| Only three
pholcid species had previously been recorded from Morocco but from
unublished
material
I knew that the country harbors a rich endemic fauna. Several
colleagues
had sent me specimens over the years, but for some of them it was not
even clear whether they should be classified as Holocnemus
or as Crossopriza (they
turned out to represent a new genus, Maghreba). Without
molecular data, the generic assignment seemed ambiguous, and no fresh
material for sequencing was available. In September 2018 I finally visited Morocco myself, and drove over 4000 km to visit most of the localities where pholcids had previously been found plus several 'new' localities. I was fascinated by the rich diversity of landscapes, the vibrant and colorful culture, the delicious food, and the frieldy and open-minded people. But my focus was on pholcid spiders, and these proved to be almost everywhere.  |
At first sight,
Morocco is full of just one species of ubiquitous pholcid spider,
namely Holocnemus reini
(published in a revision of the genus, Huber 2022).
This species thrives in a variety of conditions, often in high
abundance and with the web easily seen from the distance. The more
interesting species are much more cryptic, mainly hidden under large
rocks, in caves, and in rock shelters. Below are some of the
undescribed species I found, in the genera (Fig. 1; published in Artema
(Huber 2021), Maghreba
(Figs 2-3; published in Huber
2022), Micropholcus (Figs 4-5;
published in Huber & Meng 2024),
and Pholcus
(6). |
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