The eresid spider genus Loureedia (Miller et al., 2012) was described a decade ago, despite its type species being described in the mid-19th century, which illuminates the difficulties in obtaining specimens. The genus was initially described as monotypic. Ever since, four other species have been assigned to Loureedia, including three newly discovered ones. Primarily due to the extravagant appearance of the males, stories about the discovery of species of Loureedia have been the subject of relatively wide media coverage over the years, leading to numerous new populations and putative undescribed species being documented by naturalists and citizen scientists. These species, although bearing distinct differences in their coloration patterns, typically vary only slightly in the structure of their copulatory organs, the primary traits used in spider systematics. This highlights an important taxonomic problem: while it is easy to diagnose the genus or recognize the species that belong to it, it is challenging to differentiate the species from one another, particularly when using only a single line of evidence. In this paper, we have tackled this issue using an integrative approach, i.e., a combination of molecular markers (the mitochondrial COI) and traditional morphological characters. The effects of different observational angles on the perceived shape of the conductor are discussed. Except for one species, we obtained DNA data of all members of the genus. Based on these data, the first phylogeny for Loureedia is presented, and two North African species, Loureedia maroccana (Gál et al., 2017) and Loureedia jerbae (El-Hennawy, 2005), are revalidated from synonymy. The distribution records of all described species are mapped.

Enterocytozoon bieneusi is one of the most common microsporidian parasites, primarily infecting the intestinal epithelial cells of a broad range of animal species, including humans. To date, no scientific reports have documented Enterocytozoon spp. in animal hosts in Romania. This study aimed to assess the occurrence and genetic characteristics of E. bieneusi in shelter dogs, as well as its potential public health relevance. Between December 2022 and May 2025, a total of 112 freshly voided diarrheal fecal samples were collected from dogs housed in a shelter near Timișoara Municipality, Romania. The samples were subjected to molecular analysis using a two-step nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rRNA gene. The resulting sequences were deposited in GenBank^® and analyzed phylogenetically. PCR analysis revealed E. bieneusi DNA in 11 (9.8%) samples, identifying two genotypes, with PtEb IX (n = 10) as the dominant genotype and BEB4 (n = 1), which has zoonotic potential. A significant difference in prevalence was found between juvenile (23.1%) and adult (5.8%) dogs (p = 0.026). Phylogenetic analysis of the ITS sequences showed that the isolates clustered into two distinct clades alongside reference sequences from the GenBank^® database. This is the first report of E. bieneusi infection in animals in Romania, providing essential baseline data and highlighting the need for broader surveillance into its prevalence and genetic diversity in other potential hosts. These results reflect the prevalence and genetic diversity of E. bieneusi exclusively among symptomatic (diarrheic) dogs and should not be generalized to the broader shelter dog population.