An unexpected occurrence: discovery of the genus Cybaeopsis Strand, 1907 in Europe with the description of a new species from Italy (Arachnida, Araneae, Amaurobiidae)

Abstract

We report on the unexpected finding of a new species of the genus Cybaeopsis Strand, 1907, C. lodoviciisp. nov. from the Northern Apennine Mountains in Italy. This is the first documented record of a Cybaeopsis species in Europe. Other currently known species of this genus have been previously recorded in North America, the Russian Far-East and Japan. The new species is illustrated and described based on both sexes. Another species from Portugal, Cybaeopsis theoblicki (Bosmans, 2021) comb. nov., recently described in the genus Callobius Chamberlin, 1947, is hereby transferred to Cybaeopsis on the basis of morphological characters. An updated key to the European genera of Amaurobiidae is provided.