taxonID	type	description	language	source
28436A3AFFB4FFDBFF2FD7FFFE165DA5.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined. 2 ♀♀ (CBEUS), IRAQ: Thi Qar Province, Al-Nassr district, among the remains of straw on agricultural land, 31.542075 ° N, 46.053821 ° E, 12 December 2023. Leg. A. M. Al-Khazali.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB4FFDBFF2FD7FFFE165DA5.taxon	description	Description. Female. Overall appearance as in Fig. 2 A-B. Measurements: body length 6.5; carapace 2.43 long, 1.98 wide; opisthosoma 4.07 long, 2.94 wide. Leg measurements: I: 5.55, II: 6.08, III: 6.57, IV: 9.08. Carapace yellow, with a pattern consisting of a black line, arched on each side, ending approximately at the beginning of the fovea, and edges on the outside with a black line. Around the anterior eyes are dark. Sternum yellowish-brown, dark at the edges. Endite and labium yellowish brown. Chelicerae and maxillae brown. Legs uniformly yellowish. Opisthosoma oval, dorsally yellow with scattered black spots, without pattern, covered by fine umber setae, ventrally yellow. Spinnerets light yellow. Epigyne as in Fig. 2 C-E; for a description see Levy (1995). Male. See Levy (1995). Habitat. The collection locality is characterized by sandy, clayey land with no vegetation throughout the year. Occasionally, it is planted with field crops, depending on rainfall and the availability of water. The specimens were found in the morning, hiding under old straw near an Acacia tree (Fig. 3 A). Levy (1995) collected similar specimens from a rocky desert and sand. Accordingly, it seems that this species prefers desert or semi-desert habitats and other dry environments far from towns.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB4FFDBFF2FD7FFFE165DA5.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Previously known from the type locality in Israel (Levy, 1995), and another locality in northeastern Iran (Sadeghi et al., 2016). New record for Iraq (Fig. 9).	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB4FFDBFF2FD7FFFE165DA5.taxon	discussion	Comments. There are 14 species of the genus Minosia currently known (WSC, 2024). Five of these species are found in some countries of the Greater Middle East, while the others are recorded from various countries on the African continent. The first record of the current species outside its type locality was from Iran, a country neighboring Iraq, and therefore, it was expected that this species would also be found in Iraq.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB2FFDAFF2FD413FEA85D6A.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined. 2 ♀♀ (CBEUS). IRAQ: Thi Qar Province, Al-Nassr district, among the remains of straw on agricultural land, 31.542075 ° N, 46.053821 ° E, 12. December. 2023. Leg. A. M. Al-Khazali.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB2FFDAFF2FD413FEA85D6A.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis and description. See Marusik & Kovblyuk (2009), Zamani et al, (2022). Distribution. Afghanistan, Central Asia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq (Fig. 9). Comments. This species was recently recorded from two provinces south of Iraq, Thi Qar and Basra (Zamani et al. 2022). The current specimens were found 75 kilometers from the previous record in Thi Qar.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB3FFD9FF2FD7D0FE8A5FEB.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined. 3 ♂♂ and 2 subadult ♂ (CBEUS). IRAQ: Thi Qar Province, 33 km from the city center, specimens were taken from a semi-desert area on the side of the Al-Masb Al-am River (The third river), 31.594224 ° N, 45.813287 ° E, 12 m. a. s. l., 12. December 2023. Leg. A. M. Al-Khazali	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB3FFD9FF2FD7D0FE8A5FEB.taxon	description	Description of male. Overall appearance as in Fig. (5 A-B). Measurements: Total body length 3.01; carapace 1.33 long, 1.42 wide; opisthosoma 1.68 long, 1.04 wide. Leg measurements: leg I. 3.5 (1.2, 0.6, 0.8, 0.5, 0.4). leg II. 2.9 (0.9, 0.2, 0.7, 0.6, 0.5). leg III. 2.8 (0.7, 0.4, 0.6, 0.6, 0.5). leg IV. 3.8 (1.1, 0.6, 0.8, 0.9, 0.4). Carapace dark brown with lighter spots around fovea. Around anterior eye row dark. Sternum yellowish-brown with dark edges. Palp, endites, labium and chelicerae yellowish brown. Legs yellowish. Opisthosoma oval, dorsally darker than carapace, ventrally pale brown. Spinnerets light brown. Palp: as in Fig. 5 (C-E), for more details, see Bosmans et al. (2019) and Danışman et al. (2020).	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB3FFD9FF2FD7D0FE8A5FEB.taxon	distribution	Distribution. S. shirin is known from five countries, all located in Western Asia: Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus, and here newly recorded from Iraq (Fig. 9). Habitat. Although this species has been recorded at seven sites across four countries in West Asia, there is no detailed information of its habitat. Danışman et al. (2020) collected it from pistachio orchards and rocky regions in Şanlıurfa Province, southeastern Turkey. The current specimens were collected from a semi-desert area characterized by temperatures reaching 50 ° C during the summer, with barren land for most of the year. During the winter, some lands are partially cultivated with wheat and barley, depending on rainfall and the rise in water levels in the adjacent river. The current samples were found under metal sheets and debris (rural construction waste) during the winter. These observations indicate that S. shirin occupies a wide range of habitats, including orchards, rocky terrain, and dry semideserts with stones or other structures that can be used as hideouts.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB3FFD9FF2FD7D0FE8A5FEB.taxon	discussion	Comments. This species was first described based on specimens collected from Iran, specifically in the Qasr-e-Shirin region located on the Iran-Iraq border (Ovtsharenko et al. 1994), 324 km from where the current specimen was found. Therefore, this species was expected to be found in Iraq and is also very likely to occur in Diyala and Sulaymaniyah provinces, which are close to its type locality.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB0FFD8FF2FD251FB6A5BC1.taxon	materials_examined	Type Material. Holotype ♀ (CBEUS), IRAQ: Thi Qar Province, Al-Nassr City Center, 31.534582 ° N, 46.120739 ° E, 6. December. 2023. Leg. A. M. Al-Khazali. Paratype: 1 ♀, same data as the holotype.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB0FFD8FF2FD251FB6A5BC1.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the famous King Gilgamesh, who ruled the Sumerian state of Uruk for the period between 2800 and 2500 BC.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB0FFD8FF2FD251FB6A5BC1.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. The new species is similar to T. sumericus Zamani & Marusik, 2022 known from central Iraq, and T. farsensis Zamani & Marusik, 2024 known from Iran. It can be differentiated from both of them, as well as all other species of Talanites by the form of the receptacles: anterior receptacle (Ar) is spherical, posterior receptacle (Pr) is vertically elongated oval. In T. sumericus they are oval and spherical, respectively, while in T. farsensis they are tubular and spherical, respectively. The anterior hood (Ah) is semicircular in the new species, subtriangular in T. sumericus (Figs. 1 B, C) and nearly crescent-shaped in T. farsensis (Figs. 7 E, F).	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB0FFD8FF2FD251FB6A5BC1.taxon	description	Description. Female (Holotype). Overall length 7.84. Carapace: 3.76 long, 3.18 wide. Abdomen: long, 4.08 wide 2.73. Carapace yellowish orange. Sternum reddish-orange with dark reddish edges. Labium, maxillae and chelicerae uniform reddish-orange. Coxae, legs and palps yellowish-orange, ventrally paler with rather long setae, especially on sides. Spinnerets yellowish-orange. Abdomen pale yellowish, dorsally with three pairs of opposite sigilla, light brown; ventrally yellowish white without pattern, covered with relatively long brown hairs, especially on sides (Figs 7 A-E). Measurements of legs: I: 2.24, 0.92, 1.89, 1.78, 1.08 (7.91). II: 1.91, 0.77, 1.98, 1.78, 1.20 (7.64). III: 3.17, 0.98, 3.62, 3.06, 1.39 (12.22). IV: 4.23, 1.05, 3.95, 3.02, 1.85 (14.1). Leg spination: I: Fe d 1 - 1 - 1 p 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 r 1 - 1 - 0 - 0; Ti v 1 - 1 - 1; Mt v 2 - 0 - 0. II: Fe d 1 - 1 - 1 p 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 r 0 - 1 - 1 - 0; Ti v 1 - 1 - 1; Mt v 2 - 1 - 0. III: Fe d 1 - 1 - 1 p 1 - 1 - 1 r 1 - 1 - 1; Pa p 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 r 0 - 1 - 0; Ti d 1 - 1 - 0 p 1 - 0 - 1 r 0 - 1 - 1 v 2 - 2 - 2; Mt d 2 - 2 - 0 p 1 - 1 - 1 r 1 - 1 - 1 v 2 - 2 - 2. IV: Fe d 1 - 1 - 1 p 1 - 1 - 1 r 0 - 1 - 1; Pa r 0 - 1 - 0; Ti d 1 - 0 - 1 p 1 - 1 - 1 r 1 - 1 - 1 v 2 - 2 - 2; Mt d 2 - 2 - 0 p 1 - 1 - 1 r 1 - 1 - 1 v 2 - 2 - 2. Epigyne as in Figs 6 C-E; epigynal plate slightly longer than wide, covered on sides and posterior area with long, sparse brown hairs; anterior hood (Ah) crescent-shaped, with thickened outer edge, dark brown; anterior receptacle (Ar) spherical, posterior receptacle (Pr) elongated oval, set at an obtuse angle. Male. Unknown.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB0FFD8FF2FD251FB6A5BC1.taxon	discussion	Comments. This species was found near piles of dirt about 30 meters from freshly moved soil transported from open lands outside the city to bury some yards in residential neighbourhoods within Al-Nasr City. Likely, this species was inadvertently transported to the city through these soil transport operations. Despite my efforts to search for additional specimens, I was unable to collect any males.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFB0FFD8FF2FD251FB6A5BC1.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Thi Qar Province, southern Iraq.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFBEFFD4FF2FD2DAFAA9591A.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined. 2 ♀♀ (CBEUS). IRAQ: Thi Qar Province, 33 km from the city center, specimens were taken from a semi-desert area on the side of the Al-Masb Al-am River (The third river), 31.594224 ° N, 45.813287 ° E, 12. December. 2023. Leg. A. M. Al-Khazali	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFBEFFD4FF2FD2DAFAA9591A.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis and description. See Zamani & Marusik (2022).	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFBEFFD4FF2FD2DAFAA9591A.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Iraq (Fig. 9). Habitat and comments. This species was recently described by Zamani & Marusik (2022) from the stone desert of Najaf Province in central Iraq, based on a preserved female specimen collected in 1978. The current specimens were collected from a semi-desert region with somewhat sandy soil in Dhi Qar, southern Iraq. During the early hours of the day, these specimens were discovered concealed beneath metal debris. These anecdotal observations suggest that the species also inhabits semi-desert and dry desert areas with a stony nature, utilizing rocks, small stones, debris, and other structures as hiding places.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
28436A3AFFBEFFD4FF2FD2DAFAA9591A.taxon	discussion	Discussion According to the latest checklist, 104 spider species are known from Iraq, including 16 species and 11 genera belonging to the Gnaphosidae family (Al-Khazali et al. 2023). Including five species new to science, one of which from Thi Qar: Berlandina mesopotamica Al-Khazali, 2020 (Al-Khazali 2020), described using males only, and then females were described from the same province by Al-Khazali & Fomichev (2021). The current results include the discovery of a new species and the first records for two species and their genera of gnaphosid spiders, bringing the total number of Iraqi spider species to 107 and the number of known genera to 78. This number is relatively low compared to neighboring countries, such as Turkey (1,282 species) and Iran (935 species) (Danışman et al. 2022; Zamani et al. 2023). The limited number of known species in Iraq is primarily due to a lack of taxonomic studies on the order Araneae, stemming from a shortage of specialized local researchers and the turbulent political conditions that hinder the research of foreign researchers. Consequently, many areas in Iraq remain unstudied, and even those that have been studied are not completely surveyed. Therefore, any new area or material studied is likely to yield species that either represent new records or are new to science. Acknowledgements I want to express my gratitude to Adel Mohammed and Hussein Mohammed, my colleagues, for their help during the field trip. A huge thank you to Dr Alireza Zamani from the University of Turku in Finland for offering scientific advice. Additionally, I appreciate the valuable guidance and suggestions provided by the anonymous reviewers on the paper.	en	Al-Khazali, Azhar Mohammed (2024): New species and records of ground spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) from Iraq. Ecologica Montenegrina 77: 12-23, DOI: 10.37828/em.2024.77.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.37828/em.2024.77.2
