Logunov et al. (2002aLogunov et al. ( , 2002b , 2021e, 2021f, 2022a, Zamani et al. (2016aZamani et al. ( , 2017aZamani et al. ( , 2017bZamani et al. ( , 2017dZamani et al. ( , 2017e, 2018aZamani et al. ( , 2022cZamani et al. ( , 2022dZamani et al. ( , 2023a, Zonstein (2018), Zonstein & Marusik (2010, Zonstein et al. (2018). ...
Spiders (Araneae) are the largest order of Arachnida and the sixth most speciose order of Animalia, comprising more than 50,000 extant species as well as over 1,400 species known from fossils. Despite this immense diversity that has been estimated to comprise 120,000–200,000 species, our knowledge of their systematics and distribution remains rather incipient. While attempts to evaluate the diversity and distribution patterns of spiders have been made for the Neotropical and a few other faunas, most other regions remain historically neglected.
The aim of this dissertation is to explore the systematics, diversity and distribution of spiders of Iran, a highly interesting region from a zoological and biogeographical point of view that unfortunately has been poorly investigated regarding its invertebrate fauna. For this purpose, I examined more than 9,000 specimens that were either collected during expeditions to numerous regions and ecosystems across the country or deposited in several natural history collections from around the world. As a result of these efforts, which were initiated in 2013 and mostly carried out in collaboration with researchers from various countries, a total of 11 genera and 147 species of Iranian spiders were described as new to science, and 419 taxa (i.e., 13 families, 87 genera and 319 species) were recorded in Iran for the first time. The total number of newly described and recorded species (i.e., 466 species) constitutes almost half (i.e., 49.83%) of the currently known Iranian species diversity of this group (i.e., 935 species). Amongst 147 species described, 137 are known only from Iran, representing 63.72% of all species currently considered endemic to this country (i.e., 215 species). These results were published in a total of 87 publications, 38 of which were published after the beginning of my doctoral studies at UTU in 2019. This dissertation, however, is primarily based on only nine taxonomic articles (i.e., I–IX), all published after 2019 and highlighting some of the more important findings.
Because of the newly obtained taxonomic information and an extensive database of all published records, it was possible to conduct a comprehensive review of spatial variation in the diversity patterns of spiders in Iran. This was the main objective of publication X, which also included an evaluation of the effect of sampling bias on the current understanding of the distribution of Iranian spiders. The analyses showed that the diversity of Iranian spiders remains inadequately studied and is heavily affected by the Linnean shortfall (i.e., gaps in taxonomic knowledge), despite a remarkable improvement in taxonomic research on this fauna since the beginning of the 21st century. There are 935 spider species in the 1,648,195 km2 of Iran. Comparing the number of species per area of 171 countries and other political regions indicated that Iran was in position 132, whereas many considerably smaller and less ecologically diverse countries were in lower positions. It was also found that this fauna clearly suffers from a severe Wallacean shortfall (i.e., lack of knowledge of species distributions), as approximately 85% of Iran lacks a single record of spiders. There is a highly uneven distribution of records throughout the country and its provinces and ecoregions, with most of the records situated near large cities. A high correlation was found between the number of records of spiders and the number of records of plants and other animals in Iran, indicating that the noted shortfalls are indeed corroborated by other taxa. Finally, it is suggested that to gain a more complete picture of the diversity of Iranian spiders, future collecting efforts should be primarily in the form of extensive systematic surveys instead of opportunistic sampling, and ideally targeting lesser sampled areas and ecoregions. Once a satisfactory amount of information regarding the taxonomy and distribution of species becomes available, it will be possible to properly assess the conservation status and risk factors that affect these species and to identify areas of higher conservation and management priority.
... The next species to be described, A. subaffinis Caporiacco, 1947, was 45 years later (Caporiacco 1947). The remaining five species were described in the 21st century: A. madagascariensis Azarkina, 2009, A. minutus Azarkina, 2002, A. mirabilis Wesołowska, 2006, A. russellsmithi Azarkina, 2009, and A. tumidulus Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz, 2008 Table 1 for their distribution). Two of these species, A. cristatopalpus Simon, 1902 andA. ...
... A. catus Simon, 1886♂ Senegal A. cristatopalpus Simon, 1902 ♂ South Africa A. madagascariensis Azarkina, 2009 ♂♀ Madagascar A. minutus Azarkina, 2002 ♂♀ Eritrea, Syria A. mirabilis Wesołowska, 2006 ♂♀ Namibia A. murphyorum sp. n. ♂ Kenya A. rugatus (Bösenberg & Lenz, 1895) ♀ Tanzania A. russellsmithi Azarkina, 2009 ♂♀ Ivory Coast A. subaffinis Caporiacco, 1947 ♀ Ethiopia A. tumidulus Wesołowska & Tomasiewicz, 2008 ♀ Ethiopia Table 1: Species composition and distribution of Aelurillus Simon, 1885 in sub-Saharan Africa. ...
A new species of Aelurillus Simon, 1885 from Kenya, A. mur-phyorum sp. n. (♂, Baringo County), is diagnosed, illustrated and described.
... In India, the tribe Aelurillini Simon is represented by 28 species in 6 genera, namely Aelurillus (4 species), Langelurillus (3 species), Langona (6 species), Phanuelus (1 species), Phlegra (4 species), and Stenaelurillus (10 species) (Caleb and Sankaran 2022). Among these, as many as 17 new aelurilline species were described within the last two decades (Azarkina 2002;Mathai 2014, 2016;Caleb et al. 2015;Vidhel et al. 2015;Sebastian et al. 2015;Prajapati et al. 2016;Prajapati 2019;Logunov 2020). These discoveries highlight the underlying diversity of the tribe Aelurillini in the Indian landscape. ...
A new jumping spider species, Langelurillus tertius sp. nov. (♂♀), is described from the Ajanta and Sathmala hill ranges of the Deccan plateau in Maharashtra (India). Detailed description, illustrations, and a map showing the distribution of all known Indian congeners are provided.
... Manzuma differs from Aelurillus in the following characters: (1) base of the embolic division (ED) with an apical projection (Figs 52,55,arrowed,ApP), which is absent in Aelurillus (Fig. 8); (2) the terminal apophysis (TA) is membranous and broad, situated on both pro-and retrolateral sides of the embolus, curved inwards prolaterally , while in Aelurillus the TA is more sclerotized, and connected to embolus by a membrane only on the retrolateral side ( Fig. 9 and Azarkina & Zamani 2019: figs 5-11); (3) embolic tip wide, with a short apical membranous process (Figs 56,58), while in Aelurillus the embolus is pointed apically, without a membranous process (Figs 8-9); (4) epigynal wings are always absent, while in Aelurillus they are always present (see e.g. Azarkina 2002Azarkina , 2003Azarkina , 2009; (5) introductory parts of the insemination ducts are fused around the copulatory openings to form a small tube and then bifurcated (Figs 36,67,94,115,142,164,CD), while in Aelurillus copulatory openings are always separate, even if they lie in the same epigynal depression (Figs 1-3); (6) accessory glands are short, weakly sclerotized and in most cases seen only from an apical view (Figs 35,67,(113)(114)(115)(140)(141)164,AG), while in Aelurillus accessory glands are strongly sclerotized and in most cases visible from a dorsal view of the spermathecae (Figs 2-3, AG). ...
... For an explanation of the male palpal composition see Logunov & Azarkina (2018). For an explanation of the embolic division and its complex origin see Logunov (1996b), Azarkina (2002) and Azarkina & Zamani (2019); in the latter paper EO refers to the ED in this paper. ...
A new jumping spider genus, Manzuma gen. nov. (Salticidae Blackwall, 1841), is described, type species is Manzuma nigritibia (Caporiacco, 1941). Aelurillus reconditus Wesołowska & van Harten, 1994 is synonymized with Rafalus nigritibiis (Caporiacco, 1941). Four new combinations are proposed: M. jocquei gen. et comb. nov. (ex Aelurillus), M. kenyaensis gen. et comb. nov. (ex Langelurillus), M. lympha gen. et comb. nov. (ex Rafalus) and M. nigritibia gen. et comb. nov. (ex Rafalus). Three species, M. botswana gen. et sp. nov. (♂♀, Botswana and Republic of South Africa), M. petroae gen. et sp. nov. (♂♀, Republic of South Africa) and M. tanzanica gen. et sp. nov. (♂, Tanzania), are described. The male of M. kenyaensis gen. et comb. nov. and female of M. lympha gen. et comb. nov. are described for the first time. A new aelurilline synapomorphy is proposed. Identification key for males is provided.
... (1) The terminal apophysis and the membrane connecting TA and the embolus possess very long teeth (28)(29)(30)(31)(37)(38)(39)(40). Almost all the representatives of the 'aeruginosus' species group (e.g., A. blandus (Simon, 1871), see figs 4-7 in Azarkina [2002]; A. concolor Kulczyński, 1901, see figs 12-25 in Azarkina & Mirshamsi [2014]) and some species of the 'luctuosus' species group (e.g., A. improvisus Azarkina, 2002 andA. minutus Azarkina, 2002, see figs 23-25 and 69 in Azarkina [2002]) also have teeth, but their teeth are very short and sometimes are inconspicuous. ...
... (1) The terminal apophysis and the membrane connecting TA and the embolus possess very long teeth (28)(29)(30)(31)(37)(38)(39)(40). Almost all the representatives of the 'aeruginosus' species group (e.g., A. blandus (Simon, 1871), see figs 4-7 in Azarkina [2002]; A. concolor Kulczyński, 1901, see figs 12-25 in Azarkina & Mirshamsi [2014]) and some species of the 'luctuosus' species group (e.g., A. improvisus Azarkina, 2002 andA. minutus Azarkina, 2002, see figs 23-25 and 69 in Azarkina [2002]) also have teeth, but their teeth are very short and sometimes are inconspicuous. ...
... Almost all the representatives of the 'aeruginosus' species group (e.g., A. blandus (Simon, 1871), see figs 4-7 in Azarkina [2002]; A. concolor Kulczyński, 1901, see figs 12-25 in Azarkina & Mirshamsi [2014]) and some species of the 'luctuosus' species group (e.g., A. improvisus Azarkina, 2002 andA. minutus Azarkina, 2002, see figs 23-25 and 69 in Azarkina [2002]) also have teeth, but their teeth are very short and sometimes are inconspicuous. (2) The dorsal tibial apophysis very short, slightly bent ventrad and with a blunt tip (Figs 2,21,27;cf. ...
A new species of Aelurillus Simon, 1884 from Thailand - A. thailandicus sp.n. (♂♀, Phitsanulok and Nakhon Ratchasima Provinces) - is diagnosed and described. The male of Aelurillus afghanus Azarkina, 2006 is described for the first time. The 'minimontanus' species group is proposed and described. An identification key to all the species of this group is given, and collecting localities of all of them are mapped.
... The aelurilline embolic division is rather complex, consisting of two parts: the 'principal sclerite' that is homologous to the true embolus and the 'foot sclerite' that seems to be homologous to the tegular apophysis (see Logunov [1996] for further details). According to Azarkina [2002], the EO of Aelurillus consists of the following parts: the embolus (= the principal sclerite), the terminal apophysis (= the foot sclerite) and the membrane connecting them. Species identification in some Aelurillus is possible on the basis of the males only, due to a high variation of the female copulatory organs (e.g., see figs 73-81 in Azarkina & Logunov, 2006]. ...
A complete check-list of the subtribe Aelurillina Simon, 1901 of Iran is provided. A new species of Aelurillus Simon, 1884 and two new species of Proszynskiana Logunov, 1996 are described: viz., A. westi sp.n. (♂, Isfahan Province, central Iran), P. izadii sp.n. (♂♀, Lut Desert, Kerman Province, south-eastern Iran) and P. logunovi sp.n. (♂♀, Kerman Province, south-eastern Iran). The currently known records of the Iranian Aelurillina are mapped, and complete reference lists for each species are also provided.
... Later, Tikader (1967Tikader ( , 1970 studied spiders of Sikkim and compiled a faunal list of spiders from the region. A few revisionary studies on the selected spider families have been made by Ono (1980), Żabka (1981), Thaler (1987), Majumder and Tikader (1991), Prószyński (1992), Jäger (2001Jäger ( , 2008, Azarkina (2002), Crews andHarvey (2011) Bayer (2012) and Marusik et al. (2014). Bastawade (2008) provided a list of species from the Pin Valley National Park, Himachal Pradesh. ...
... All these factors directly affect sampling procedures. However, during the last century we have witnessed several expeditions organized by European scientists and numerous publications that resulted out of those dedicated surveys (Ono, 1980;Żabka, 1981;Thaler, 1987;Prószyński, 1992;Jäger, 2001;Azarkina, 2002;Crews and Harvey, 2011;Bayer, 2012;Marusik et al., 2014). But the same interests and efforts have been seemingly lacking from our side. ...
... COMMENTS. This species has a Euro-Central Asian nemoral range (Azarkina, 2002). It is found in Mongolia for the first time and the new record lies in the easternmost limit of its range. ...
p>New records of 12 species found in Mongolia for the first time are provided. One of them – Dipoena yutian Hu et Wu, 1989 – previously known only from Xinjiang Province of China is illustrated.</p
... Figs 73 and 110 COMMENTS. Greece (mainland and Crete) only Azarkina, 2002;Dobroruka, 2002]. COMMENTS. ...
