On the placement of the Baltic amber harvestmanGonyleptes nemastomoides Koch & Berendt, 1854, with notes on the phylogeny of Cladonychiidae (Opiliones, Laniatores, Travunioidea)

The Baltic amber (Palaeogene: Eocene) harvestman Gonyleptes nemastomoides Koch & Berendt, 1854 (Arachnida: Opiliones), currently misplaced at both the genus and family level, is transferred to the extant family Cladonychiidae and assigned to a new genus, Proholoscotolemon n. gen. The families Gonyleptidae and Phalangodidae are hereby removed from the known harvestman fossil record. Although the type specimen of G. nemastomoides is poorly preserved, the form of the diagnostic hind tarsal claw is clearly visible and indicates that the genus is distinct from, and relatively basal to, the only extant European cladonychiid genus, Holoscotolemon Roewer, 1915. Analysis of the claw morphology of extant cladonychiids, using evidence from ontogeny and outgroup comparison, suggests a transformation series in which the plesiomorphic condition (present in the eastern Nearctic genera Erebomaster Cope, 1872 and Theromaster Briggs, 1969) is a multi-pronged, narrowly forked claw with a long base, while the apomorphic condition (found in Holoscotolemon) is a bipronged, widely forked claw with a short base. Der Weberknecht Gonyleptes nemastomoides Koch & Berendt, 1854 (Arachnida: Opiliones) aus dem Baltischen Bernstein (Paläogen: Eozän) wird derzeit weder auf Gattungs- noch auf Familien-Ebene richtig zugeordnet. Er wird hiermit in die auch heute noch verbreitete Familie Cladonychiidae und die neue Gattung, Proholoscotolemon n. gen. versetzt. Für die Weberknecht-Familien Gonyleptidae und Phalangodidae gibt es somit keine fossilen Belege mehr. Obwohl das Typusexemplar von G. nemastomoides schlecht erhalten ist, ist die Form der diagnostisch wichtigen 4. Tarsalkrallen klar erkennbar. Sie zeigt an, dass die neue Gattung deutlich von der einzigen rezenten europäischen Cladonychiidae-Gattung Holoscotolemon Roewer, 1915 abweicht und im Verhältnis hierzu ursprünglicher ist. Die Analyse der Krallen-Morphologie von lebenden Cladonychiidae, bei Berücksichtigung der Ontogenie und Vergleich mit Außengruppen, deutet auf eine Entwicklungs-Reihe hin, in welcher der plesiomorphe Zustand (vorhanden in den ost-nearktischen Gattungen Erebomaster Cope, 1872 und Theromaster Briggs, 1969) durch eine schmale, mehrfach gezackte und eng gegabelte Kralle mit einer langen Basis gekennzeichnet ist. Der apomorphe Zustand (vorhanden in Holoscotolemon) ist demgegenüber eine zweizackige, breit gegabelte Kralle mit einer kurzen Basis. doi:10.1002/mmng.200410005</a

Additional observations on the nesting behavior of \u3ci\u3eMiscophus (Nitelopterus) californicus\u3c/i\u3e (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)

Close-up photographs of nest entry, nest closure and prey transport taken on sandy coastal back dunes in Santa Barbara County, CA by Alice J. Abela substantiate and enhance written descriptions of these nesting be­havior components in Miscophus californicus (Ashmead) [=M. laticeps (Ashmead)] (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae). Dictynidae (Dictyna Sundevall or Emblyna Chamberlin) is introduced as a new host family and host spider leg amputation is revealed for the first time for this small miscophine wasp. Miscophus (Nitelopterus) californicus (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is a small (4.5–7.0 mm) Nearctic miscophine wasp that ranges from California and Arizona north to southern Alberta and Saskatchewan (M. Buck, Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, AB, 2020 pers. comm.). This species is extremely common in California with larger black individuals inhabiting relict sand dunes along the Pacific Coast (Wasbauer 1978). The females excavate short shallow burrows in friable soil and hunt various tiny spiders which they immobilize with a sting in the cephalothorax. They transport the prey forward in flight or on the ground, depending on its relative size and weight, and return periodically to an open or closed nest entrance holding the spider face forward and venter to venter. They release the prey on the ground in that position, enter the burrow, pull the spider inside, and, after several spiders are deposited within and oviposition on a single prey occurs, close the burrow and entrance with loose soil. The nesting behavior of Miscophus californicus [as M. laticeps (Ashmead)] was studied in 2010, 2011 and 2012 at Montaña de Oro State Park, San Luis Obispo County, CA by Kurczewski et al. (2012) to clarify variation in previous reports on this species. Voucher specimens from this study were collected from coastal sand dunes in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, CA, deposited in the University of California–Davis R.M. Bohart Insect Museum, and identified as M. laticeps by L.S. Kimsey, University of California–Davis. This study was basically in agreement with that on M. californicus by Powell (1967) and in disagreement with the study of M. laticeps by Cazier and Mortenson (1965). Miscophus laticeps is a heretofore previously unpublished synonym of M. californicus in Joanne Slansky Wasbauer’s (1978) Ph. D. Thesis from the University of California–Davis (L.S. Kimsey, University of California–Davis, Davis, CA, 2020 pers. comm.)

Spider genus Zorocrates

44 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-44).The spider genus Zorocrates is revised, and comprises at least 31 species found from the southern United States south to Central America; it provides a notable example of the loss of a functional cribellum within a relatively small (but seemingly monophyletic) group of species. Two specific names are removed from synonymy: Z. gnaphosoides O. P.-Cambridge and Z. mordax O. P.-Cambridge (from Z. fuscus Simon and Z. mistus O. P.-Cambridge, respectively). Two other specific names are newly synonymized: Z. isolatus Gertsch and Davis, with Z. unicolor (Banks), and Z. petersi Kraus, with Z. gnaphosoides O. P.-Cambridge. Males are newly described for Z. badius Simon and Z. pictus Simon; females are newly described for Z. karli Gertsch and Riechert. Twenty new species are described from Texas and Mexico

New genus Malagiella.

86 p. : ill. (some col.), col. maps ; 26 cm.A new oonopid genus endemic to Madagascar, Malagiella, is proposed and its 10 constituent species newly described and illustrated: M. ambalavo ([male]), M. andringitra ([male, female]), M. fisheri ([m, f]), M. goodmani ([f]), M. nikina ([f]), M. ranavalona ([f]), M. ranomafana ([m, f]), M. toliara ([m, f]), M. valterova ([m, f]), and M. vohiparara ([m, f]). Malagiella is most similar to the Asian genus Camptoscaphiella in both somatic and genitalic features, but differs in some important characters. Unlike Camptoscaphiella, the Malagiella male has a palpal bulb completely fused with the tarsus and a sternum bearing stiff bristles; the female has a round copulatory opening and bifid 4th claws. The species may be recognized by the genitalia. Male palpi are fairly uniform, but differ in segment proportion and details of the embolus complex, which consists of a broad dorsal embolus connected to a laminar ventral prong. Female genitalia are more variable, especially in the curvature of the receptaculum, which spans the range from nearly straight to widely sinuous and occurs in mirror-image versions having opposite coiling. These torsional variants, with females having either left- or right-handed receptacula, probably occur in all species, although they are not evident in species with straight receptacula and (obviously) unknown in species represented by singleton female specimens. Malagiella species are very diverse somatically, ranging from dark, big, and large-eyed species to pale, small, and reduced-eyed ones. Our preliminary clustering uses mostly these somatic features, with some genitalic support, to identify three species groups: ranomafana, vohiparara, and toliara. Other genitalic characters that suggest different groupings are discussed

New genus Molotra

69 p. : ill. (some col.), col. map ; 26 cm.A new oonopid genus endemic to Madagascar, Molotra, is proposed and its six included species are newly described and illustrated: M. molotra, the type species, M. ninae, M. katarinae, M. suzannae, M. tsingy, and M. milloti. Molotra is defined on the basis of its unusual genitalia. The male has the palpal bulb terminating in broad, liplike lobes, unlike any previously described in Oonopidae. The female is equally unusual in lacking an apparent receptaculum, although the genitalia otherwise resemble those of silhouettelloid genera. The species of Molotra form three distinct groups based on somatic and genitalic characters. The M. molotra group includes four large, strongly spined species. The remaining two are morphologically distinct and known only from males. M. tsingy is a small species with unusual palpi that are complex, contorted, and with a resting position along the sternocoxal boundary, instead of an anterior sternal cavity. M. milloti is a very bristly species that differs somatically from other Molotra but has genitalia similar to the M. molotra group. Molotra is known only from Madagascar where the three species groups are strongly disjunct. The M. molotra group occurs in higher elevation forests (1000-1300 m) in northeastern Madagascar, M. tsingy is from low elevation karst (150 m) of the southwest, whereas M. milloti is from a coastal locality in the northwest

New genus Volborattella.

71 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 26 cm. "Species descriptions were generated with the aid of the oonopid PBI descriptive database"--Page 10.A new genus of goblin spider from Madagascar, Volborattella Saucedo and Ubick, is proposed and its five included species newly described and illustrated: V. teresae, the type species, V. guenevera, V. nasario, V. paulyi, and V. toliara. These species differ from other oonopids in several unusual characters, especially the variously modified setae: abdominal scutes having thick recumbent setae with large bases and conspicuous pits; the pedicel region with mats of plumose setae and associated cuticular projections; and anterior metatarsi with prolateral combs. The male palp of Volborattella appears to be unique in having a terminal projection (embolar superior prong, ESP) that forms an abrupt spiral and the female a receptaculum with an accessory duct (curved tube). Volborattella resemble members of the Gamasomorpha complex in lacking leg spines and having a flattened abdomen with complete scutes, but differ genitalically. The Volborattella female has a receptaculum that is wider than long (as opposed to longer than wide in the Gamasomorpha complex) and the male has the embolar region sharply bent (as opposed to evenly curved), which places the genus in the Pelicinus complex. The relationship of Volborattella to other pelicinoids is not resolved. Although the genus most closely resembles some Silhouettella Benoit, Noideattella Álvarez-Padilla et al. and Lionneta Benoit in various genitalic features, somatically it shares with Tolegnaro Álvarez-Padilla et al. and two undescribed Malagasy genera the gamasomorphoid body form and plumose setae. Volborattella females are unusual in having antisymmetrical internal genitalia, with the CTs occurring in either a left or right position, and that these differences in handedness (antisymmetry) are evenly distributed. The shape and size of the CT, as examined through light and scanning microscopy, suggest that it is a coupling pocket for the ESP; if so, Volborattella females are either righties or lefties in their palpal preference

Goblin spider genus Triaeris.

36 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm. Part of the oonopid PBI project. Cf. acknowledgments.The type species of the goblin spider genus Triaeris Simon, T. stenaspis Simon, was originally described from Saint Vincent in the Lesser Antilles, but has attained a pantropical distribution and even has introduced populations living in European greenhouses. At least one of those European populations is parthenogenetic, and no males of the species have ever been found. Simon later assigned one additional species to the genus, T. equestris, from Príncipe; that species is also known only from females, but resembles T. stenaspis in having an unusually elongated, ventrally spinose patella on leg I. Numerous other species, from both the Old and New worlds, have subsequently been assigned to Triaeris; all those taxa seem to be either synonyms (including T. berlandi Lawrence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, T. lepus Suman from Hawaii, and T. lacandonus Brignoli from Guatemala, which are newly synonymized with T. stenaspis) or misplaced in the genus. The modified patella I occurs in four new West African species (T. moca from Bioko and T. fako, T. oku, and T. menchum from Cameroon); unfortunately, those species are also represented only by females. Few other gamasomorphines have patellar spines, and most of those that do have such spines belong to a group of genera in which the males have heavily sclerotized endites, suggesting that Triaeris might belong to that group. Searching West African collections of such taxa revealed two additional new species, T. togo and T. ibadan, that are each represented by both sexes. Female genitalic structure suggests that T. togo is the closest relative of T. stenaspis

New family of myrmecophilic spiders.

24 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 26 cm.The new genus and species Myrmecicultor chihuahuensis Ramírez, Grismado, and Ubick is described and proposed as the type of the new family, Myrmecicultoridae Ramírez, Grismado, and Ubick. The species is ecribellate, with entelegyne genitalia, two tarsal claws, without claw tufts, and the males have a retrolateral palpal tibial apophysis. Some morphological characters suggest a possible relationship with Zodariidae or Prodidomidae, but the phylogenetic analysis of six markers from the mitochondrial (12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and nuclear (histone H3, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA) genomes indicate that M. chihuahuensis is a separate lineage emerging near the base of the Dionycha and the Oval Calamistrum clade. The same result is obtained when the molecular data are combined with a dataset of morphological characters. Specimens of M. chihuahuensis were found associated with three species of harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Novomessor albisetosis, and Novomessor cockerelli, and were collected in pitfall traps when the ants are most active. The known distribution spans the Big Bend region of Texas (Presidio, Brewster, and Hudspeth counties), to Coahuila (Cuatro Ciénegas) and Aguascalientes (Tepezalá), Mexico

Texella martensi Ubick 2021, new species

Texella martensi, new species Figs 1–3 Type material. Holotype male: USA: California: Inyo County, Death Valley National Park, Titus Canyon Cave, 36°50’58.16”N, 117°3’43.85”W [ca 1230 m], G.O. Graening leg. 20.1.2012 (CASENT 9081592). Etymology. This species is named in honor of Jochen Martens, in recognition to his life-long and outstanding contribution to Opiliones taxonomy; name in the genitive case. Diagnosis. The male of Texella martensi n. sp. differs from those of other species in the kokoweef species group in having relatively longer appendages and the shortest spur on trochanter IV. Description. Male (holotype). Total body length 1.50. Dorsal scute length 1.10, width 1.10. Eyemound length 0.24, width 0.25. Genital operculum length 0.25, width 0.22. Postopercular process absent. Leg II length 4.40, leg II / scute length 4.0. Trochanter IV segment length 0.22, spur length 0.14. Color: body light orange-colored, lacking dark markings; appendages whitish, basal segments slightly darker. Body with uniform covering of small tubercles, with larger ones scattered on eyemound, dorsally and laterally on scute, and largest ones on posterior margins of tergites (Fig. 1B). Dorsal scute with 5 pairs of anterior tubercles in two rows, one pair slightly larger than others (Fig. 1D). Eyemound a rounded cone, eyes with well-developed retina and cornea (Fig. 1D). Genitalia not examined, but prongs of ventral plate of penis visible and slightly protruding from genital operculum (Fig. 1C). Palpal megaspines: trochanter without; femur with 3 ventrobasal and 1 mesodistal; patella with 1 ectal and 2 mesal; tibia with 2 ectal and 3 mesal; tarsus with 2 ectal and 2 mesal (Fig. 1D). Trochanter IV with slender spur, shorter than trochanter. Tarsal count: 3-5-4-5. Female not known. Note. It was not possible to expand the penis without damaging the single available specimen. Distribution. Known only from Titus Canyon Cave in California.Published as part of Ubick, Darrell, 2021, A new cavernicolous harvestman, Texella martensi n. sp., from the Mojave Desert California (Opiliones: Laniatores: Phalangodidae), pp. 114-118 in Zootaxa 4984 (1) on pages 115-116, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4984.1.11, http://zenodo.org/record/492670

Obituary: Vincent D. Roth (1924-1997)

Volume: 75Start Page: 121End Page: 12