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Berlandina nabozhenkoi is recorded for the first time from Turkey. Its general habitus and genitalia are illustrated. Description and collecting data of this species are also given.

A pitfall trap survey was conducted in Wichita County of north-central Texas for one year. A total of 4072 spiders were collected, representing 22 families. Of the total spiders collected, 62% were mature with males outnumbering the females by a ratio of 4 to1. The members of the Gnaphosidae were the dominant cursorial spider, consisting of 16.2% of the spider total. This family included 267 males and 144 females that represented 26 species and 11 genera. Seven new species records were noted for Wichita County and included the following: Callilepis imbecilla (Keyserling), Cesonia bilineata (Hentz), Drassyllus aprilinus (Banks), D. gynosaphes Chamberlin, Synaphosus paludis Chamberlin and Gertsch, Tachyzelotes lyonneti (Audouin), and Zelotes lasulanus Chamberlin.

According to a recent global literature survey, a total of 39 out of the 129 known spider families (∼30%) contain species capable of capturing vertebrate prey. The finding that the percentage of spider families engaged in vertebrate predation is so high is novel. Two groups of vertebrate-eating spiders are distinguished: “habitual vertebrate-eaters” vs. “occasional vertebrate-eaters”. The habitual vertebrate-eaters comprise ten spider families (Araneidae, Atracidae, Ctenidae, Lycosidae, Nephilidae, Pisauridae, Theraphosidae, Theridiidae, Trechaleidae, and Sparassidae) to which can be attributed 91% of all reported vertebrate predation incidents. The habitual vertebrate-eaters have evolved prey-capture adaptations such as (1) sufficient physical strength coupled with large body size, (2) the use of potent venoms, and (3) the use of highly efficient prey-catching webs. By contrast, unexpected feeding on vertebrates by the occasional vertebrate-eaters (i.e., Actinopodidae, Agelenidae, Amaurobiidae, Anyphaenidae, Barychelidae, Clubionidae, Corinnidae, Ctenizidae, Cyrtaucheniidae, Deinopidae, Desidae, Dipluridae, Eresidae, Filistatidae, Gnaphosidae, Haplonoproctidae, Linyphiidae, Liocranidae, Miturgidae, Oxyopidae, Pholcidae, Porrhothelidae, Salticidae, Selenopidae, Sicariidae, Sparassidae, Tetragnathidae, and Thomisidae) might be considered as chance events that took place when a tiny vertebrate crossed the path of an opportunistic spider. For a few families (e.g., Idiopidae) their status as habitual or occasional vertebrate predators is still unclear. In conclusion, our survey unveiled a large number of spider taxa previously not anticipated to feed on vertebrate prey. These findings improve our general understanding of spider feeding ecology and provide a first assessment of the significance of vertebrate prey as a food source for spiders.

A checklist of 2265 spider species and subspecies, 495 genera and 71 families is provided. Data were extracted from the South African National Survey of Arachnida database and over 200 taxonomic revisions, ending December 2022. Global distributions, endemicity and conservation assessment using IUCN Criteria are provided for each species. A total of 1325 spp. are endemic to South Africa (58.5%), 126 spp. (5.6%) are of special concern and 693 spp. (30.6%) are Data Deficient (DD), while 15 species were described without exact locality data. Most species (1444 spp., 63.8%) are widely distributed with no known threats and are of Least Concern. A total of 1316 spp. (57.6%) are known from both sexes and 23 spp. (1.0%) were described from juveniles. Salticidae is the most species-rich family (354 spp.), followed by Gnaphosidae (195 spp.), Thomisidae (143 spp.) and Araneidae (100 spp.) and ten families are represented by a single species.

A new monotypic ground spider genus, Hotwheels gen. nov. , is described, with the type species H. sisyphus sp. nov. (♂♀) from southwest China. This new genus is not assigned to any of the known subfamilies of Gnaphosidae, belonging only to the Echemus group of genera. It resembles Synaphosus Platnick & Shadab, but it can be differentiated by the presence of a median apophysis. Descriptions, illustrations and a records map are provided.

Species of the family Gnaphosidae Banks, 1892 were surveyed in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, and nine species were found including two new genera and seven new species. The new monotypic genera are Meizhelan gen. nov. , with the type species Meizhelan muhong sp. nov. (♂♀) and Yuqilin gen. nov. , with the type species Y. lujunyi sp. nov. (♂♀). Five additional new species are described: Allomicythus suochao sp. nov. (♂♀); Hongkongia liutang sp. nov. (♂♀); Sernokorba ruanxiaoer sp. nov. (♂♀), Synaphosus leiheng sp. nov. (♂♀) and Sy. lijun sp. nov. (♂♀). The unknown male of A. kamurai Ono, 2009 and unknown female of H. wuae Song & Zhu, 1998 are described for the first time.

An updated checklist of the gnaphosid spiders of Ascension Island – comprising five species, in five genera – is presented, based on examination of historical and new specimens from across Ascension, including its islet Boatswain Bird Island. The continued presence of the non-native Marinarozelotes jaxartensis (Kroneberg, 1875), Urozelotes rusticus (L. Koch, 1842), and Zelotes laetus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872), previously recorded by prior workers, is confirmed. Two species are newly recorded from the island: Synaphosus syntheticus (Chamberlin, 1924) from the mainland and Australoechemus vickyae sp. nov. (♂♀) from both Boatswain Bird Island and the mainland.

A list of 26 gnaphosid species belonging to 14 genera collected in Jiangxi Province, China, is provided. Three new species of ground spiders from Jiangxi Province of China are diagnosed, described, and illustrated: Haplodrassus yinae Liu, sp. nov. (♂♀), Hitobia xiaoxi Liu, sp. nov. (♂), and Zelotes dingnan Liu, sp. nov. (♂♀). Haplodrassus yinae Liu, sp. nov. was previously erroneously recorded in Jiangxi Province as H. montanus Yin et al., 2012.

We report Gnaphosa jodhpurensis Tikader & Gajbe, 1977 (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) from Iraq and the Middle East for the first time, based on material collected from Karbala, Babylon, and Dhi Qar provinces. Identification was based on morphological comparison with the original description and further supported by DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene. Known distribution records of the species across its range are mapped.

In general, malformations in spiders involve chelicerae, pedipalps, walking legs, and eyes, but those affecting female reproductive structures are not so frequent. A teratological case of a spider with a duplicated reproductive structure is described. The female specimen has the typical epigyne and a second one near the spinnerets. The second epigyne is less developed and seems to be non-functional. Similar malformations have been reported for Amaurobiidae and Salticidae, and here is presented for Gnaphosidae. Although it is widely known that temperature and humidity may induce abnormalities under experimental conditions, the causes behind teratological genitalia in wild females are unknown. This case opens the question of the origin of such a malformation and the ontogeny of female reproductive organs in spiders.