Arachnologische Mitteilungen 55

Giovanni Canestrini’s arachnological collection in Padova 37 bed by Minelli & Pasqual (1982), are divided in: “Aracnidi e Miriapodi”, registering specimens of Araneae, Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones, Scorpiones and Solifugae from 1870 to 1889 (1035 records); “Catalogo degli acari conservati in al­ cool” registering mites preserved in ethanol from 1874 to 1898 (865 records); “Acari preparati microscopici” registering microscope slides from 1876 to 1888 (1078 records). Each catalogue mostly provides the same information as on the data labels, in addition to eventual notes on the collectors or regarding the exchanges of specimens with different arach­ nologists (e.g. T. Thorell, L. Koch). Both catalogues and data labels have been digitized and the database integrates the data obtained from both sources. Furthermore, an extensive search for historical documents (notebooks, correspondence, as well as Canestrini’s scientific output) was performed in order to add additional information on the collections. Moreover, du­ ring the curatorial restoration, each glass tube was replaced with a new one and filled with 75% ethanol, while microscope slides are kept in the original folders. The taxonomic revision of the collection is now under way involving three of us: Paolo Pantini (Araneae), Giulio Gar­ dini (Pseudoscorpiones) and Luis A. Guariento (Scorpiones, Solifugae). Other arachnologists revised part of the collection in the past: Valle (1955) worked on the acaroteca preserved in ethanol, Brignoli (1983) on the spiders described by Ca­ nestrini, Hansen (1986) on spiders of the family Salticidae, and Chemini (1986) on Opiliones.The whole acaroteca needs extensive revision, and awaits an availability of acarologists. Results The results concerning each arachnid order are presented below. From a curatorial perspective, the overall conservati­ on status of the collection was precarious since several tubes were found partially or completely dried, especially in the case of pseudoscorpions, and several microscope slides present a rather deteriorated mounting medium. Parts of the collec­ tion were returned by Italian museums where they were on loan since the last century, in particular the entire collection of harvestmen (Trento Museum of Science – MUSE) and some folders of microscope slides belonging to the acarote­ ca (Bergamo Museum of Natural Sciences). Concerning the search for historical documents, three notebooks have been recovered in the library of the Trento Museum of Science: i) “Studi sugli acari italiani di G. Canestrini e F. Fanzago e sul genere Dermaleichus (ed affini) di G. Canestrini, 1876 a 1878, studi fatti a Doss Tavon, Padova e Santa Maria di Cervare­ se”; ii) “Note di Giovanni Canestrini 1881, 1882, 1883” that deals with mites of the genus Gamasus and pseudoscorpions; iii) “Raccolta di acari parassiti degli insetti di Riccardo Ca­ nestrini, incominciata a Dos Tavon (Trentino) il 15 Agosto 1880”. Moreover, from the same library about a hundred let­ ters were recovered, some of which contained the signatures of T. Thorell and L. Koch. The study and translation of these documents could provide interesting information regarding the collection and the taxonomic research conducted by Ca­ nestrini. Araneae The spider collection contains specimens that mainly origi­ nated from Italy and, to a lesser extent, from European (i.e., Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden) and extra-European (i.e., Algeria, Argentina, Eritrea, Turkey, United States) countries. The foreign material often came from exchanges between Canestrini and renowned European arachnologists, as in the case of the collection from Germany (89 specimens from Nuremberg sent by L. Koch) and from Sweden (67 specimens sent by T. Thorell). According to the historical catalogue, the first spider material was registered in 1870; the last material was registered in 1887. The collection was in part revised by Brignoli (1983), who considered the species described by Canestrini. However, it seems that Bri­ gnoli (1983) did not see all the specimens in the collection, since the part of Canestrini’s type material rediscovered by us was not mentioned in his revision. All but a few specimens of Salticidae were revised by Hansen (1986). We found 28 out of the 41 species described by Canestrini (solely or in collaboration with Pavesi): they are presented in Tab. 1 following the nomenclature of World Spider Catalog (2018). In nine cases, the material surely represents types, while other eight specimens are recorded as “probable types” because they were not labelled as such and their collection data are too generic. Precisely, most of these probable types belong to the species described before the arrival of Canestri­ ni to Padova in 1869 (Canestrini 1868a, 1868b; Canestrini & Pavesi, 1868) and they are simply indicated in the catalogue as registered “at the end of 1870”, while the collection dates are not reported. Among the material, there are also three pre­ served species considered inquirendae by Brignoli (1983), for which further examination would clarify their taxonomic sta­ tus: Melanophora kochi Canestrini, 1868, Prosthesima prognata Canestrini, 1876 and Linyphia furcigera Canestrini, 1873. In the collection, type specimens of the species described by Thorell based on the material collected by Canestrini in Italy are preserved (Thorell 1872, 1875): Drassus tenellus Tho­ rell, 1875, Drassus spinulosus Thorell, 1875, Epeira limans Tho­ rell, 1875, Erigone nigrimana Thorell, 1875, Gnaphosa plebeja Thorell, 1875, Erigone hilaris Thorell, 1875, Linyphia arida Thorell, 1875, Erigone phaulobia Thorell, 1875, Lycosa nebulosa Thorell, 1875 , Sagana rutilans Thorell, 1875, Theridion histrio- nicum Thorell, 1875, Xysticus kempeleni Thorell, 1872 and Xy- sticus ninni Thorell, 1872. An examination of these specimens should confirm/clarify their status as well. Pseudoscorpiones This collection includes specimens from Italy, and three tubes from Paraguay sent to Canestrini by his pupil Luigi Balzan (1865-1893) in 1889. Balzan became a specialist on pseu­ doscorpions under the supervision of Canestrini and conduc­ ted pioneering research on these arachnids in South America (Balzan 1890, 1892; Guariento et al. 2016b). His studies led to the description of 27 new species from Paraguay, many of which are still valid (Mahnert 2016). According to the histo­ rical catalogue, the first pseudoscorpion material was registe­ red in 1873; the last material was registered in 1889. As for spiders and harvestmen, Canestrini published the first consistent works on these arachnids in Italy (Canest­ rini 1875a, 1875b, 1876), presenting the state-of-the-art in the encyclopedic monograph “Acari, Myriapoda et Scorpio­ nes hucusque in Italia reperta” edited by Berlese (Canestrini 1883, 1884, 1885). Of the six species he described, we found only four. All are represented by putative syntypes which we have examined confirming the current interpretation of these