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Issue: Vol. 5399 No. 5: 16 Jan. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-01-16
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5399.5.3
Page range: 517-539
Abstract views: 134
PDF downloaded: 10

The desert wolf-spider genus Xenoctenus: two endemic species from the Brazilian Caatinga, and a redescription of the type-species, X. unguiculatus (Araneae: Xenoctenidae)

Pós-graduação em Zoologia; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.; Departamento de Zoologia; Instituto de Ciências Biológicas; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brazil; CEP 31270-901.
División de Aracnología; Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales“Bernardino Rivadavia”; Av. Angel Gallardo 470; C1405DJR Buenos Aires; Argentina
Pós-graduação em Zoologia; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Departamento de Zoologia; Instituto de Ciências Biológicas; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brazil; CEP 31270-901.
Araneae seasonally dry tropical forest spider taxonomy dry environments geographic distribution

Abstract

The Caatinga is a nucleus of seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) known as a hotspot of diversification and endemism. Despite its importance, this biome is still insufficiently sampled, resulting in extensive knowledge gaps regarding its species richness and composition. In this study we report two species of Xenoctenidae that are endemic to, and widely distributed in the Caatinga. We redescribe and illustrate Odo vittatus (Mello-Leitão, 1936), the only xenoctenid species previously known from the Caatinga. We transfer this species to Xenoctenus Mello-Leitão,1938, a genus currently known from six species restricted to Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia. We also newly describe the male of Xenoctenus vittatus comb. nov. and provide new records of this species, which was hitherto known only from the type-locality, throughout the Caatinga and nearby semiarid vegetation formations. We also describe and illustrate a new species, Xenoctenus kaatinga sp. nov., based on males and female specimens collected throughout the Caatinga. Additionally, we propose diagnostic characters for Xenoctenus and redescribe the type-species, X. unguiculatus.

 

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