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Arthropods' decline has been documented in global and local studies, yet they are still not sufficiently protected on a global scale. Crete (Greece), a Mediterranean hotspot is a continental island, renowned for its diverse geology, ecosystems and endemicity of flora and fauna, with many studies on all of the above disciplines dating back to the 19th century. Here we investigate the conservation status of the Cretan Arthropods using Preliminary Automated Conservation Assessments (PACA) and the overlap of Cretan Arthropod distributions with the Natura 2000 protected areas. In order to perform this analysis, we assembled occurrences of the endemic Arthropods in Crete located in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Crete together with literature data. These assessments resulted in 75% of endemic Arthropods as potentially threatened. The hotspots of endemic and threatened taxa are distributed mostly on the mountainous areas where the Natura 2000 protected areas have great coverage. Yet human activities have significant impact even in those areas, while some taxa are not sufficiently covered by Natura 2000. These findings call for countermeasures and conservation actions.

In the internet era, the digital architecture that keeps us connected and informed may also amplify the spread of misinformation. This problem is gaining global attention, as evidence accumulates that misinformation may interfere with democratic processes and undermine collective responses to environmental and health crises. In an increasingly polluted information ecosystem, understanding the factors underlying the generation and spread of misinformation is becoming a pressing scientific and societal challenge. Here, we studied the global spread of (mis-)information on spiders using a high-resolution global database of online newspaper articles on spider-human interactions, covering stories of spider-human encounters and biting events published from 2010-20204. We found that 47% of articles contained errors and 43% were sensationalist. Moreover, we show that the flow of spider-related news occurs within a highly interconnected global network and provide evidence that sensationalism is a key factor underlying the spread of misinformation. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Loxosceles spp. (Araneae, Sicariidae), known as brown spiders, are distributed in temperate and tropical regions worldwide. Accidents caused by these spiders are known as loxoscelism and constitute a public health problem, especially in Brazil. The present review describes the taxonomy, distribution, and ecological profile of brown spiders, as well as the molecular and biochemical aspects of Loxosceles venom. Additionally, it presents an overview on L. similis, a species found in the Southeastern region of Brazil. In this region, the number of Loxosceles accidents has been increasing in the past few years, thus calling attention to its raising importance as a medically relevant spider species in Brazil.

Maintaining species turnover across habitats is essential for biodiversity conservation. Thus, identifying drivers of community variation is important for conservation strategies. Here, we examine spider community variation along a Mediterranean climatic gradient in Greece, characterised by a mosaic of vegetation. We quantified spider community composition in 22 sites including three different habitat types (grassland, shrubland, oak forest) along a temperature gradient. Community composition was assessed at the family and species (Gnaphosidae and allied families) level. We partitioned beta diversity into two additive components, turnover/balanced abundance variation and nestedness/abundance gradient. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance was used to assess the effects of habitat type, temperature, humidity and elevation on beta diversity. Results showed that different habitat types harboured distinct spider communities at both taxonomical levels. Turnover and balanced abundance variation of families and species were the largest beta diversity components. Turnover and balanced abundance variation of species but not families were significantly affected by temperature differences and the rate of compositional change was similar in grasslands and forests. We conclude that maintaining habitat heterogeneity in the area will conserve spider diversity and that future rising temperatures may potentially lead to species replacement and to changes in the chorological spectrum of the communities. Applying beta diversity partitioning at small spatial scales can offer valuable insights into climate change effects and sustain the development of appropriate conservation actions, especially in cases where temporal or coarser-scale distributional data are lacking. Given their sensitivity, ground spiders are good indicators of climate change effects on biodiversity.

The phryganic and maquis shrublands form the most typical vegetal formations in the Eastern Mediterranean that since thousands of years have been subject to various types of anthropogenic disturbance, including grazing. We studied the impact of sheep and goat grazing on 50 assemblages of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) in phryganic, maquis and forest habitats from zero to 2000 m elevation on Crete, Greece using pitfall traps for one year at each sampling site. In total, 58 gnaphosid species and 16,592 individuals were collected. Cretan endemic Gnaphosidae were negatively affected by intensive grazing and, contrary to findings on other taxa studied on the island, they were sparse and rare throughout the study area. The species composition of gnaphosid assemblages was primarily determined by elevation. Trachyzelotes lyonneti, Urozelotes rusticus, Zelotes scrutatus, Anagraphis pallens and Berinda amabilis proved to be significant indicators of overgrazing. The vast majority of spiders belonging to synanthropic and nationally red-listed species were found in overgrazed sites. Despite theoretical expectations, while the average activity density decreased, the number of species, evenness, rarity, taxonomic, temporal and functional diversity (FRic) indices increased with increasing grazing intensity. This was mainly due to the nature of disturbance itself, which probably allows equibalanced low abundances of indigenous or synanthropic species, rather than overdominance of few, thus partly refuting the opportunistic species hypothesis (OSH). Ground spider assemblages in overgrazed sites comprised sparse populations of mostly rare, opportunistic species with different combinations of life-history traits that partly replace other species more commonly found in the less degraded sites. Species of these assemblages shorten their phenologies to minimize temporal co-occurrence with each other due to resource limitation. These distinct community patterns highlight ground spiders as good indicators of grazing pressure on Crete, on species and assemblage level. To conserve the indigenous and potentially endangered invertebrate fauna, the spatiotemporal discontinuity of grazing including rested patches is important in order to maintain spatial variability and possibly lead to habitat restoration.

International audience; Despite their ecological importance and diversity, spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) are underrepresented in conservation policies in comparison to other groups. We review all extant conservation tools focusing on spiders in Europe, highlighting general patterns, limitations, gaps, and future directions. We assembled a comprehensive online database reporting all available information concerning the legal protection and conservation status of 4,154 spider species. Existing international legislation has limited coverage, with only one species listed in the Bern Convention and EU Habitats Directive. At the national and subnational levels, 178 species are formally mentioned in the legislation of 19 European countries. Moreover, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) includes assessments for 301 species worldwide, 164 of these threatened and eight native to Europe. In addition, spiders are mentioned in Regional Red Lists and Red Books in 28 out of 42 European countries considered in this review. Northern and Central European countries have the highest percentage of species assessed at the regional level in Red Lists and Red Books. The Mediterranean basin has the highest spider diversities in Europe but conservation efforts are lacking, both in terms of assessments and national or subnational legislation. Among European species, Dolomedes plantarius, Argyroneta aquatica and Eresus kollari are the most frequently mentioned in European conservation measures, possibly due to their ecological traits and their strict association with declining habitats. Considering the current threats to spiders in Europe, the protection of large areas of suitable habitat should be considered as the most effective approach to spider conservation.

New faunistic and taxonomic data are provided for 24 families of Iranian spiders. As a result, six genera (Callilepis, Leptopilos, Parasyrisca (Gnaphosidae), Mastigusa (Hahniidae), Stemonyphantes, and Styloctetor (Linyphiidae)) and 43 species are recorded from Iran for the first time; three species (Hahnia rossiiBrignoli, 1977, Haplodrassus rhodanicus (Simon, 1914), and Mastigusa arietina (Thorell, 1871)) are recorded for the first time from Asia. Additionally, the previously unknown males of Tegenaria erosZamani & Marusik, 2019 and H. rossii are described, and 119 new provincial records are provided for 70 species.

The genus Physokermes Targioni Tozzetti includes species that are distributed in the Holarctic region and feed on conifers. The recently described scale Physokermes hellenicus (Kozár and Gounari) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) is an endemic species of Greece whose host plants are fir trees of the genus Abies (Pinales: Pinaceae). It is considered as beneficial scale insect species since its honeydew secretions are exploited by honeybees leading to the production of a special honey with important physicochemical characteristics. Since there are no previous data on the natural enemies of P. hellenicus, an investigation was carried out during 2013 in forested areas of eight mountains in south and central Greece aiming to correlate the presence of P. hellenicus with certain parasitoids and predators. Seven species of Encyrtidae, Eulophidae, Pteromalidae, and Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera); five species of Anthribidae and Coccinellidae (Coleoptera); and four species of Dictinidae, Linyphiidae, and Theridiidae (Araneae) were identified. Twelve of them were identified at the species level while four at the genus level. Among them Microterys lunatus (Dalman) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Pseudorhopus testaceus (Ratzeburg) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), and Anthribus fasciatus Forster (Coleoptera: Anthribidae) were the most abundant natural enemies of P. hellenicus adult female while Metaphycus unicolor Hoffer (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Trichomasthus sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) were found to parasitize P. hellenicus male nymph. Cinetata gradata (Simon) (Araneae: Linyphiidae) is reported for first time in the Greek arachnofauna. Our results suggest that the abundance of the fir scale P. hellenicus could be affected by a complex of parasitoid and predator species of different taxa. Future long-term research on these species in relation with abiotic factors would help to understand possible fluctuation of the scale's population.

Our understanding of arthropod responses to environmental pressures is limited, especially for the poorly studied Mediterranean region. In the light of likely further environmental change and the need for protocols for rapid biodiversity assessment, we measured how the abundance and species richness of two taxa, ground spiders and Orthoptera, belonging to different functional groups, fluctuates intra- seasonally (early-mid-late summer) and across habitat types (grasslands, maquis, forests). We also tested their surrogate value. Spiders were found to have higher species richness and abundance almost throughout the investigation. Orthoptera had lower species richness and abundance in forests compared to grasslands and maquis, while no significant difference between habitats was revealed for spiders. Early-summer was the richest period for spiders while mid-summer was the richest for Orthoptera. Canopy cover was found to significantly influence community composition of both groups, while herb height and cover of stones was a determinant factor for Orthoptera only. There was a significant congruence between the two groups and Orthoptera provided the best complementary network. Our results show that diversity patterns of both spiders and Orthoptera are sensitive to environmental changes even over short time-scales (e.g. within the summer period) and space (e.g. across different habitat types), suggesting that small inexpensive experimental designs may still reveal community dynamics. For conservation purposes, we advise a focus on variables regulating habitat heterogeneity and microhabitat characteristics. We provide a list of the most influential species and propose the most effective network for obtaining information on the local fauna.

A new gnaphosid spider species, Zelotes acarnanicus sp. n., is described from a male and female collected on the Perganti Mountain of the Acarnanian Mountains range in mainland Greece.

New taxonomic data on the ground spiders of the families Gnaphosidae, Liocranidae and Prodidomidae from the Greek islands Rodos and Symi are presented resulting from extensive field work conducted in 2006. Additional material from Karpathos is also included. In total, 48 species are recorded, and five new species (Drassodes mylonasi Chatzaki sp.n., Echemus kaltsasi Chatzaki sp.n., Minosiella apolakia Chatzaki sp.n., Phaeocedus vankeeri Chatzaki sp.n., and Turkozelotes attavirus Chatzaki sp.n.) are proposed. Although the Gnaphosidae of Cyprus are not the focus of the present paper, the unknown female of Echemus levyi Kovblyuk, 2009 found in Cyprus, is also described here for comparative purposes. Leptodrassex memorialis (Spassky, 1940) is justifiably transferred to the genus Leptopilos Levy, 2009 and it is therefore regarded as Leptopilos memorialis comb.nov. The male of Zelotes daidalus Chatzaki, 2003 and the female of Z. minous Chatzaki, 2003 are newly matched and Z. daidalus is further synonymised with Z. shaked Levy, 1998.The new matching of Z. minous males with Z. daidalus females is justified. Two species are new records for Greece: Zelotes limnatis Chatzaki & Russell-Smith, 2017 and Agraecina scupiensis Deltshev, 2016.

Modern taxonomy and systematics profit from an invaluable tool that has been developed in the course of more than a century by intense discussions and negotiations of generations of zoologists and palaeontologists: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999, 2012). The main goal of the Code is “to promote stability and universality in the scientific names of animals and to ensure that the name of each taxon is unique and distinct” (Melville 1995, ICZN 1999: 2). The provisions of the Code are generally accepted and thoroughly applied by the scientific community. Exceptions, such as the one described below, are very rare.

The family Theraphosidae is recorded from Greece for the first time with the description of a new species, Chaetopelma lymberakisi sp. n. Also, the male of Macrothele cretica Kulczyński, 1903 is re-described and the female of the same species is described for the first time.

Summary Altella emilieae Lissner, n. sp. is described from specimens collected from a beach in Crete and in upwash on the coast of Telendos, Dodecanese islands, Greece. The affinity of this species to its congeners and its ecology is briefly discussed.

New taxonomic data on the ground spiders of the family Gnaphosidae from Greece are presented. Two genera are proposed as new to science (Marjanus gen. n. and Lasophorus gen. n.) together with two new species (Lasophorus zakkak sp. n. and Lasophorus zografae sp. n.) and a new combination (Marjanus platnicki comb. nov.). Additionally the genus Turkozelotes Kovblyuk & Seyyar, 2009 is here rediagnosed and the female of the type species T. microb Kovblyuk & Seyyar, 2009 is described for the first time. The finding of the matching male of Setaphis mccowani Chatzaki & Russell-Smith, 2017 suggests the transfer of this species to Turkozelotes and hence the male of T. mccowani comb. nov. is described for the first time. Taxonomic affinities of these genera and species are discussed.

Agricultural land abandonment is a major conservation issue when it comes to remote Mediterranean mountainous ecosystems. Although its impact on taxa such as birds or butterflies is well known, knowledge remains poor for less studied invertebrate taxa such as spiders. We sampled ground spiders (Gnaphosidae, Liocranidae, Miturgidae and Corrinidae) in 20 randomly selected sites (1 km × 1 km; 15 pitfall traps) that well depicted a land abandonment gradient, in terms of four forest encroachment classes. Our results showed a negative effect of land abandonment on ground spider species richness and diversity (Simpson index), pinpointing that forested habitats with more than 75 % woody vegetation cover are relatively poor. We also provide evidence for the beneficial role of low intensity grazing (0.4–4 livestock units/km2) for ground spider abundance. Community analysis revealed four distinct clusters of co-occurring species, while Generalized Linear Models at cluster and species level showed the definitive role of forest encroachment, and secondarily of other environmental factors such as humidity, elevation and longitude, in regulating species distribution patterns. Conservation measures for ground spider diversity maintenance should focus on promoting traditional agricultural practices, including small-scale cultivation and mild livestock grazing in order to preserve open and semi-open rural mosaics.

The responses of gnaphosid spiders to an urbanization gradient (urban-suburban-rural areas) were studied using pitfall traps in and near the city of Heraklion, in Crete, Greece, from October 2010 to October 2011. Our results indicate that richness and abundance of species of spiders decreased from the rural area to the center of the city, but not significantly so. Temporal beta diversity was significantly higher in urban areas, which indicates a high temporal variability in species composition of gnaphosid assemblages in the center of the city that takes the form of complementary rather than synchronized phenologies of co-occurring species, as expected in habitats degraded by high levels of disturbance. There was no specific pattern in the body size distribution of the gnaphosids along the urban-rural gradient, and thus the decrease in mean body size with increase in urbanization hypothesis was not supported by our results. However, the species composition recorded in urban areas was very different from that in suburban and rural areas. The percentage of individuals in the catches that were generalist species differed significantly along the gradient. As generalist gnaphosid species made up 72.01% of the total caught in the center of the city, and only 9.53% and 2.07% in suburban and rural areas respectively, our results support the opportunistic species hypothesis. Our analyses indicate that Urozelotes rusticus, a well known synanthropic species recorded for the first time in Greece, is an indicator of high levels of urbanization in Heraklion.

Philaeus chrysops (Poda, 1761) Material examined. Site 5 (c: 1 ♂), Site 8 (a: 1 ♂), Site 12 (a: 1 ♂), Site 14 (a: 1 ♂). Distribution. Europe, Russia, Korea, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, NE-Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Tunisia, Algeria (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Palearctic., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 57, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Pisaura mirabilis (Clerck, 1757) Material examined. Site 12 (a: 1 ♀), Site 14 (a: 1 ♀), Site 15 (a: 1 ♀). Distribution. Europe, Russia, China, SW-Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, SW-Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Euro-Mediterranean-Middle Asiatic., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 34, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Komnenov, M. (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana, 2, 1 - 267."]}

Ipa terrenus (L. Koch, 1879) Material examined. Site 6 (c: 1 ♂). Distribution. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Romania, F.Y. Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, NE-Greece, Ukraine, eastern and southern part of European Russia, Azerbaijan, Russia���C- and S-Siberia, NW-Turkey (Komnenov, 2014; present data). Chorotype. Euro-Siberian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 28, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Koch, L. (1879) Arachniden aus Sibirien und Novaja Semlja, eingesammelt von der schwedischen Expedition im Jahre 1875. Bihang till Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar, 16 (5), 1 - 136."]}

Callilepis schuszteri (Herman, 1879) Material examined. Site 9 (a: 1 ♂, 1 ♀; b: 1 ♀; c: 1 ♀), Site 13 (b: 1 ♀). Distribution. Europe, Russia, Korea, Japan, China (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Eurasian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 44, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Phrurolithus festivus (C. L. Koch, 1835) (Figs 75���78) Material examined. Site 6 (a: 10 ♂, 2 ♀; b: 1 ♂, 8 ♀), Site 6 (a: 1 ♀; b: 2 ♀). Distribution. Europe, Russia, Japan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Algeria (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Palearctic. Remarks. The identification was based on Grimm (1986). Taxonomic drawings of this species are here provided for comparison to the newly described Phrurolithus species. Males of P. festivus are distinguished from other congeners by the large tibial apophysis with narrowing end (Fig. 75) and the absence of median apophysis (Fig 76), while females are distinguished by the V-shaped epigynal sclerotization (Figs 77���78)., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 37, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Centromerus valkanovi Deltshev, 1983 (Figs 57���58) Material examined. Site 2 (b: 1 ♂). Distribution. E-Bulgaria (Deltshev, 1983); NE-Greece (present data). Chorotype. Thracian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 27, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Deltshev, C. (1983) A contribution to the taxonomical study of sylvaticus group of genus Centromerus F. Dahl (Araneae, Linyphiidae) in Bulgaria. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica, 21, 53 - 58."]}

Atypus piceus (Sulzer, 1776) Material examined. Site 9 (b: 1 ♂), Site 13 (a: 1 ♂). Distribution. Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, central part of European Russia, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. European., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on pages 10-11, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Komnenov, M. (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana, 2, 1 - 267."]}

Drassodes lutescens (C. L. Koch, 1839) Material examined. Site 8 (a: 8 ♂; b: 1 ♀), Site 12 (a: 3 ♂, 1 ♀; b: 1 ♀), Site 13 (a: 2 ♂), Site 14 (b: 1 ♀). Distribution. Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Ukraine, central, eastern and southern part of European Russia, Croatia, Bulgaria, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Oman, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Ethiopia (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Mediterranean-Middle Asiatic., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 45, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Zelotes prishutovae Ponomarev & Tsvetkov, 2006 Material examined. Site 6 (a: 3 ♂, 2 ♀; b: 15 ♂, 6 ♀; c: 1 ♀). Distribution. Greece (Senglet, 2011), SW-Turkey, S-Ukraine—Crimea, southern part of European Russia (Kovblyuk et al., 2009). Chorotype. Ponto-E-Mediterranean.

Trachyzelotes pedestris (C. L. Koch, 1837) Material examined. Site 1 (f: 1 ♂), Site 4 (a: 2 ♀), Site 6 (a: 2 ♂), Site 15 (a: 1 ♂, 1 ♀). Distribution. Europe, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Israel (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Euro-Caucasian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 51, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Sintula spiniger (Balogh, 1935) Material examined. Site 2 (d: 1 ♂). Distribution. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, southern part of European Russia, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Albania (Helsdingen, 2015); NE-Greece (present data). Chorotype. Ponto-E-Mediterranean., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 30, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Helsdingen, P. J. van (2015) Araneae. In: Fauna Europaea Database (Version 2015.1). Available from: http: // www. europeanarachnology. org (accessed 10 May 2015)"]}

Tenuiphantes floriana (van Helsdingen, 1977) Material examined. Site 11 (c: 3 ♂). Distribution. Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, F.Y. Republic of Macedonia (Komnenov, 2014); Albania (Vrenozi & Deltshev, 2012); NE-Greece (present data). Chorotype. Balkanic., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 30, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Mesiotelus scopensis Drensky, 1935 Material examined. Site 13 (a: 2 ♀), Site 15 (b: 2 ♀). Distribution. Bulgaria, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Greece, SE-Turkey (Komnenov, 2014); Iran (Zamani et al., 2014). Chorotype. E-Mediterranean-Iranian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 37, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Hahnia nava (Blackwall, 1841) Material examined. Site 13 (b: 1 ♀). Distribution. Europe, Russia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Eurasian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 35, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Komnenov, M. (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana, 2, 1 - 267."]}

Steatoda paykulliana (Walckenaer, 1805) Material examined. Site 15 (a: 1 ♀). Distribution. Europe, Russia, NW-China, Kazakhstan, S-Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Erithrea (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Mediterranean-Middle Asiatic., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 27, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Komnenov, M. (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana, 2, 1 - 267."]}

Drassyllus dadia Komnenov & Chatzaki sp. n. Figs 114–122 Type material. Holotype: male (NHMC, FC 12112), Dadia National Park, maqui, Site 1, 05.05– 05.06.2009, leg. Karakatsanis. Paratypes: 1 ♂ (NHMC, FC 12147, used for description), Dadia National Park, humid grassland, Site 13, 24.05 – 02.07.2011, leg. K. Zografou. Other material examined: Site 3 (e: 1 ♂), Site 13 (a: 1 ♀), Site 15 (a: 1 ♀). Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition taken from the type locality. Diagnosis. Drassyllus dadia sp. n. seems closest to Drassyllus villicus (Thorell, 1875) but can be separated by shorter terminal apophysis (Figs 115, 120) and the dorsal projection of the retrolateral tibial apophysis of males (Figs 114, 119), and by the almost straight introductory orifices and anterior epigynal margin of females (Figs 117, 121). Description. Male (holotype). Total length 4.37; carapace 2.0 long, 1.58 wide. Abdomen (detached from the body) 2.37 long, 1.42 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.06, ALE 0.11, PME 0.10, PLE 0.08, AME-AME 0.07, AME-ALE 0.02, ALE-PLE 0.05, PME-PME 0.03, PME-PLE 0.05; MOQ: 0.24 long, 0.17 anterior width, 0.23 posterior width. Clypeus under AME 0.12 high, under ALE 0.10 high. Chelicerae black brown, promarginal and retromarginal teeth not visible. Maxillae, labium and sternum dark brown in contrast to black brown carapace. Maxillae and labium longer than wide. Sternum heart-shaped, with dense dark hairs at the edges. Legs orange, except femur that is black brown. Leg spination: femora: II d 1 - 1 -0; III d 1 - 1 -0; IV d 1 - 1 -0; patella: III r 1; tibiae: I v 1 - 1 -0; II v 1 - 1 -0; III v 2 - 2 - 2, r 1 - 1, p 1 - 1, d 0-2 -0; IV v 2 - 2 - 2, r 1 - 1, p 1 - 1, d 0-2 -0; metatarsi: I v 2 - 0-2; II v 2 - 0- 2; III d 0-1 - 2, r 1 - 1, p 1 - 1, v 2 -0; IV v 2 - 2 - 2, d 2 - 2 - 2, r 1 -0, p 1 - 1. Abdomen black brown, dorsally with shiny scutum covering ⅓ of the abdomen. Palp as in Figs 114–116, 119– 120. Retrolateral tibial apophysis with stiff setae dorsally and dorsal projection shifted anteriorly; terminal apophysis short, rectangular, approximately as wide as high, with distal edge almost straight, terminal apophysis base retrolaterally projecting, needle-shaped, almost reaching the tip of median apophysis and the retrolateral edge of the cymbium; origin of embolus slightly abrupt; embolus relatively short, proximal half of the embolus almost straight, distal half slightly curved. Female (paratype). Total length 4.43; carapace 1.77 long, 1.43 wide. Abdomen 2.66 long, 1.52 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.05, ALE 0.1, PME 0.1, PLE 0.08, AME-AME 0.05, AME-ALE 0.01, ALE-PLE 0.06, PME-PME 0.01, PME-PLE 0.04; MOQ: 0.21 long, 0.16 anterior width, 0.20 posterior width. Clypeus under AME 0.08 high, under ALE 0.05 high. Eye arrangement, carapace, leg and abdominal coloration as for male. Leg spination. Leg I and II missing. Femora: III d 1 - 1 -0; IV d 1 - 1 -0; tibiae: III v 1-2 - 2, r 1 - 1, p 1 - 1, d 0-2 -0; IV v 0-2 -0, r 1 - 1, p 1 - 1, d 2 - 2 - 2; metatarsi: III d 0-1 - 2, r 0-0, p 1 - 1, v 1-2; IV v 2 - 2 -0, d 2 - 2 - 2, r 1 -0, p 1 - 1. Epigyne as in Figs 117, 121. Anterior margin almost straight, with small protrusion, reaching the height of introducrory orifices; introducrory orifices at anterior part of the epigyne, short, almost straight. Vulva as in Figs 118, 122. Introductory ducts semi-circular, almost touching each other in the middle, opening posteriorly to reach the spermathecae; small lateral glandular heads at upper half of introductory ducts; distance between spermathecae about half of their diameter. Distribution. Known only from the type locality in NE-Greece (Fig. 1). Chorotype: Probably Greek endemic.

Gnaphosa modestior Kulczyński, 1897 (Figs 123���127) Material examined. Site 3 (f: 1 ♂), Site 4 (a: 4 ♂, 7 ♀; b: 1 ♀). Distribution. N-Italy, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria (Helsdingen, 2015); NE-Greece (present data); southern part of European Russia, S-Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, NE-Turkey (Ovtsharenko et al., 1992). Chorotype. Pontic., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 48, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Titanoeca flavicoma L. Koch, 1872 Material examined. Site 8 (a: 1 ♂, 2 ♀; b: 1 ♀), Site 10 (a: 2 ♂), Site 13 (a: 5 ♂, 2 ♀; c: 3 ♀), Site 15 (a: 5 ♂, 1 ♀). Distribution. France���Corsica, Italy, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Greece (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. S- European., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 35, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Komnenov, M. (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana, 2, 1 - 267."]}

Zodarion thoni Nosek, 1905, Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 44, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Phlegra cinereofasciata (Simon, 1868) Material examined. Site 13 (c: 1 ♂, 1 ♀). Distribution. Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Greece (Helsdingen, 2015); Armenia, Azerbaijan, southern part of European Russia (Azarkina, 2004). Chorotype. S-European-Caucasian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 57, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Asianellus festivus (C. L. Koch, 1834) Material examined. Site 12 (a: 1 ♀; b: 2 ♀). Distribution. Europe (Helsdingen, 2015); Turkey (Ka��ar & Ulusoy, 2014); Georgia (Mcheidze, 1997); Azerbaijan (Dunin, 1984); Afghanistan (Denis, 1958); Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan (Logunov & Marusik, 2000). Chorotype. Eurasian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 56, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Pardosa morosa (L. Koch, 1870) Material examined. Site 1 (b: 1 ♀). Distribution. Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, S-Turkmenistan (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Euro- Caucasian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 32, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078, {"references":["Komnenov, M. (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana, 2, 1 - 267."]}

Haplodrassus silvestris (Blackwall, 1833) Material examined. Site 4 (a: 1 ♂; b: 1 ♂), Site 11 (a: 2 ♂, b: 1 ♂). Distribution. Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, European part of Russia, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Azerbaijan (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. Euro-Caucasian., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on page 50, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Haplodrassus kulczynskii Lohmander, 1942 Material examined. Site 1 (h: 1 ♀). Distribution. France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, central, eastern and southern part of European Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, F. Y. Republic of Macedonia, Greece (Helsdingen, 2015); Azerbaijan (Kovblyuk et al., 2012); NW-Kazakhstan (Piterkina, 2009). Judging from the illustrations given by Kim & Lee (2013: Fig. 76) and Song et al. (2004: Fig. 78), specimens from Korea and China may belong to another species. Chorotype. European., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on pages 49-50, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Neaetha absheronica Logunov & Guseinov, 2002 Material examined. Site 5 (a: 1 ♀). Distribution. F. Y. Republic of Macedonia (Komnenov, 2006); Greece, Azerbaijan (Logunov & Guseinov, 2002); Turkey (Coşar et al., 2014). Chorotype. E-Mediterranean.

Civizelotes caucasius (L. Koch, 1866) Material examined. Site 1 (h: 2 ♀), Site 5 (a: 3 ♂; b: 7 ♂, 5 ♀; c: 2 ♀), Site 6 (a: 1 ♂, b: 23 ♂, 13 ♀; c: 2 ♂, 12 ♀), Site 8 (a: 8 ♂, 10 ♀; b: 4 ♂, 36 ♀; c: 7 ♀), Site 10 (b: 2 ♂, 13 ♀; c: 4 ♀), Site 12 (a: 2 ♂, b: 4 ♂, 18 ♀; c: 6 ♀), Site 13 (b: 2 ♂, 4 ♀; c: 9 ♀), Site 14 (a: 2 ♂; b: 4 ♂, 6 ♀; c: 1 ♀), Site 15 (a: 1 ♂, 1 ♀; b: 1 ♂, 1 ♀; c: 3 ♂, 8 ♀). Distribution. S-Europe, Georgia, Azerbaijan, N-Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Israel (Komnenov, 2014). Chorotype. S-European-Middle Asiatic., Published as part of Marjan Komnenov, Eva Pitta, Konstantina Zografou & Maria Chatzaki, 2016, Discovering the still unexplored arachnofauna of the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli, NE Greece: a taxonomic review with description of new species, pp. 1-66 in Zootaxa 4096 (1) on pages 44-45, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4096.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/263078

Zodarion beroni Komnenov & Chatzaki sp. n. Figs 97–111 Type material. Holotype: male (NHMC, FC 12159), Dadia National Park, low maqui, Site, 5, 03– 27.07.2011, leg. K. Zografou. Paratypes: 1 ♀ (NHMC, FC 12159, used for description), same data as holotype; Site 5 (c: 2 ♂), Site 8 (a: 1 ♂), Site 12 (a: 1 ♂), Site 14 (b: 1 ♂). Etymology. This species is named in honor of the colleague and good friend of the first author, the prominent zoologist, Dr Petar Beron (Bulgaria). Noun in genitive case. Diagnosis. Zodarion beroni sp. n. is one of the smallest species of the thoni group, closely related to its members, namely, Zodarion thoni, Z. granulatum, Z. nigrifemur and Z. reticulatum. The new species differs from Z. thoni, Z. nigrifemur and Z. reticulatum by its smaller body length (2.03–2.2 in new species vs 2.9–4.2 in Z. thoni, 3.8–6.2 in Z. nigrifemur and 5.0– 6.6 in Z. reticulatum). Males of Z. beroni sp. n. differ from Z. granulatum by the asymmetrically bi-concave tip of the embolus (convex in Z. granulatum), females by the shape of spermathecae. FIGURES 97–107. Zodarion beroni sp. n. male holotype (97, 99, 101, 105 – 107) and female paratype (98, 100, 102, 103 – 104). 97–98 habitus, dorsal view; 99–100 same, ventral view; 101–102 same, lateral view; 103 epigyne, ventral view; 104 vulva, dorsal view; 105 palp, ventral view showing embolus taken in front of median apophysis; 106 same, ventral view showing natural position of the embolus behind the median apophysis; 107 same, retrolateral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (97–102); 0.2 mm (103–107). Description. Male (holotype). Total length 2.03; carapace 0.95 long, 0.68 wide, with a few small bristles, some longer ones in ocular area. Abdomen 1.08 long, 0.7 wide. Eye sizes and interdistances: AME 0.09, ALE 0.07, PME 0.06, PLE 0.06, AME-AME 0.03, AME-ALE 0.02, ALE-PLE 0.02, PME-PME 0.13, PME-PLE 0.04; MOQ: 0.2 long, 0.18 anterior width, 0.25 posterior width. Coloration and habitus as in Figs 97, 99, 101. Chelicerae and carapace orange, area around AME darkened; legs and sternum yellowish orange. Carapace with several erect hairs on the front and median line behind PME; thoracic part densely granulated. Abdomen oval; dorsum almost completely covered with smooth, shiny dark-brown scutum; venter whitish, in front of spinnerets provided with row of 10 setae. Palp as in Figs 105–109. Tibia with finger-like apophysis, with black, upright pointed tip; median apophysis very large, with large triangular prolateral process; embolus semi-circular, curving over apical part of bulb, tip of embolus asymmetrically bi-concave (Nike-like shaped), terminally pointed. Female (paratype). Total length 2.2; carapace 1.0 long, 0.6 wide. Abdomen 1.2 long, 0.8 wide. Coloration and habitus (Figs 98, 100, 102) as for male except: abdomen dorsally dark sepia, without scutum. Epigyne as in Figs 103, 110. Dark silhouettes of spermathecae visible through integument; copulatory orifices right in the middle of the atrium. Vulva as in Figs 104, 111. Spermathecal tubes stand parallel to each other. Distribution. Known only from the type locality in NE-Greece (Fig. 1). Chorotype. Probably Greek endemic.