Fine-tuning the diversity in four families of Gonyleptoidea (Arachnida: Opiliones) in Venezuela

Abstract

Twelve taxonomic acts are proposed in Gonyleptoidea. In Agoristenidae, 2 specific synonymies are proposed in Avima Roewer and Ocoita González-Sponga. Medellinia bordoni Soares and Avram syn. nov. is transferred from Holocranaus Roewer (Cranaidae) to Manaosbiidae attr. nov. and considered a junior subjective synonym of Rhopalocranaus bordoni Šilhavý; Stygnicranella Caporiacco syn. nov. and attr. nov. is here transferred from Cranaidae to Manaosbiidae, and considered a junior subjective synonym of Rhopalocranaus Roewer; R. flaviaculeatus Caporiacco is considered a senior subjective synonym of S. pizai Caporiacco syn. nov. In Cosmetidae, Paecilaema sexlineatum Goodnight and Goodnight, is considered a senior subjective synonym of Paecilaema vitatta González-Sponga syn. nov., currently Paecilaema gonzalezi Kury syn. nov. In Cranaidae, Phareicranaus francourbanii Avram is transferred from its current synonymy, P. benedictoi Soares & Avram comb. nov. is revalidated and considered as a nomen inquirendum, and 4 synonymies are proposed in Phareicranaus Roewer: P. capayitaensis González-Sponga syn. nov., P. francourbanii Avram syn. nov., and P. guaricoensis González-Sponga syn. nov. are considered as junior subjective synonyms of P. albilineatus (Roewer); and P. leonensis González-Sponga syn. nov. is considered a junior subjective synonym of P. curvipes (Roewer). The use of distributional data of some Venezuelan harvestmen in biogeographic studies is discussed.

Two new Colombian harvestmen of the genus <i>Vima</i> (Arachnida: Opiliones: Agoristenidae)

“…When describing Vima panita, the second known species of the genus, García and Kury (2020) In the context of neotropical harvestmen, numerous genera exhibit species concentrations in one or few biogeographical areas, contiguous or not, for example, Ocoita González-Sponga, 1987, Oligovonones Caporiacco, 1951, Neocynorta Roewer, 1915, Rhaucoides Roewer, 1912, Stygnoplus Simon, 1879(González-Sponga 2002, Medrano et al 2019, Villarreal et al 2021a, b, Medrano et al 2022.…”

Chasing the elusive core identity of Avima Roewer, 1949 (Arachnida: Opiliones: Agoristenidae)

“…Posteriorly, only three additional species have been described in the genus, A. anitas Porto et Colmenares, 2014, A. tuttifrutti García et Pastrana-M., 2021, and A. wayuunaiki García, González Vargas et Gutiérrez Estrada, 2022, while A. nigromaculata (González-Sponga, 1998 was synonymized with A. quadrata (González-Sponga, 1987) [Villarreal et al, 2021a], leaving Avima with 35 species at present.…”

Mapping the distribution of armored harvestmen (Opiliones, Laniatores) in Colombia: updated list of species, taxonomic contributions, and insight of diversity in protected areas

“…Although Colombia is one of the countries in South America with the largest number of areas under conservation ( CONPES 2021 ), knowledge about the species it harbors is scarce, especially in terms of harvestmen ( Arachnida : Opiliones ). Colombia ranks third in South America in terms of the number of recorded Opiliones species, only behind Brazil (1,010) and Venezuela (392) ( Villarreal et al 2021a ). The first effort to list the arachnid species of Colombia was made by Flórez and Sánchez-C (1995) , summarizing 77 species of harvestmen.…”