Two new records of orb-weaving spiders with a new species (Araneae: Araneidae) from Korea

Two new records of orb-weaving spiders with a new species (Araneae: Araneidae) from Korea

Araneidae Clerck, 1757 is one of the largest families within the order Araneae Clerck, 1757, comprising 3,065 species in 177 genera. To date, two species of the genus Mengora O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889 and four species of the genus Araniella Chamberlin & Ivie, 1942 have been recorded in Korea. During a seasonal survey of the spider fauna in mountainous terrain conducted from 2018 to 2019, females of Mangora foliosa Zhu & Yin, 1998 and a male of Araniella robusta sp. nov. were collected with a sweep net between shrubs in mixed forests from Mt. Juwangsan National Park. In this paper, we provide a diagnosis of the new species and descriptions including measurements and morphological illustrations. The new species, Araniella robusta sp. nov., can be easily distinguished from other species in the genus Araniella Chamberlin & Ivie, 1942 by a branched conductor with two blunt tips and conjugation of the embolus tip and terminal apophysis.