New data on spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) from the islands of the Strait of Sicily (Southern Italy) with taxonomic notes on Poecilochroa loricata Kritscher, 1996 (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) and eight new records for Europe

We present a checklist of spiders inhabiting the Pelagie archipelago and Pantelleria island, in the Strait of Sicily (Southern Italy). Data were compiled from both literature sources and unpublished materials stored in museum collections. In total, we report new data on 100 species, bringing the total number of species documented for the islands of the Strait of Sicily to 148. Among these, 8 are new for Europe and 9 new for Italy. The island of Lampedusa hosts the highest number of species (107), followed by Pantelleria (63) and Linosa (25). The most represented families are Gnaphosidae in Lampedusa and Linosa, while Salticidae is dominant in Pantelleria. Most of the species present on the islands of the Strait of Sicily have a Holarctic distribution. Several rare species are recorded, including Haplodrassus crassipes (Lucas, 1846), Palliduphantes labilis (Simon, 1913) and Xysticus promiscuus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876. In addition, the female of Poecilochroa loricata Kritscher, 1996 (Gnaphosidae) is here described and illustrated for the first time. As revealed by the study of the species-area relationship, the islands of the Strait of Sicily host a higher number of species compared to other small islands in Italy. Accordingly, species richness recorded in Lampedusa and Linosa is higher than expected, while further investigations are suggested to increase knowledge of the local spider diversity.