Spiders
Scientists described a spider species new to science — Theridion huseynovi also occurs in Georgia
In August 2026, scientists described Theridion huseynovi as a species new to science. It is known from Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, and the Georgian material had previously been treated as another species.
In 2026, work on South Caucasus spiders revealed another species new to science. Theridion huseynovi, a spider in the family Theridiidae, was formally described as a new species and confirmed from Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.
A new species, not a first Georgian find
The study was published in Zootaxa on 11 August 2026. The authors are Alireza Zamani, Armen Seropian, and Yuri M. Marusik.
The Georgian part of the story is especially interesting: the specimens had been collected several years earlier, but were then identified as another species, Theridion cinereum.
The Georgian spiders had been treated as another species
Georgian material was collected at two sites in 2023. One female was found on 3 June in Kvemo Kartli, near Shulaveri in Marneuli municipality, at about 479 m above sea level, in Paliurus spina-christi-dominated shrubland, under rocks.
Two more specimens, one male and one female, were collected on 20 May in Shida Kartli, near Gori on the Kvernaki ridge. The habitat was again Paliurus spina-christi-dominated shrubland, and the spiders were found under rocks at about 641 m.
This material was published in a 2024 Caucasiana paper as Theridion cinereum and was then treated as the first record of that species for Georgia and the South Caucasus. Later taxonomic work changed the picture.
In the 2026 study, the authors concluded that the Georgian specimens are not T. cinereum, but a separate species. The new species was named Theridion huseynovi.
Where is Theridion huseynovi known from?
The currently confirmed distribution covers three countries: Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. In Georgia, confirmed material is known from Kvemo Kartli and Shida Kartli.
The World Spider Catalog lists three Georgian specimens kept at the Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University, as paratypes of Theridion huseynovi: one male and two females.
That means material collected in Georgia is part of the scientific material on which the new species was formally described.
DNA also added important information
The new study did not rely only on external characters. The authors also provided DNA barcodes for Theridion huseynovi. Such genetic data help researchers compare closely related species and assess taxonomic differences more securely.
In spiders, similar-looking species can be difficult to separate at a glance. Identification often needs detailed morphological work, and sometimes genetic evidence too. That is why already collected and published material can later be reassessed as a different species.
The study described four new species
The paper described four Theridion species new to science: Theridion absheronicum from Azerbaijan; Theridion araratense from Armenia; Theridion caucasicum from Armenia and Azerbaijan; and Theridion huseynovi from Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.
The study brings together new taxonomic and faunistic data on Theridiidae from the South Caucasus, including new distribution records and taxonomic changes for other species.
Why this matters for Georgia
Georgia's spider diversity is still being actively studied. The case of Theridion huseynovi shows that discovering a new species does not always mean finding an animal in a completely unknown place for the first time.
Sometimes a specimen is already in a museum or scientific collection, and later work shows that it belongs to a previously undescribed species. Here, Georgian material directly contributed to the description, and one of the authors, Armen Seropian, is connected with Ilia State University.
