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In the current global warming phase, relict glacial areas are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. They are “cold-spots” of biodiversity and of great interest both from the ecological and conservation point of view. We investigated the biological communities (plants and arthropods) hosted by one of the southernmost European glaciers: Calderone Glacier, the last preserved glacier of the Apennines mountain chain (Italy). We analyzed supraglacial debris and the nearby moraine and we found a rather diverse and peculiar biodiversity, which includes also new species. Some arthropods, such as the springtail Desoria calderonis, are particularly sensitive to the presence of ice at microtopographic level. Among plants, only Arabis alpina caucasica is able to grow on the supraglacial debris, perhaps because of factors related to the seed germination and seedling survival on this habitat type. Calderone glacier, with its particular biogeographic location, is probably currently acting as one of the last refugia for rare and endemic cryophilic species within the Mediterranean Region during the ongoing warm period. more...

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 more...

We applied a multi-taxa approach integrating the co-occurrence of plants, ground beetles, spiders and springtails with soil parameters (temperatures and chemical characteristics) in order to describe the primary succession along two glacier forelands in the Maritime Alps (Italy), a hotspot of Mediterranean biodiversity. We compared these successions to those from Central Alps: Maritime glacier forelands markedly differ for their higher values of species richness and species turnover. Contrary to our expectation, Maritime glacier forelands follow a ‘replacement change model’, like continental succession of Inner Alps and differently from other peripheral successions. We propose that the temperatures along these Mediterranean glacier forelands are warmer than those along other Alpine glacier forelands, which promote the faster species turnover. Furthermore, we found that early and mid successional stages of the investigated glaciers are richer in cold-adapted and endemic species than the later ones: we confirmed that the ‘replacement change’ model disadvantages pioneer, cold-adapted species. Given the overall correspondence among cold-adapted and endemic species, the most threatened in this climate phase, our results raise new concerns about the extinction risk of these species. We also describe supraglacial habitat of Maritime glaciers demonstrating that supraglacial debris represents an environment decoupled from the regional climate and may have an important role as refugium for coldadapted and hygrophilous plant and animal species, whose survival can be threatened by climate change and by a rapid ecological succession in the adjacent forelands. more...

Measuring habitat specialisation is pivotal for predicting species extinctions and for understanding consequences on ecosystem functioning. Here, we sampled pollinator and natural enemy communities in all major habitat types occurring across multiple agricultural landscapes and used species-habitat networks to determine how habitat specialisation changed along gradients in landscape composition and configuration. Although it is well known that landscape simplification often causes the replacement of specialists with generalists, our study provided evidence for intraspecific variation in habitat specialisation, highlighting how a large number of arthropod species adapted their way of selecting habitat resources depending on the landscape structure. Groups with higher diet specialisation and limited foraging flexibility appeared to have a reduced ability to respond to landscape changes, indicating that some arthropod taxa are better able than others to adapt to an increasingly broad set of resources and persist in highly impacted landscapes. more...

The impact of mining activities on spider (Araneae) diversity and assemblages was studied in two abandoned mine sites in Sardinia (Italy), where mining activities started in the middle of the nineteenth century and closed down over a century later. Spider community composition was analysed in dumps, undisturbed forests and scrublands which represent the natural chronosequence following the abandonment of the mining district. The identification of spiders was performed at the lowest taxonomic level possible and differences in abundance, species richness (SR), and functional diversity (FD) were analysed. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and a permutated multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) routine were conducted to evaluate the relationships of spider assemblages with land cover, and the indicator species analysis was performed to identify the typifying species. During the entire sampling period, 2312 spiders were captured, and approximately 80% of the total were identified at the species level (79 spider species belonging to 28 different families). No differences in abundance and SR were found, whereas FD, which showed the highest values in forests, significantly differed among sites. A distinct separation among assemblages and a significant effect of the land use on spider assemblages were found (PERMANOVA, R2 = 0.59, p more...

Land-use intensification exacerbates landscape fragmentation, increasing the negative effects on biodiversity. In this context, the biodiversity value of Trees Outside Forests (TOF; scattered trees, tree lines and small woodlots) is often overlooked by landscape planning and conservation programs, which typically focus on protecting larger and more intact areas. More empirical studies on taxa inhabiting TOF are needed to support and promote their conservation in human-altered lands. However, we are not aware of any study focusing on multiple taxa living in small woodlots outside forests (SWOFs) in the Mediterranean basin. We investigated how diversity patterns of multiple taxa in SWOFs respond to a land-use intensification gradient, from natural areas to more disturbed ones (agricultural and urban areas), in a Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot. We explored the influence of land-use types on species richness and composition of vascular plants and six ground-dwelling invertebrate groups (pseudoscorpions, spiders, darkling beetles, rove beetles, ground beetles, and ants). Species composition was more sensitive than species richness to land-use change, highlighting the need to consider a suitable measure for interpreting ecological processes. We observed a strong influence of land use embedding SWOFs on the mean composition and beta diversity of taxa: land-use intensification led to a general homogenization of diversity patterns, especially among agricultural and urban areas. In our study area, vascular plants responded more sensitively to land-use change than invertebrates. For most invertebrates: the higher the land-use intensity, the lower the species composition dissimilarity due to the dominance of good dispersers or disturbance-tolerant species. More vagile species and disturbance-tolerant species can move across open habitats and colonize new areas, reducing compositional differences and potentially boosting species pools. We demonstrated that SWOFs play a key role in supporting viable populations of invertebrates, also in human-altered lands, underlining the need to promote their conservation in this Mediterranean fragmented landscape to avoid homogenization from driving a generalized biodiversity loss. more...

Although arthropods are among the most diverse, abundant and ecologically important animals in terrestrial ecosystems, they are generally neglected in most biodiversity inventories due to their complex systematics and overwhelming diversity, coupled with the current decline in the number of taxonomists. For this reason, several surrogate groups for arthropod diversity have been proposed, with plants being identified as a good putative cross-taxon indicator. By sampling plants and three groups of ground-dwelling arthropods (rove beetles, ground beetles and spiders) in 300 sites across 15 landscapes including multiple semi-natural and agricultural habitats, we tested for habitat-dependence and scale-dependence in the cross-taxon congruence. Plant species richness was a poor predictor of the species richness of predatory arthropods. Among the predator groups, ground beetles appeared as the best potential surrogate for the other ground-dwelling predators. This is backed by the fact that ground beetles were extremely diverse and abundant in all habitats and are usually easier to identify than both rove beetles and spiders. Decreasing the scale at which the cross-taxon congruence was tested improved the strength of the cross-taxon congruence. Although plant species richness was not a suitable indicator for the diversity of predatory arthropods, vegetation structure played a significant role in influencing cross-taxon congruence in both natural and agricultural habitats. Our results highlight the need to explore the cross-taxon relationships at a fine habitat resolution scale, as strong correlations were obtained only by taking into account habitat identity. more...

The crab spider Xysticus brevidentatusWunderlich, 1995 is one of the most rarely recorded thomisids in Europe. A new record of this species from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the northernmost of its currently known distribution, is presented together with first photographic illustrations of both adult sexes and the diagnostic genital characteristics. The paper also gives information on the habitat for the first time and discusses the known records of the species on the Balkan Peninsula and in southern Italy. The latter record needs further verification due to the recently revealed presence of the highly similar Xysticus macedonicus Silhavý, 1944 in the same region. more...

Spiders are able to arouse strong emotional reactions in humans. While spider bites are statistically rare events, our perception is skewed towards the potential harm spiders can cause to humans. We examined the human dimension of spiders through the lens of traditional media, by analysing more than 300 spider-related news published online in Italian newspapers between 2010 and 2020. We observed a recent, exponential increase in the frequency of the news, particularly those focused on medically important spiders – the Mediterranean black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) and the Mediterranean recluse (Loxosceles refescens). The news quality was generally poor: 70% contained different types of error, 32% were exaggerated, and in virtually none was an expert consulted. Overstated news referring to spider bites were significantly more shared on social media, thus contributing to frame a distorted perception of the risk associated with a spider bite and possibly reducing general public tolerance of spiders. more...

Land-use intensification is a major threat to arthropods across agricultural landscapes. To mitigate these negative effects through appropriate landscape management, it is necessary to understand how entire species communities respond to land-use at the landscape scale. We performed a whole-landscape sampling of spiders in 300 habitat patches across 15 landscapes and built species-habitat networks to evaluate the impact of compositional and configurational simplification on network modularity and habitat specialisation. Within each landscape mosaic, spiders showed a high degree of habitat selectivity, i.e. patches of the same habitat type tended to cluster into modules that rarely interacted with each other. Although spiders are expected to disperse between habitat patches more often when landscapes are fragmented, their high modularity and habitat selectivity were not influenced by edge density. However, modularity was the highest at intermediate cover of semi-natural habitats, probably due to the simultaneous presence of multiple habitats with sufficient area to support the associated specialist species. Despite the high habitat selectivity, perennial crops and meadows seemed to play a central role in connecting different habitat modules across the landscapes. On the contrary, forest and hedgerows hosted very distinct species communities that did not occur outside woody habitats. Encouraging the spill-over of spiders from semi-natural habitats to crops to enhance biological control might be more effective for the better-connected permanent crops, while for annual crops it would be more effective to improve local field quality for crop specialists or to introduce open semi-natural habitats such as meadows. more...

In this contribution we present the Catalog of Italian spiders, produced on the base of the available scientific information regarding spider species distribution in Italy. We analysed an amount of 1124 references, resulting in a list of 1670 species and subspecies, grouped in 434 genera and 53 families. Information on spider biodiversity in Italy has increased rapidly in the last years, going from 404 species at the end of XIX century, to 1400 in the 1990s, to the current 1670. However, the knowledge on the distribution of the Italian species is far from being complete and it seems likely that there are still new species to be found or described. The Italian spider fauna is characterized by the presence of a relevant number of endemic species (342). Concerning families, Linyphiidae show the highest number of species (477) and the highest number of endemics (114). Gnaphosidae (166) and Salticidae (144) follows in terms of species richness, while Dysderidae (72) and Agelenidae (38) follows as total number of endemics. Information regarding the regional distribution revealed great unbalance between Northern and Southern Italy, with very scarce records for some regions in the South. This work is accompanied by an online version freely available online at www.araneae.it, where all information is thoroughly detailed and regularly updated by the authors. Besides spiders, we also provide, the species lists of other Arachnid orders occurring in Italy (Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpionida, Scorpiones, Solifugae). The lists and the associated details are available in a dedicated section of the online version of the Catalog., Fragmenta Entomologica, Vol. 51 No. 2 (2019) more...

Active rock glaciers are periglacial landforms consisting of coarse debris with interstitial ice or ice-core. Recent studies showed that such landforms are able to support plant and arthropod life and could act as warm-stage refugia for cold-adapted species due to their microclimate features and thermal inertia. However, integrated research comparing active rock glaciers with surrounding landforms to outline their ecological peculiarities is still scarce. We analysed the abiotic (ground surface temperature and humidity, soil physical and chemical parameters) and biotic (plant and arthropod communities) features of two Alpine active rock glaciers with contrasting lithology (silicate and carbonate), and compared them with the surrounding iceless landforms as reference sites (stable slopes and active scree slopes). Our data show remarkable differences between stable slopes and unstable landforms as a whole, while few differences occur between active scree slopes and active rock glaciers: such landforms show similar soil features but different ground surface temperatures (lower on active rock glaciers) and different occurrence of cold-adapted species (more frequent/abundant on active rock glaciers). Both plant and arthropod species distributions depend mainly on the geographical context as a function of soil pH and on the contrast between stable slopes and unstable landforms as a function of the coarse debris fraction and organic matter content, while the few differences between active scree slopes and active rock glaciers can probably be attributed to microclimate. The role of active rock glaciers as potential warm-stage refugia for cold-adapted species is supported by our data; however, at least in the European Alps, their role in this may be less important than that of debris-covered glaciers, which are able to host cold-adapted species even below the climatic tree line. more...

Xysticus alpinus Kulczyński, 1887 stat. n. from Central-Eastern Alps, previously considered a subspecies of X. lanio C. L. Koch, 1835, is analyzed in detail. Redescription of both sexes and illustrations of habitus and genitalia are provided. A careful comparison with the nominal species is carried out revealing clear differences in morphology and habitat preferences. In light of this evidence, its elevation to species level is proposed. more...

Giovanni Canestrini (1835–1900) was the pioneer of arachnology in Italy, who published the first catalogue of Italian spiders and a total of 87 papers in the field. His interests covered almost all the Italian arachnid orders, although in the last part of his life he focused on acarology, in which he became a leading world expert. The remains of Canestrini's arachnological collection deposited in the Zoology Museum of Padova University are represented by spiders (about 850 tubes), mites (438 microscope slides, 115 tubes), harvestmen (120), pseudoscorpions (63), scorpions (19) and solifuges (1). The collection is now part of a large revision project aiming at better understanding and clarifying the scientific heritage of Canestrini, including an inventory of the type material from Canestrini and other European arachnologists who contributed to his collection (e.g., T. Thorell). The first results of the collection revision outlining different arachnid orders and highlighting the occurrence of type material are presented here. Brief historical information on Canestrini and his pupils is also provided. more...

The great raft spider, Dolomedes plantarius, is a semi-aquatic spider species with an Eurosiberian distribution. As a result of habitat loss and degradation, in 1996 the species was classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, but since then the status has never been updated. We present the frame of the existing knowledge on the distribution of this rare spider species in Italy, based on literature data and on original records gathered in recent years. Finally, we discuss the conservation value of the Italian populations, in light of their peripheral position within the species range and in light of the future reduction of the bioclimatic range of the species due to climate and land cover changes associated with anthropic disturbance, Fragmenta Entomologica, Vol. 50 No. 1 (2018) more...

Speciation in subterranean habitats is commonly explained as the result of divergent selection in geographically isolated populations; conversely, the contribution of niche partitioning in driving subterranean species diversification has been rarely quantified. The present study integrated molecular and morphological data with a hypervolume analysis based on functional traits to investigate a potential case of parapatric speciation by means of niche differentiation in two sibling spiders inhabiting contiguous subterranean habitats within a small alpine hypogean site. Troglohyphantes giachinoi, sp. nov. and T. bornensis are diagnosed by small details of the genitalia, which are likely to be involved in a reproductive barrier. Molecular analysis recovered the two species as sister, and revealed a deep genetic divergence that may trace back to the Messinian (~6 million years ago). The hypervolume analysis highlighted a marginal overlap in their ecological niches, coupled with morphological character displacement. Specifically, T. giachinoi, sp. nov. exhibits morphological traits suitable for thriving in the smaller pores of the superficial network of underground fissures (Milieu Souterrain Superficiel, MSS), whereas T. bornensis shows a greater adaptation to the deep subterranean habitat. Our results suggest that different selective regimes within the subterranean environment, i.e. deep caves v. MSS, may either drive local speciation or facilitate contiguous distributions of independently subterranean adapted species. more...

Cheiracanthium rupestre Herman, 1879 nomen dubium Chiracanthium rupestre Herman, 1879: 157, 356, pl. 7, f. 158 (Description and illustration of female). [Holotype ♀ from HUNGARY: Majl��th (Di��sgyőr, Miskolc), considered lost]. Cheiracanthium macedonicum Drensky, 1921 ( Figs 1 a+b, 2a+b, 4, 5a+b, 6a+b) Chiracanthium rupestre ��� Chyzer & Kulczyński 1897: 235, pl. 9, figs 42, 62, 78 (description of female, description and illustration of male; three ♀♀ examined, two of them by photographs, considered misidentified) Chiracanthium macedoinica [sic, lapsus] Drensky, 1921: 49, 77, pl. 1, figs 12-14 (description and illustration of female). [Holotype ♀ from BULGARIA: Yakoruda, Drensky leg., examined]. Chiracanthium macedonica ��� Drensky 1929: 23 (lapsus corrected) Cheiracanthium mazedonica ��� Drensky 1936: 173 (lapsus) Cheiracanthium macedonicum ��� Roewer 1955: 480 (correction of gender ending required by ICZN Art. 31.2). Chiracanthium macedonicum ��� Bonnet 1956: 1060 Cheiracanthium rupestre ��� Oltean 1973: 46, figs 1-2 (description and illustration of male; considered misidentified) Cheiracanthium rupestre ��� Sterghiu 1985: 110, figs 33a-c (description and illustration of male; considered misidentified) Cheiracanthium striolatum Simon, 1878 Cheiracanthium rupestre ��� Oltean 1973: 46, figs 1-2 (description and illustration of male; considered misidentified) Cheiracanthium rupestre ��� Sterghiu 1985: 110, figs 33a-c (description and illustration of male; considered misidentified) Cheiracanthium striolatum Simon, 1878, Published as part of Rainer Breitling, Tobias Bauer, Arno Grabolle, Pierre Oger, Paolo Pantini, Johan Van Keer, Walter P. Pfliegler, Elke JantsCher & Jan Dolansk��, 2016, East meets West: on the true identity of Cheiracanthium rupestre and Xysticus albomaculatus (AraChnida: Araneae: EutiChuridae, Thomisidae), pp. 38-49 in Arachnologische Mitteilungen 52 on page 47, DOI: 10.5431/aramit5208, http://zenodo.org/record/198414, {"references":["Herman O 1879 Magyarorszag Pok-faunaja. III. A Kiralyi Magyar Termeszettudomanyi Tarsulat Megbizasabol. Ungarns Spinnen- fauna. III. Im Auftrage der Koniglich Ungarischen Naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft. Budapest. 394 pp.","Drensky P 1921 Paiti otъ iztocнa Мakidoнii i Piрiн-pлaнiнa [Payazi ot iztochna Makedonia i Pirin-Planina - Spiders from Eastern Macedonia and the Pirin Mountains]. - Сpiсaнii нa Bълgaрсkata akadiмii нa нaukitѣ [Spisanie na Bulgarskata Akademia na Naukite] 23: 1 - 80, Tab. I-II","Chyzer C & Kulczynski W 1897 Araneae Hungariae. Tomus II. pars posterior: Zodarioidae, Agalenoidae, Drassoidae, Zoropseoidae, Dysderoidae, Filistatoidae, Calommatoidae, Theraphosoidae. Academia Scientiarum Hungarica, Budapest. pp. 147 - 366, Tab. VI-X","Drensky P 1929 Paiti (Araneae) otъ Tiнtрaлнa i Юgozapadнa Мakidoнii. Spinnen aus Mittel- und Sudwest-Mazedonien. - Сpiсaнii нa Bълgaрсkata akadiмii нa нaukitѣ [Spisanie na Bulgarskata Akademia na Naukite] 39: 1 - 76, Tab. I-IV","Drensky P 1936 Katalog der echten Spinnen (Araneae) der Balkanhalbinsel. - Сpiсaнii нa Bълgaрсkata akadiмii нa нaukitѣ [Spisanie na Bulgarskata Akademia na Naukite] 32: 1 - 223","Roewer CF 1955 Katalog der Araneae von 1758 bis 1940, bzw. 1954. 2. Band, Abt. a (Lycosaeformia, Dionycha [excl. Salticiformia]). Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles. pp. 1 - 924","Bonnet P 1956 Bibliographia araneorum. Analyse methodique de toute la litterature araneologique jusqu'en 1939. Tome II (2 me partie: C - F). Douladoure, Toulouse. pp. 919 - 1926","Oltean C 1973 Genul Chiracanthium C. L. Koch, 1839, in Romania. - Analele Universitatii Bucuresti, Seria Stiintele naturii, Biologie animala 22: 45 - 49","Sterghiu C 1985 Fam. Clubionidae. In: Fauna Republicii Socialiste Romania: Arachnida, Volumul V, Fascicula 4. Academia Republicii Socialiste Romania, Bucharest. 165 pp."]} more...

Cheiracanthium rupestre Herman, 1879, and Xysticus albomaculatus Kulczyński, 1891, both originally described from Hungary,are among the most rarely reported species of their genera in Europe. Here we report that both of these species have very close relationshipsto similarly uncommon species originally described from France at about the same time. The specimens currently consideredas Cheiracanthium rupestre turn out to be very closely related to, but distinct from, Cheiracanthium striolatum Simon, 1878. However,the original description of C. rupestre does not match these specimens nor any other known species of Cheiracanthium. We thereforeconsider C. rupestre a nomen dubium and suggest that all previous records of this species after the original description actually refer toCheiracanthium macedonicum Drensky, 1921. Xysticus albomaculatus, on the other hand, turns out to be a junior synonym of Bassanianabaudueri (Simon, 1877) syn. nov., expanding the range of this species considerably to the East and at the same time confirming that it isa genuine European species, rather than a recent immigrant from North America as previously suspected. more...

The following new Zodarion species are described from Italy: Zodarion pantaleonii Bosmans & Pantini spec. nov. and Z. pseudonigriceps Bosmans & Pantini spec. nov., both from Sardinia, Z. montesacrense Bosmans spec. nov. and Z. valentii Bosmans, Loverre & Addante spec. nov., both from Puglia, Z. valentii also occurs in Sicily. Zodarion sp., described from Greece in 2009, is the unknown female of Zodarion zorbaBosmans, 2009. Zodarion gracilitibiale Denis, 1934 is new for Italy. New records for 43 other European Zodarion species are presented. more...

Primary successions along glacier forelands are perfect examples of the changing climate upon high mountain ecosystems. Peripheral mountain ranges deserve particular attention, given they are characterised by high numbers of species and endemism and are considered to be particularly susceptible to climate change. We analysed thermal regime, soil parameters and plant/arthropod primary succession along a glacier foreland located in such a context, comparing it with those previously studied in the inner Alps. The overall patterns of the investigated primary succession agree with those of the inner Alps at the same elevation, but stands out for a delayed plant and arthropod colonisation which promotes the long-lasting persistence of pioneer cold-adapted species. In light of the results obtained, and considering the glaciological features of peripheral mountain ranges (glaciers persistence at low elevation), this paper asserts the hypothesis that glacial landforms of these areas may act as warm-stage refugia for pioneer cold-adapted species. more...

Troglohyphantes bornensis, a new species from the western Italian Alps, is here described. According to the features of the male palp and female epigynum the new species can be assigned to Fage's III Group, Deeleman-Reinhold's marqueti group and Pesarini's microcymbium complex. All specimens were collected in the stony debris of Pugnetto caves (province of Turin, Italy), a calcschist cave complex, formerly studied by biospeleologists for the presence of several endemic species. All caves have openings into beech woods at an elevation of approximately 800 m. RIASSUNTO. Viene descritta Troglohyphantes bornensis, una nuova specie delle Alpi occidentali italiane. A partire dalle caratteristiche del palpo del maschio e dell'epigino della femmina, la specie viene assegnata al III gruppo di Fage, al gruppo marqueti secondo Deeleman-Reinhold e, secondo Pesarini, al complesso microcymbium. Tutti gli esemplari provengono dal detrito delle Grotte del Pugnetto (Provincia di Torino, Italia), un sistema di grotte impostato in calcescisto, gianoto per la presenza di numerose specie endemiche. Tutte le grotte si aprono ad una quota di 800 m circa, in boschi di faggio. more...

During a large survey of agelenid spiders from different private and museum collections, a closer examination of material from all over Italy (including type material and fresh material) previously identified as Histopona italica Brignoli 1977, disclosed two new species for science, both belonging to the italica group. Based on the results of the present work, we describe Histopona leonardoi sp. n. and H. fioni sp. n. and revise the distribution pattern of H. italica group in Italy and Switzerland. Drawings and photographs of relevant structures and a table summary of the diagnostic characters allowing a fast separation of the species are provided. more...

A new species of the genus Amaurobius C.L. Koch, 1837, Amaurobius pesarinii sp. n., from the Apennine Mountains (Italy) is described on the basis of both sexes. The male of A. pavesii Pesarini, 1991, previously unknown, is also described. Females of A. pavesii and both sexes of the similar A. scopolii Thorell, 1871 are re-described. Detailed description of morphological characters allow clear separation between these species and the closely related A. ferox (Walckenaer, 1820). Their phylogenetic relationships among the most common Italian Amaurobius species are discussed on the basis of molecular data (partial fragments of the genes COI , 16S and H3 ), together with their distribution across the Italian Peninsula. This is the first contribution to a multi-locus phylogenetic tree of European Amaurobius species. The synonymy of A. sciakyi Pesarini, 1991 with A. ruffoi Thaler, 1990 is proposed based on morphological characters. more...

Zora Koch, 1847 is a small genus distributed in the Holarctic region. The genus comprises 16 species, 14 of them distributed in the Palaearctic region and two from the Neartic (World Spider Catalog 2016). The European fauna includes 11 species (Nentwig et al. 2016), 8 of which are present in Italy (Pantini & Isaia 2016). Zora has historically been placed in several different families, but is now in the Miturgidae Simon, 1886 following the phylogenetic analyses of Ramirez (2014). more...

Three new Nemesia Audouin 1826 species from northern and central Italy are named. They share a combination of sexual characters, not found in other described species. A new species-complex within Nemesia is here referred to as the apenninica group. Within the apenninica group, N. apenninica n. sp., N. hastensis n. sp., and N. pedemontana n. sp. differ in the morphology of the male palpal organ and the female spermathecae. The three species have different kinds of geographical distributions. While N. apenninica and N. hastensis have locally restricted and geographically separated distributions, the distribution of N. pedemontana overlaps with that of both of these species and extends widely in northern and central Italy. In its periphery, the distribution of N. pedemontana overlaps with that of species other than the apenninica group, e.g., N. meridionalis (Costa, 1835) in southern Italy and N. manderstjernae (L. Koch, 1871) and N. carminans (Latreille, 1818) in Liguria. Information on burrow structure, phenology and habitat are provided for all three new species. Some aspects of the behavior and feeding are discussed for N. pedemontana and N. hastensis. more...

During a large survey of agelenid spiders from different private and museum collections, a closer examination of material from all over Italy (including type material and fresh material) previously identified as Histopona italica Brignoli 1977, disclosed two new species for science, both belonging to the italica group. Based on the results of the present work, we describe Histopona leonardoi sp. n. and H. fioni sp. n. and revise the distribution pattern of H. italica group in Italy and Switzerland. Drawings and photographs of relevant structures and a table summary of the diagnostic characters allowing a fast separation of the species are provided. more...

In this paper we describe Troglohyphantes lanai n. sp. from Pennine Alps and the unknown female of T. bonzanoi, from Ligurian Alps. Based on the collection of new material and on the examination of the paratypes, T. delmastroi Pesarini, 2001 is proposed as junior synonym of T. iulianae Brignoli, 1971 (new synonymy). We also provide new faunistic and ecological data on the Italian species of Troglohyphantes, focusing mainly on Central Italian Alps. Phenetic species groups previously proposed in literature for the Italian species have been updated in view of recent literature and new findings. Pesarini’s complexes of species are used to map the species distribution in the Italian Alps. more...