Short-tailed whipscorpion genus Stenochrus.

91 pages : illustrations, maps ; 26 cm.The short-tailed whipscorpion genus, Stenochrus Chamberlin, 1922 (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae Cook, 1899), occurring in North and Central America, is redefined and revised based on simultaneous phylogenetic analysis of 61 morphological characters and 2968 aligned DNA nucleotides from two markers in the nuclear genome, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 28S rDNA, and two markers in the mitochondrial genome, cytochome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 12S rDNA, for a comprehensive taxon sample. Six new genera are described: Ambulantactus, gen. nov.; Baalrog, gen. nov.; Harveyus, gen. nov.; Nahual, gen. nov.; Schizophyxia, gen. nov.; Troglostenochrus, gen. nov. Heteroschizomus Rowland, 1973, stat. rev., is revalidated and its type species, Heteroschizomus goodnightorum Rowland, 1973, reinstated. Six new species are described: Ambulantactus aquismon, sp. nov.; Ambulantactus montielae, sp. nov.; Baalrog yacato, sp. nov.; Harveyus contrerasi, sp. nov.; Heteroschizomus kekchi, sp. nov.; Nahual bokmai, sp. nov. Eighteen new combinations are created by transferring species, previously accommodated in Stenochrus, to other genera: Ambulantactus davisi (Gertsch, 1940), comb. nov.; Baalrog magico (Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2018), comb. nov.; Baalrog sbordonii (Brignoli, 1973), comb. nov.; Harveyus mexicanus (Rowland, 1971a), comb. nov.; Harveyus mulaiki (Gertsch, 1940), comb. nov.; Harveyus reddelli (Rowland, 1971a), comb. nov.; Heteroschizomus meambar (Armas and Víquez, 2010), comb. nov.; Heteroschizomus orthoplax (Rowland, 1973a), comb. nov.; Heteroschizomus silvino (Rowland and Reddell, 1977), comb. nov.; Nahual caballero (Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2018), comb. nov.; Nahual lanceolatus (Rowland, 1975), comb. nov.; Nahual pallidus (Rowland, 1975), comb. nov.; Pacal moisii (Rowland, 1973), comb. nov.; Pacal tepezcuintle (Armas and Cruz-López, 2009), comb. nov.; Schizophyxia bartolo (Rowland, 1973), comb. nov.; Schizophyxia lukensi (Rowland, 1973), comb. nov.; Troglostenochrus palaciosi (Reddell and Cokendolpher, 1986), comb. nov.; Troglostenochrus valdezi (Monjaraz-Ruedas, 2012), comb. nov. The male of B. sbordonii is determined to be heterospecific with the holotype female and described as B. yacato. The females of H. goodnightorum and N. lanceolatus are described for the first time. Following these revisions, seven species remain within Stenochrus: Stenochrus alcalai Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2018; Stenochrus chimalapas Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2018; Stenochrus gruta Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2018; Stenochrus guatemalensis (Chamberlin, 1922); Stenochrus leon Armas, 1995; Stenochrus pecki (Rowland, 1973); Stenochrus portoricensis Chamberlin, 1922. Olmecazomus, nom. nov., is proposed as a replacement name for the junior homonym, Olmeca Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2017, creating three new combinations: Olmecazomus brujo (Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2017), comb. nov.; Olmecazomus cruzlopezi (Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2017), comb. nov.; Olmecazomus santibanezi (Monjaraz-Ruedas and Francke, 2017), comb. nov. A key to identification of the hubbardiid genera of North America is provided and the utility of various character systems for the diagnosis of schizomid genera discussed. The integration of morphological and molecular data not only increased knowledge of the schizomid diversity in the New World but disentangled what was once considered a homoplastic and variable morphology in a large "catch-all" genus into discrete units each diagnosable by unique character combinations

Species delimitation, biogeography, and natural history of dwarf funnel web spiders (Mygalomorphae, Hexurellidae, Hexurella) from the United States / Mexico borderlands

The rarely encountered spider genus Hexurella Gertsch & Platnick, 1979 includes some of the smallest mygalomorph spiders in the world, with four poorly known taxa from central and southeastern montane Arizona, southern California, and northern Baja California Norte. At time of description the genus was known from fewer than 20 individuals, with sparse natural history information suggesting a vagrant, web-building, litter-dwelling natural history. Here the first published taxonomic and natural history information for this taxon is provided in more than 50 years, working from extensive new geographic sampling, consideration of male and female morphology, and sequence capture-based nuclear phylogenomics and mitogenomics. Several new species are easily diagnosed based on distinctive male morphologies, while a complex of populations from central and northern Arizona required an integrative combination of genomic algorithmic species delimitation analyses and morphological study. Four new species are described, including H. ephedra sp. nov., H. uwiiltil sp. nov., H. xerica sp. nov., and H. zas sp. nov. Females of H. encina Gertsch & Platnick, 1979 are also described for the first time. It is predicted that additional new species will ultimately be found in the mountains of central and northwestern Arizona, northern mainland Mexico, and the Mojave Desert of California

A new species of Protoschizomus (Schizomida: Protoschizomidae) from a cave in Guerrero, Mexico

Volume: 41Start Page: 420End Page: 42

Stenochrus Chamberlin 1922

Genus <i>Stenochrus</i> Chamberlin, 1922 <p> Type species: <i>Stenochrus portoricensis</i> Chamberlin, 1922 by original designation.</p> <p> <i>Stenochrus valdezi</i> new species Figures 1–9; Table 1</p> <p> <b>Type material</b>: MÉXICO: Chiapas: male holotype (CNAN-T0698) [18 June 2011, O. Francke, A. Valdez, C. Santibañez, J. Cruz, R. Monjaraz, G. Contreras, K. Zárate] from Cueva de San Francisco (16.09971ºN, 92.0469ºW, 1546 m), Municipio La Trinitaria. Paratypes: 4 females (CNAN-T0699), same data as holotype.</p> <p> <b>Etymology</b>: The species name is dedicated to M. S. Alejandro Valdez-Mondragón for his help collecting the type series and for his contribution to the knowledge of arachnids from Mexico.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis:</b> Males can be distinguished by the rounded flagellum, with a conical posterior prominence and with two dorsal prominences which are rounded subdistally (Figs 1–3); by the palp trochanter with a distal conical projection (arrow in Fig. 6). Females can be distinguished by the spermathecae having conical lateral lobes, and the long and curved central lobes appearing like an upside down “J” (Fig. 8); and by the chitinized arch ending in pointed projections (arrow in Fig. 8).</p> <p> <b>Description. Male (Holotype):</b> Body, palps, legs and flagellum pale brownish, chelicerae red brownish.</p> <p> <i>Prosoma</i>: Propeltidium 1.20 long, 0.85 wide; anterior process distally rounded, with 3 apical setae, one behind the other two (2+1), and with 3 pairs of dorsal setae, the first larger than the other two in descending order. Without eyespots. Mesopeltidial plates 0.24 long, 0.06 wide; space length between the plates 0.25. Metapeltidium undivided, 0.30 long, 0.88 wide; metapeltidium plate very close to mesopeltidium. Anterior sternum triangular, with 10 setae. Posterior sternum triangular, with 6 setae.</p> <p> <i>Chelicera</i>: Movable finger: Serrula with 21 teeth, guard tooth present (arrow in Fig. 4), with three small accessory teeth, Seta 1=3, 2=4, 3=4, 4=3, 5=7, 6=1. Fixed finger: with 7 smaller teeth between 2 primary teeth (Fig. 5).</p> <p> <i>Palps</i>: Total length 3.33. Trochanter with a small mesal spur (arrow Fig. 7). Femur with 2 setae on the retrolateral margin, and 4 spiniform setae on the prolateral margin. Patella slightly curved posteriorly, with 3 pairs of ventrolateral setae (Fig. 6). Tibia with 8 plumose setae on the prolateral margin. Tarsus with 2 asymmetrical claws 0.2 long.</p> <p> <i>Legs:</i> Leg 1, including coxa, total length 6.97, basitarsal-tarsal proportions 30: 5: 6: 6: 7: 6: 15. Femur IV 2.8 x longer than deep.</p> <p> <i>Opisthosoma:</i> tergite I with 1 anterior pair of large setae and 3 pairs of small posterior setae; tergite II–VIII each with 1 pair of large dorsal setae; tergite IX with 1 pair of dorsolateral setae and 1 pair of lateral setae; tergite X–XI with 1 pair of lateral setae each side; tergite XII slightly telescoped, without evidence of posterodorsal process. Flagellum 0.54 long, 0.34 wide, 0.22 deep; with 4 large dorsal setae, 2 long setae in each bulb (Vl1 large and Dl1 small) and with 5 long ventral setae (Figs 1–3).</p> <p> <b>Female (Paratype):</b> <i>Similar to the male, differences:</i> Body longer and more robust than male; palps longer but slightly thinner than male, and without spiniform setae. Leg I larger than male (measurements given in Table 1). Flagellum composed of 3 articles. Spermatheca with 4 lobes, median pair curved and larger than lateral pair. Lateral pair shorter and triangular in shape. Without bulbs or granules. Gonopod long and widened apically. Base of spermatheca with 2 sclerotized arcs (Fig. 8).</p> <p> <b>Variation.</b> (Females, N= 4). Anterior carapaceal process of male with 3 setae, but females have 3 (2+1) or 2 (1+1) setae. Cheliceral movable finger of some females with 17 small teeth on serrula, accessory tooth with irregular shape, Seta 1=3, 2=3, 3=4, 4=11, 5=6, 6=1. Fixed finger of chelicerae with 4 smaller teeth between 2 primary teeth.</p> <p>Characters Male Females</p> <p> Holotype Paratype 1 Paratype 2 Paratype 3 Paratype 4 <b>Remarks.</b> <i>Stenochrus valdezi</i> resembles <i>S. palaciosi</i> (Reddell and Cokendolpher, 1986) (holotype examined), but they differ in size, <i>S. valdezi</i> is larger (4.35) than <i>S. palaciosi</i> (3.64). The shape of the flagellum is more globose and bigger in <i>S. valdezi</i> than in <i>S. palaciosi</i> (figs. 1–5, 11; Reddell and Cokendolpher, 1986). The spermatheca in <i>S. valdezi</i> has large median lobes and short lateral lobes, the median ones an inverted “J“ (Fig. 8). In <i>S. palaciosi</i> the median and lateral lobes have the same length (fig. 11; Reddell and Cokendolpher, 1986). The palps of <i>S. palaciosi</i> are more slender and smaller (2.18) than <i>S. valdezi</i> (3.33) (Fig. 6), the anterior margin of the trochanter ends in a conical projection as <i>S. valdezi</i>, however the trochanter of <i>S. palaciosi</i> is smaller (0.20) than <i>S. valdezi</i> (0.80) and armed with more spiniform setae. The patella is slightly larger in <i>S. valdezi</i> than <i>S. palaciosi</i>.</p> <p> <b>Distribution.</b> Known only from the type locality (Fig. 9).</p> <p> <b>Natural history</b>. The specimens were collected around 100 m inside a karstic cave, collected manually on the floor and walls. The habitat outside the cave is oak forest. The cave showed high degree of human disturbance, because there are religious ceremonies by the people that live in the town near the cave. Even inside the cave the subterranean river has been contaminated. The male holotype was found inside an old candle holder, and the females in a narrow passage with low concentration of oxygen.</p>Published as part of <i>Monjaraz-Ruedas, Rodrigo, 2012, A new species of the schizomid genus Stenochrus (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae) from Mexico, pp. 63-68 in Zootaxa 3334</i> on pages 64-66, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/281293">10.5281/zenodo.281293</a&gt

Taxonomic revision of the genus Mayazomus Reddell & Cokendolpher, 1995 (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae), with description of five new species from Chiapas, Mexico

Monjaraz-Ruedas, Rodrigo, Francke, Oscar F. (2015): Taxonomic revision of the genus Mayazomus Reddell & Cokendolpher, 1995 (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae), with description of five new species from Chiapas, Mexico. Zootaxa 3915 (4): 451-490, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3915.4.

First species of Surazomus (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae) from North America illuminate biogeography of short-tailed whipscorpions in the New World

Three new species of the short-tailed whipscorpion genus Surazomus Reddell & Cokendolpher (Hubbardiidae Cook, 1899) are described from Mexico: Surazomus chiapasensis sp.n., from Chiapas, Surazomus escondido sp.n., and Surazomus peregrinus sp.n., both from Oaxaca. Surazomus was previously known primarily from South America, its northernmost record reported from Costa Rica. The placement of the new species within Surazomus is tested and verified with a phylogenetic analysis, integrating morphology and DNA sequence data for a representative sample of ingroup and outgroup taxa. Biogeographical implications are discussed

Turning to the dark side: Evolutionary history and mole adcular species delimitation of a troglomorphic lineage of armoured harvestman (Opiliones: Stygnopsidae)

From a biological point of view, caves are one of the most exciting environments on Earth, considered as evolutionary laboratories due to the adaptive traits (troglomorphisms) usually exhibited by the fauna that inhabit them. Among Opiliones, the family Stygnopsidae contains cave-inhabiting members who exhibit some degree of troglomorphic characters, such as Minisge gen.n., a lineage formed by two new troglomorphic species from the Huautla Cave System, Oaxaca, Mexico, one of the deepest and most complex cave systems in the World. One of the new species inhabits the middle depths (~ 400 to ~ 600 m), whereas the other one is considerably shallower (~ 20 to ~ 200 m). Using the barcoding gene (CO1), we tested the morphology-based species delimitation hypothesis using genetic distances, likelihood-based and bayesian-based methods (ABGD, GMYC and bPTP), which give different results with respect to morphology. The shallower species exhibits considerable gene flow among the various caves sampled and the genetic data support our morphology-based conclusions- whereas the deeper species shows less gene flow among some of the caves in the system, and the genetic data contradict our morphology-based conclusion that there is only one species involved. However, the genetic differences among the populations sampled vary primarily in the third codon position and represent synonymous mutations. Finally, the two species of Minisge gen.n. probably diverged 3.9 Mya according to a time-calibrated phylogeny, but at this time it is not possible to determine when they colonized the cave environment, although we favour the hypothesis that each species of Minisge colonized the caves independently: the deeper inhabitant, which exhibits a greater degree of troglomorphisms, first- and subsequently the shallower inhabitant, which exhibits a lesser degree of troglomorphisms

Biodiversity of the Huautla Cave System, Oaxaca, Mexico

Sistema Huautla is the deepest cave system in the Americas at 1560 m and the fifth longest in Mexico at 89,000 m, and it is a mostly vertical network of interconnected passages. The surface landscape is rugged, ranging from 3500 to 2500 masl, intersected by streams and deep gorges. There are numerous dolinas, from hundreds to tens of meters in width and depth. The weather is basically temperate subhumid with summer rains. The average yearly rainfall is approximately 2500 mm, with a monthly average of 35 mm for the driest times of the year and up to 500 mm for the wettest month. All these conditions play an important role for achieving the highest terrestrial troglobite diversity in Mexico, containing a total of 35 species, of which 27 are possible troglobites (16 described), including numerous arachnids, millipedes, springtails, silverfish, and a single described species of beetles. With those numbers, Sistema Huautla is one of the richest cave systems in the world

The morphological phylogeny of the family Protoschizomidae revisited (Arachnida: Schizomida): setal characters, fossil and paraphyletic genera

Volume: 45Start Page: 99End Page: 11