First record of the spider Artema atlanta Walckenaer, 1837 (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Iraq, with references to some its biological aspects

The Present study included the first record of the species Artema atlanta in addition to laboratory study for some biological aspects for this species, especially related with the life history, The specimens were collected for the period from Jun, 2017 until May 2018 from the old houses and buildings and a feed cattle stores located in Basrah governorate southern of Iraq. Some specimens were killed with 70% ethyl alcohol, while others were cultured in class equipments in the laboratory and feed by different insects. Morphological characteristics were studied, the most important are globose shape abdomen with dark lines extend from up to down, in the males there are conical enlarged with process pedipalps, chelicerae with hairs arranged as S shape, the epigynal plate with dark and other transparent spots and indented posterior margin. In the laboratory the females laid spherical sacs of eggs of 8mm diameter and composed of 66 of eggs. The eggs took 25-30 days before hatching, the hatching rate ranged between 80-100%. The temperature was correlated positively with the hatching rate and negatively with the period of embryonic development. The newly hatching individuals were 1.2mm in length, the growth was at a weekly rate of 0.1mm, and reached 2mm as a total length in the 10th week.