Four new species of the spider genus Physocyclus Simon, 1893 (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Mexico, with updated taxonomic identification keys

  • Garduño Nolasco Samuel Laboratory of Arachnology (LATLAX), Laboratorio Regional de Biodiversidad y Cultivo de Tejidos Vegetales (LBCTV), Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM), sede Tlaxcala, Ex-Fábrica San Manuel, San Miguel Contla, 90640 Santa Cruz Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8778-8790
  • Alejandro Valdez-Mondragón CONACYT Research Fellow. Laboratory of Arachnology (LATLAX), Laboratorio Regional de Biodiversidad y Cultivo de Tejidos Vegetales (LBCTV), Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM), sede Tlaxcala, Ex-Fábrica San Manuel, San Miguel Contla, 90640 Santa Cruz Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5385-3195
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.813.1739
Keywords: Taxonomy, species groups, Arteminae, Jalisco, Michoacan, Baja California Sur

Abstract

Four new species of the spider genus Physocyclus Simon, 1893 are described from Mexico. Two species are described based on male and female adult specimens: Physocyclus mariachi sp. nov. and P. sikuapu sp. nov. Two species are described only with female adult specimens: P. lyncis sp. nov. and P. pocamadre sp. nov. The biogeographical province with the highest diversity of species is the Balsas Depression, located in the Mexican Neotropic, with 12 species. Physocyclus lyncis sp. nov. belongs to the dugesi species group, whereas the other three new species belong to the globosus species group. The total number of species of Physocyclus is increased to 37, distributed in North America (mainly Mexico) and Central America, with one cosmopolitan species: P. globosus. Updated taxonomic identification keys for males and females are provided.

References

Beatty J.A., Berry J.W. & Huber B.A. 2008. The pholcid spiders of Micronesia and Polynesia (Araneae: Pholcidae). Journal of Arachnology 36: 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1636/h05-66.1

Caporiacco L. di 1955. Estudios sobre los arácnidos de Venezuela. 2a parte: Araneae. Acta Biologica Venezuelica 1: 265–448.

Dimitrov D., Astrin J.J. & Huber B.A. 2013. Pholcid spider molecular systematics revisited, with new insights into the biogeography and evolution of the group. Cladistics 29: 132–146. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2012.00419.x

Eberle J., Dimitrov D., Valdez-Mondragón A. & Huber B.A. 2018. Microhabitat change drives diversification in pholcid spiders. BMC Evolutionary Biology 18: e141. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1244-8

Huber B.A. 2011. Phylogeny and classification of Pholcidae (Araneae): an update. Journal of Arachnology 39: 211–222. https://doi.org/10.1636/ca10-57.1

Huber B.A. 2018. Cave-dwelling pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae): a review. Subterranean Biology 26: 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.26.26430

Huber B.A. & Kwapong P. 2013. West African pholcid spiders: an overview, with descriptions of five new species (Araneae, Pholcidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 59: 1–44. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2013.59

Huber B.A. & Villarreal O. 2020. On Venezuelan pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 718: 1–317. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.718.1101

Jiménez M.L. & Palacios-Cardiel C.C. 2013. A new species of Physocyclus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Mexico. Zootaxa 3717 (1): 96–99. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3717.1.8

Morrone J.J. 2005. Hacia una síntesis biogeográfica de México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 76: 207–252.

Nolasco S. & Valdez-Mondragón A. 2020. On the daddy long-legs spiders of the genus Physocyclus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Mexico: description of a new species from the Baja California Peninsula. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 91 (3): e913316.

Valdez-Mondragón A. 2010. Revisión taxonómica de Physocyclus Simon, 1983 (Araneae: Pholcidae) con la descripción de especies nuevas de México. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 18: 3–80.

Valdez-Mondragón A. 2013. Morphological phylogenetic analysis of the spider genus Physocyclus (Araneae: Pholcidae). Journal of Arachnology 41: 184–196. https://doi.org/10.1636/k12-33.1

Valdez-Mondragón A. 2014. A reanalysis of the morphological phylogeny of the spider genus Physocyclus Simon, 1983 (Araneae: Pholcidae) with the description of a new species and description of the female of Physocyclus paredesi Valdez-Mondragón from México. Zootaxa 3866 (2): 202–220. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3866.2.2

Valdez-Mondragón A. & Francke O.F. 2015. Phylogeny of the spider genus Ixchela Huber, 2000 (Araneae: Pholcidae) based on morphological and molecular evidence (CO1 and 16S), with a hypothesized diversification in the Pleistocene. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175: 20–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12265

World Spider Catalog (WSC) 2022. World Spider Catalog. Version 23.0. Natural History Museum Bern. Online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch [accessed 28 Jan. 2022]. https://doi.org/10.24436/2

Published
2022-04-19
How to Cite
Nolasco Samuel, G., & Valdez-Mondragón, A. (2022). Four new species of the spider genus Physocyclus Simon, 1893 (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Mexico, with updated taxonomic identification keys. European Journal of Taxonomy, 813(1), 173-206. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.813.1739
Issue
Vol. 813 (2022)
Section
Research article

Copyright (c) 2022 Garduño NOLASCO Samuel, Alejandro VALDEZ-MONDRAGÓN

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Copyright Notices

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are NOT ALLOWED TO post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to taxonomic issues.