Tecution Explained

Tecution is a genus of spiders from Saint Helena within the family Cheiracanthiidae. They were first described and named by Benoit in 1977.^[1] It was originally placed in the Clubionidae, but it was moved to Miturgidae in 1997, then to Cheiracanthiidae (syn. Eutichuridae) by Ramírez in 2014.^[2] The genus originally consisted of three species until fieldwork and morphological analysis by British arachnologist Danniella Sherwood and Saint Helenian colleagues demonstrated there is just one variable species, Tecution planum.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Benoit, P. L. G. (1977). Fam. Clubionidae. In: La faune terrestre de l'île de Saite-Hélène IV. Annales, Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Sciences zoologiques (Zool.-Ser. 8°) 220, 64-81.
2. Ramírez. M.J.. 2014. The morphology and phylogeny of dionychan spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 390. 4. 10.1206/821.1. 11336/18066. 86146467. free.
3. Sherwood, D., Henrard, A., Fowler, L. & Ashmole, P. (2023). "All creatures great and small: two new synonymies in the Saint Helenian endemic genus Tecution Benoit, 1977 (Araneae: Miturgidae)". 'Arachnology' 19(5): 780–787. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371969106_All_creatures_great_and_small_two_new_synonymies_in_the_Saint_Helenian_endemic_genus_Tecution_Benoit_1977_Araneae_Cheiracanthiidae