Himachalus pradeshicus, an unusual new harvestman genus and species from the Indian Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh (Arachnida, Opiliones, Phalangiidae)

Abstract

Himachalus pradeshicus gen. et sp. nov. is described from mountainous areas in Himachal Pradesh in northwestern India. The new genus and species is characterized by small body size, long legs and marked sexual dimorphism with an elaborate armament of the pedipalpal tibia and tarsus in the male (absent in the female). The male possesses a stout, dorso-ventrally flattened penis and a spherically inflated basal part of the glans; the distalmost pair of sensorial setae of the glans is situated close to the insertion of the stylus. Related genera cannot be recognized at present, which is certainly due to the nearly complete lack of faunal investigations in the north-western Himalayas west of Nepal and in the Indian Peninsula in general. A brief overview of our knowledge about Himalayan genera of Phalangiidae is presented.