We present a taxonomic study with the description of three new species of Chira Peckham & Peckham, 1896: C. stolari sp. nov. (♂♀) from Pernambuco, Brazil; C. ivyatenea sp. nov. (♂♀) from Misiones, Argentina and Santa Catarina, Brazil; and C. hanagarthi sp. nov. (♀) from La Paz, Bolivia; and a tentative identification key for 12 (of 14 known) species of this Central and South American genus. Some misidentifications of C. lanei Soares & Camargo, 1948 and C. lucina Simon, 1902 are resolved.

A new species of the poorly known mygalomorph genus Strophaeus Ausserer, 1875 is described. The new species, Strophaeus quillacinga sp. nov., is described from Nariño, Colombia. It represents the first record of Strophaeus from Colombia, with the genus previously only known from Peru, Brazil, and Panama. This species can be distinguished from other known female congeners by the presence of a higher number of spines on the rastellum and the abdomen dorsally mottled.

In a review from 2005 on ballooning in spiders and other animals, Pholcidae are marked as a “family in which ballooning has been observed”. Here I review the evidence for this, and conclude that there is no reliable data showing that Pholcidae have a behaviour that evolved to function specifically for getting airborne. Ballooning may in fact be absent in a large clade of spiders including Pholcidae (i.e. Haplogynae, or Synspermiata). Other behaviours that share certain characteristics with ballooning and that may accidentally result in airborne specimens occur in Pholcidae: bridging and dropping on a line.

A newly discovered species of Masteria L. Koch, 1873 collected at two Danish tropical hothouses, Masteria boggildi sp. n., is described. It is the first member of Dipluridae (curtain-web spiders) known to have established breeding populations in Europe. The new species belong to a subgroup of Masteria species characterized by six eyes, piriform bulb, and short, unevenly sized inner and outer spermathecal lobes. Masteria boggildi sp. n. appears most closely related to Neotropical species, particularly to species found in Ecuador. Possible paths to its introduction are suggested.

The type material of Pamphobeteus ultramarinus Schmidt, 1995 and P. vespertinus (Simon, 1889) are redescribed. The male of P. lapola Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas, 2022 is described for the first time. Six new species are described: P. amazonas Sherwood, Gabriel, Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia., León-E., Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov. from Brazil, and P. gangotenai Cisneros-Heredia, Peñaherrera-R., León-E., Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas, sp. nov., P. jamacoaque Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia., León-E., Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov., P. lasjuntas Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia., León-E., Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov., P. matildeae Sherwood, Gabriel, Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia., León-E., Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov., and P. skis León-E., Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia, Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov. from Ecuador. We report, for the first time, the presence of Type III urticating setae in Pamphobeteus Pocock, 1901. New interpretations of tibial apophysis morphology are presented, alongside a comparison of the palpal bulb morphology of all known male congeners. New distribution and/or museum records are made for P. antinous Pocock, 1903, P. crassifemur Bertani, Fukushima & Silva, 2008, P. lapola, and P. urvinae Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas, 2022. Pamphobeteus petersi Schmidt, 2002 is illustrated and transferred to the genus Megaphobema Ausserer, 1875, based on palpal bulb morphology, and proposed as a junior synonym of Megaphobema velvetosoma Schmidt, 1995 syn. nov. Two Costa Rican species currently housed in Megaphobema are found to be misplaced, based on genital, femoral, and stridulation organ morphology, and are transferred to Abdomegaphobema gen. nov., Thus creating the new combinations Abdomegaphobema mesomelas (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1892) comb. nov. and Abdomegaphobema peterklaasi (Schmidt, 1994) comb. nov.

A new species of the genus Pancorius Simon, 1902, P. sebastiani sp. n. (♂♀) is diagnosed and described from Western Ghats, India. Detailed description and illustrations of the new species and a map showing the collecting locality of all Indian Pancorius species are provided.

Castianeira monai sp. nov. is described based on specimens from south- western Paraguay and southern Bolivia, the new species has a distribution in Humid Chaco and the Beni Savanna ecoregion. The new species is distinct in embolic morphology with two thicker basal coils and four thinner tapering coils to apex, also the proportions of anterior eyes, the presence of distinct anterior abdominal spines, tibia I ventral spination 3-2 and a bright red abdomen and orange carapace separate this species from Neotropical congeners.

Palaeophonus arctus Matthew, 1895, from the late Carboniferous Fern Ledges of Nova Scotia, Canada, and Palaeophonus lightbodyi Kjellesvig-Waering, 1954, from the Silurian of Ludford Lane in England, are problematic names proposed for fossil scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Matthew's name has been widely overlooked in the literature, but features in online resources such as the Paleobiology Database, where it currently extends the stratigraphic range of the genus Palaeophonus Thorell & Lindström, 1884 from the Silurian into the Carboniferous. The fossil on which it is based cannot be interpreted with confidence as a scorpion. Kjellesvig-Waering's name is based on an isolated pedipalp chela, which lacks characters justifying its placement in Palaeophonus or any other Palaeozoic scorpion genus. Both names are treated here as nomina dubia. We also take the opportunity to synonymize Allopalaeophonus Kjellesvig-Waering, 1986 with Palaeophonus. These two mid-Silurian genera are currently placed in separate infraorders, but the holotype of Allopalaeophonus caledonicus (Hunter, 1886) is very similar in habitus to the type species of Palaeophonus: Palaeophonus nuncius Thorell & Lindström, 1884. The single character currently separating the genera, mesosomal sternite shape, is unconvincing.

Two new genera, Bermejoa gen. nov. and Isiboroa gen. nov. are described to house the species Bermejoa zoeae sp. nov. and Isiboroa hamelae sp. nov., respectively. Two new species of existing genera are also described: Plesiopelma manni sp. nov. and Reversopelma herzogi sp. nov. Homoeomma peruvianum (Chamberlin, 1916) and Acanthoscurria sacsayhuaman Ferretti, Ochoa & Chaparro, 2016 from Peru are transferred to Isiboroa gen. nov., based on palpal bulb morphology and the absence of a stridulation organ. Consequently, the new combinations Isiboroa peruviana comb. nov. and Isiboroa sacsayhuaman comb. nov. are proposed.

A new species of large burrowing wolf spider, Zyuzicosa andreii sp. n. (♂), is diagnosed, illustrated, and described based on male specimens collected in Uzbekistan. The dissected embolic division of Zyuzicosa is illustrated for the first time.