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Few species of Japygidae (Diplura) have been discovered in cave ecosystems despite their importance as large predators. A small collection of rare specimens of this hexapod group has allowed to explore the taxonomy of japygids from caves in New Zealand, Morocco and South Africa, and to describe one new genus: Imazighenjapyx Sendra & Sánchez-García gen. nov., as well as four new species: Austrjapyx wynbergensis Sendra & Sánchez-García sp. nov., Imazighenjapyx marocanus Sendra & Sánchez-García gen. et sp. nov., Opisthjapyx naledi Sendra & Sánchez-García sp. nov. and Teljapyx aotearoa Sendra & Sánchez-García sp. nov. For each of the new taxa we give a comprehensive description of their habitats. These new findings resulted in a revision of the distribution and allowed to re-evaluate the morphological traits of the fifteen cave-adapted japygids species already known worldwide. The functional morphology of the remarkable abdominal pincers of Japygidae and their adaptation to predation are discussed, as well as their potential role in mating behaviour.
The Andean genus Priscula Simon, 1893 includes the largest Neotropical pholcid spiders, but due to their mostly cryptic lifestyle they remain poorly collected and poorly studied. Many species available in collections remain undescribed and nothing has been published about the phylogeny and the biology of the genus. Here, we deal with a recent collection of Priscula spiders from Ecuador, the country of origin of the type species, P. gularis Simon, 1893. We describe eight new species, collected at 17 localities at altitudes from 640–3160 m, all based on males and females: P. azuay sp. nov., P. llaviucu sp. nov., P. espejoi sp. nov., P. esmeraldas sp. nov., P. chapintza sp. nov., P. pastaza sp. nov., P. bonita sp. nov., and P. lumbaqui sp. nov. We use a sample of approximately 26 species-level taxa, mostly from Ecuador and Venezuela, to propose a first hypothesis about relationships within the genus. Our data (mainly CO1) suggest the existence of five species groups, three of which are represented in Ecuador. The cave-dwelling P. pastaza sp. nov. is only slightly troglomorphic (paler than usual; anterior median eyes strongly reduced or lost) but differs dramatically from forest-dwelling congeners in its biology: it hangs fully exposed in its web during the day; it produces egg sacs with only 6–7 eggs (average in 15 other species: 42 eggs); and it produces the largest eggs relative to body size of all studied species.
A new dipluran species, Plusiocampa (Plusiocampa) imereti Sendra & Barjadze sp. nov., from the deep zone in three caves in the Imereti region, Georgia, is described. This new troglobitic Plusiocampa is an addition to four others known Diplura from around the Black Sea region, two Dydimocampa and two Plusiocampa s. str. The present study also provides the first CO1 sequences for the Plusiocampinae taxa and the first molecular data for cave-dwelling Plusiocampa species. Although bootstrap values were low, the maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree grouped Plusiocampa (P.) imereti Sendra & Barjadze sp. nov. with two Plusiocampa s. str. species from Eastern Europe. Morphologically, P. (P.) imereti Sendra & Barjadze sp. nov. is closely related to two cave-dwelling species: Plusiocampa (Plusiocampa) glabra Condé, 1984 and Plusiocampa (P.) chiosensis Sendra & Gasparo, 2020. The new species can be distinguished by the presence of lateral anterior macrosetae on metanotum, more uneven claws, and the presence of 2+2 lateral anterior macrosetae on middle urotergites. The five species currently known for the Black Sea region inhabit caves located at low altitude but with no influence from former glacial or permafrost processes.