Ancient roots, new places: First evidence of the presence of Cteniza sauvagesi in Southern Italy, supported by molecular data and ecological niche modeling

The trap-door spider genus Cteniza is species-poor, ancient lineage mostly restricted to the western Mediterranean region. The species Cteniza sauvagesi (Rossi, 1788) has been recorded for Toscana, Sardinia and Sicily and C. moggridgei (Cambridge, 1874) has been reported in Liguria and SE France. A third species of doubtful taxonomic status, C. brevidens (Doleschall, 1871) is supposedly present in Sicily and Sardinia. Here, we provide the first evidence of the additional presence of Cteniza spiders in Southern continental Italy (Calabria). Comparative molecular analyses (cox1) conducted on the Calabrian material reveals a close relationship to the Corsican populations, type locality of C. sauvagesi, and rejects that new localities are the result of a recent introduction. Additionally, despite of the scarce and outdated available literature, morphological examination confirms the identification of the new material as C. sauvagesi. The occurrence of Cteniza in Calabria is further predicted by Ecological Niche Modelling techniques performed on available records. The Calabrian coast is identified as a highly suitable areas within the potential distribution range of the genus. Insights about the natural history of the species in Calabria are discussed, with special reference to the trapdoor architecture, the phenology and the food preference of the species.