Abstract
A spider survey in the understudied and endemic-rich Asir region of southern Saudi Arabia recorded two species of Oecobiidae. Oecobius asirensis sp. nov. is described from the mountainous highlands. The new species exhibits marked differences in the morphology of the copulatory organs compared to the generotype, suggesting it may represent a distinct genus. The copulatory organs of Oecobius marathatus are also illustrated, to which the new species is compared. Additionally, Uroctea thaleri Rheims, Santos & van Harten, 2007 is reported for the first time from Saudi Arabia.
References
- Abuzinada, A.H., Al-Wetaid, Y.I. & Al-Basyouni, S.Z.M. (2005) The National Strategy for Conservation of Biodiversity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 122 pp.
- Alcántar-Valenzuela, J.J., Chamé-Vázquez, D. & Jiménez, M.-L. (2025) Four new species of the spider genus Oecobius Lucas, 1846 (Araneae: Oecobiidae) from northwestern Mexico. Zootaxa, 5679 (4), 501–520. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5679.4.3
- Al-Namazi, A.A., Al-Khulaidi, A.W.A., Algarni, S. & Al-Sagheer, N.A. (2021) Natural plant species inventory of hotspot areas in Arabian Peninsula: Southwest Al-Baha region, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 28, 3309–3324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.02.076
- Baum, S. (1972) Zum “Cribellaten–Problem”: Die Genitalstrukturen der Oecobiinae und Urocteinae (Arach.: Aran.: Oecobiidae). Abhandlungen und Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg (N.F.), 16, 101–153.
- Baum, S. (1980) Taxonomie und Genitalstrukturen weiterer Arten der Genera Oecobius und Uroctea (Arach.: Araneae: Oecobiidae). Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg (N.F.), 23, 339–355.
- Benoit, P.L.G. (1966) Contribution à la connaissance des Urocteidae africains (Aranea-Labidogn.). Bulletin & Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, 102, 191–195.
- Blackwall, J. (1859) Descriptions of newly discovered spiders captured by James Yate Johnson Esq., in the island of Madeira. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 4, 255–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222935908697122
- Blackwall, J. (1862) Descriptions of newly-discovered spiders from the island of Madeira. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 3, 9, 370–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222936208681249
- Cox, N.A., Mallon, D.P., Bowles, P., Els, J. & Tognelli, M.F. (2012) The conservation status and distribution of reptiles of the Arabian Peninsula. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – Regional Assessment. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland & Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 49 pp.
- Dugès, A. (1836) Observations sur les Aranéides. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie, Paris, 6, 159–219.
- El-Hennawy, H.K. (2014) Preliminary list of spiders and other arachnids of Saudi Arabia (except ticks and mites). Serket, 14 (1), 22–58.
- El-Hennawy, H.K., Asiry, K.A., Desouky, M. & Al-Khuraiji, I.A. (2015) The first record of Mermessus fradeorum (Berland, 1932) (Araneae: Linyphiidae in Saudi Arabia. Serket, 14, 116–121.
- Lehtinen, P.T. (1967) Classification of the cribellate spiders and some allied families, with notes on the evolution of the suborder Araneomorpha. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 4, 199–468.
- Lucas, H. (1846) Histoire naturelle des animaux articulés. In: Exploration scientifique de l’Algérie pendant les années 1840, 1841, 1842 publiée par ordre du Gouvernement et avec le concours d’une commission académique. Sciences physiques, Zoologie 1. Paris, pp. 89–271. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.112444
- Malik, S., Das, S.K. & Siliwal, M. (2017) First report of male star-legged spider Uroctea thaleri (Rheims, Santos & van Harten, 2007) (Araneae: Oecobiidae) from India. European Journal of Zoological Research, 5 (1), 15–18.
- Marusik, Y.M. & Zonstein, S.L. (2024) The spider genus Oecobius (Araneae: Oecobiidae) in Israel, with description of a new species and new synonymies. Israel Journal of Entomology, 53, 49–62. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11532642
- Montemor, V.M., West, R.C., Zamani, A., Moradmand, M., Wirth, V.von, Wendt, I., Huber, S. & Guadanucci, J.P.L. (2020) Taxonomy of the genus Ischnocolus in the Middle East, with description of a new species from Oman and Iran (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Zoology in the Middle East, 66 (1), 76–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2020.1675994
- Rheims, C.A., Santos, A.J. & van Harten, A. (2007) The spider genus Uroctea Dufour, 1820 (Araneae: Oecobiidae) in Yemen. Zootaxa, 1406, 61–68. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1406.1.7
- Saaristo, M.I. (1997) Oecobiids of the granitic islands of Seychelles (Araneae, Oecobiidae). Phelsuma, 5, 69–71.
- Saaristo, M.I. (2010) Araneae. In: Gerlach, J. & Marusik, Y.M. (Eds.), Arachnida and Myriapoda of the Seychelles islands. Siri Scientific Press, Manchester, pp. 8–306.
- Santos, A.J. & Gonzaga, M.O. (2003) On the spider genus Oecobius Lucas, 1846 in South America (Araneae, Oecobiidae). Journal of Natural History, 37, 239–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/713834668
- Sharaf, M.R., Mohamed, A.A., Boudinot, B.E., Wetterer, J.K., Hita Garcia, F., Al Dhafer, H.M. & Aldawood, A.S. (2021) Monomorium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Arabian Peninsula with description of two new species, M. heggyi sp. n. and M. khalidi sp. n. PeerJ, 9, e10726. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10726
- Shear, W.A. (1970) The spider family Oecobiidae in North America, Mexico, and the West Indies. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 140 (4), 129–164.
- Shear, W.A. & Benoit, P.L.G. (1974) New species and new records in the genus Oecobius Lucas from Africa and nearby islands (Araneae: Oecobiidae: Oecobiinae). Revue Zoologique Africaine, 88, 706–720.
- Simon, E. (1890) Études arachnologiques. 22e Mémoire. XXXIV. Étude sur les arachnides du Yemen. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, Series 6, 10, 77–124.
- Simon, E. (1882) Étude sur les arachnides de l’Yemen méridional. In: Viaggio ad Assab nel Mar Rosso, dei signori G. Doria ed O. Beccari con il R. Aviso “Esploratore” dal 16 Novembre 1879 al 26 Febbraio 1880. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, 18, 207–260.
- Simone, Y., Panisi, M., Lakušić, V., Taheri, A., Tarroso, P. & Brito, J.C. (2024) Invertebrates of AlUla: scorpions, spiders, dragonflies and butterflies. In: Gonçalves, D.V., Khalatbari, L., Santos, B., Yusefi, G.H. & Brito, J.C. (Eds.), Field guide series – Fauna of AlUla, pp. 50–80.
- WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 26. Natural History Museum Bern, Bern. Available from: http://wsc.nmbe.ch (accessed 21 January 2026)
- Wunderlich, J. (1995) Zu Taxonomie und Biogeographie der Arten der Gattung Oecobius Lucas 1846, mit Neubeschreibungen aus der Mediterraneis und von der Arabischen Halbinsel (Arachnida: Araneae: Oecobiidae). Beiträge zur Araneologie, 4, 585–608.
- Zamani, A. & Crews, S.C. (2019) The flattie spider family Selenopidae (Araneae) in the Middle East. Zoology in the Middle East, 65, 79–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2018.1540150
- Zamani, A. & Bosselaers, J. (2020) The spider family Oecobiidae (Arachnida: Araneae) in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. European Journal of Taxonomy, 726, 38–58. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.726.1173
- Zamani, A., Marusik, Y.M. & Fomichev, A.A. (2024) A new genus of Oecobiinae (Araneae: Oecobiidae) from Iran and Central Asia. Journal of Natural History, 58 (21–24), 737–749. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2024.2357852
- Zamani, A., von Wirth, V., Fabiánek, P., Höfling, J., Just, P., Korba, J., Petzold, A., Stockmann, M., Elmi, H.S.A., Vences, M. & Opatova, V. (2025) Size matters: a new genus of tarantula with the longest male palps, and an integrative revision of Monocentropus Pocock, 1897 (Araneae: Theraphosidae, Eumenophorinae). ZooKeys, 1247, 89–126. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1247.162886
- Zamani, A., Marusik, Y.M., Mostafa, S., Al Ketbi, K. & Szűts, T. (2026) New data on spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, with new species and records. ZooKeys, 1276, 95–124. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1276.186138
