A revision of the continental species of Copa Simon, 1885 (Araneae, Corinnidae) in the Afrotropical Region

Taxonomic revision of the genus Tupirinna Bonaldo, 2000 (Araneae: Corinnidae: Corinninae)

The genus Tupirinna Bonaldo, 2000 is revised, including 20 species. New records of T. rosae Bonaldo, 2000 from Par, Brazil are given. Tupirinna albofasciata (Mello-Leito, 1943) is redescribed based on the female lectotype, here designated. The following 17 new species are described, diagnosed, and illustrated: T. platnicki sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Par, Brazil); T. zebra sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Amazonas and Mato Grosso, Brazil); T. caraca sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from south and southeast Brazil); T. urucu sp. nov. (♂ from Amazonas, Brazil); T. coari sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Amazonas, Brazil); T. lata sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from the states of Bahia, Espirto Santo, Minas Gerais, So Paulo and Santa Catarina, Brazil); T. regiae sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Amazonas and Par, Brazil); T. mutum sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Par and Mato Grosso, Brazil); T. cruzes sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Rio de Janeiro, So Paulo and Santa Catarina, Brazil); T. palmares sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from northeast Brazil); T. una sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Bahia, Brazil); T. gigantea sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Vaups, Colmbia and Peru); T. oba sp. nov. (♀ from Bahia, Brazil); T. goeldi sp. nov. (♀ from Par, Brazil); T. ibiapaba sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Cear, Brazil); T. luctuosa sp. nov. (♀ from Minas Gerais, Brazil) and T. araguaia sp. nov. (♂ and ♀ from Par, Brazil). Additionally, two species groups are delimited based on genitalic morphology. Distribution maps and an identification key to the males and females of all known species of Tupirinna are also provided.

Diversity of non-acarine arachnids of the Ophathe Game Reserve, South Africa: Testing a rapid sampling protocol

As part of the second phase of the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA), field surveys were conducted in many degree-square grids throughout the country using a standardised rapid sampling protocol. This study reports on the arachnid diversity of the Ophathe Game Reserve (OGR) in northern KwaZulu-Natal, as found during a preliminary survey in June 2007 (mid winter) and a SANSA field survey in October 2008 (mid spring) in four representative habitats. The SANSA survey included seven sampling methods: pitfalls, beating, sweep-netting, litter sifting, hand collecting, night collecting and Winkler traps. A total of 282 species in six arachnid orders were collected during the two surveys, of which spiders were the most species-rich order (268 species in 47 families). The SANSA survey yielded 966 adult arachnids, representing six orders and 197 species, with a further 67 species represented only by immatures. Although adult arachnid abundance (n) differed considerably between the four habitats (range: 156–321), adult species richness (Sobs) was less variable (range: 65–85). These survey results are comparable with several longer-term surveys in the Savanna biome, and indicate that the SANSA sampling protocol can yield an impressive diversity of arachnids during a relatively short period of sampling, with a high level of coverage (> 0.8 for sites and most sampling methods) and moderate levels of sample completion for adults (> 0.55 for all sites), despite logistical and temporal challenges. Additional repetitions of the SANSA sampling protocol in other seasons will likely increase biodiversity knowledge of arachnids in OGR considerably.Conservation implications: The implementation of rapid sampling protocols in an atlas project is essential to generate a large volume of species-level data. The SANSA protocol is an efficient means for rapidly generating arachnid data, and in future will allow for an assessment of diversity patterns in degree-square grids across South Africa.