Acantholibitia pluriarcuata, Medrano & Kury & Mendes, 2022

Medrano, Miguel, Kury, Adriano Brilhante & Mendes, Amanda Cruz, 2022, Morphology-based cladistics splinters the century-old dichotomy of the pied harvestmen (Arachnida: Gonyleptoidea: Cosmetidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 195, pp. 585-672 : 605-609

ACANTHOLIBITIA PLURIARCUATA (MELLO- LEITÃO, 1936) COMB. NOV.

( FIGS 4G , 10 , 14 , 15 )

Gryne pluriarcuata Mello-Leitão, 1936: 18 , fig. 14.

Type data: Syntypes: Brazil. Pernambuco: Tapera, [–8.10405°, –35.09284°], D Bento Pickel leg., two ind. ( MNRJ 42530 ) .

Non-type material examined: Brazil. Rio Grande do Norte: Natal, [–5.77927°, –35.2009°], M Alvarenga leg., 1951, 1 ♂ 5 ♀ ( MNRJ 4319 ) ; iii.1952, 1 ♂ 2 ♀ ( MNRJ 2765 ) ; Natal , [–5.77927°, –35.2009°], M Alvarenga leg., viii.1951, 1 ♂ ( MZUSP 48836 ) ; Natal , [–5.77927°, –35.2009°], M Alvarenga leg., 1951, 1 ♀ ( MZUSP 29815 ) . Paraíba: Gurinhém , torre estação repetidora SBT alto do morro, [–7.12387°, –35.42567°], AB Kury & APL Giupponi leg., 15.iii.1999, 1 ♀ ( MNRJ 2764 ) ; João Pessoa , [–7.12514°, –34.849°], E Parelli leg., ii.1978, 1 ♂ ( MNRJ 17950 ) . Piauí: PN Sete Cidades, [–4.08736°, –41.70638°], W Roth leg., 13.XII.1977, 1 ♂ 7 ♀ ( MNRJ 6242 ) ; Piracuruca, PARNA Sete Cidades , [–4.08736°, –41.70638°], LS Carvalho & FM Oliveira- Neto leg., 2005, 2 ♀ ( MZUSP 36767 ) ; Piracuruca, PARNA Sete Cidades , [–4.08736°, –41.70638°], LS Carvalho & FM Oliveira-Neto leg., 2005, 3 ♀ ( MZUSP 36768 ), 1 ♂ 1 ♀ ( MZUSP 36764 ) . Maranhão: Buriticupu , [–4.32872°, –46.35761°], C Junior leg., 12.viii.2015, (post-fire material) 3 ♂ 4 ♀ ( MNRJ 60255 ) . Pernambuco: Timbaúba, Engenho Água Azul , [–7.60861°, –35.37861°], EP Lorenzo leg., 6–8.vii.2013, (post-fire material) 1 ind. ( UFPB OP 0093 ) ; Triunfo, Mata de Triunfo , [–7.838703°, –38.110514°], F Moura leg., 14–15.i.2012, (post-fire material) 1 ind. ( UFPB OP 0498 ) ; Ilha de Itamaracá, Engenho Amparo , [–7.76494°, –34.85062°], Exp Acad Bras Cienc leg., 06.x.1971, 1 ♂ ( MZUSP 48841 ) . Ceará: Ubajara, Chapada de Ibiapaba , Cachoeira bica do Vitalino , [–3.866499°, –40.892339°], E Araújo et al. leg., 26.x.2011, (post-fire material) 1 ind. ( UFPB OP 0262 ) ; PN Ubajara, Trilha do portão Araticum , [–3.812652°, –40.892457°], AM de Souza & ES Araújo leg., 26.x.2011, (post-fire material) 11 ind. ( UFPB OP 0289 ) .

Other records: Brazil, Piauí, Teresina: Mocambinho Environment Park; Sítio Carlos Brasil; Sítio Ouro Verde; Campus of UFPI; José de Freitas: Nazareth Farm; Brasileira and Piracuruca: Sete Cidades National Park ( Pinto-da-Rocha & Carvalho, 2009).

Diagnosis: This species differs from its congeners for: (1) pattern of yellow spots boarding lateral sulcus of areas forming arcs and posterior to spines of area III ( Fig. 14A ); (2) area IV unarmed ( Fig. 14C ); (3) movable and fixed finger of chelicera unarmed ( Fig. 15F ; and (4) MS-A of the penis without a clear demarcated base ( Fig. 15A–C ).

Distribution: Acantholibitia pluriarcuata is present in the following ecoregions: (1) Maranhão Babaçu forest ecoregion in Piauí and Maranhão States of Brazil; (2) Caatinga Enclaves moist forest in Ceará State; (3) Caatinga ecoregion of Paraíba and Pernambuco; (4) Southern Atlantic mangroves and Pernambuco coastal forest of Pernambuco State; and (5) Pernambuco interior forest in Paraíba State ( Fig. 10 ).

Description of male MZUSP 48841 (with extra figures from other specimens): Measurements: CL: 1.27, CW: 1.74, AL: 2.36, AW: 3.27, IOD: 0.43, FeIV: 3.97.

Dorsum ( Fig. 14 ). DS lambda-type with marked constriction and short coda.Area I with two low, rounded tubercles and area III with two spines, other areas of mesotergum unarmed. DS in lateral view flat. Scutal grooves effaced, only perceptible by spots of coloration. Anterior edge of dorsal scutum with protoglyphs slightly concave with lateral low triangular borders. Ocularium low and with a few granules near the eyes. Posterior border and free tergites each containing a transverse row of minute granules. Anal operculum with scattered granules.

Venter. Coxae I–III triangular, transverse to main body axis. Coxae II–IV connected by tubercular bridges. Coxae I–II with a longitudinal row of granules. Coxa IV pentagonal, greatly developed, oriented obliquely, but almost parallel to body axis; laterally without proximal clavi inguines. Stigmatic area T-shaped with stigmata large, unconcealed. Free sternites each with a row of granules.

Chelicerae ( Fig. 15F, G ). Hand not swollen. Basichelicerite short, with well-marked bulla and uniformly granulated dorsally. Posterior margin of bulla fringed with four tubercles of different sizes. Movable finger of cheliceral hand without any tubercles and fixed finger with a keel.

Pedipalps ( Fig. 15E ). Elongate trochanter, foliaceus femur; convex dorsally, with a dorsal row of three fused setiferous tubercles and a ventral row of ten setiferous tubercles. Tibia only slightly convex in the ectal border, which has one lateral row of setae. Tarsus conical, with scattered dorsal setae and three ventral rows of subequal thin setae.

Legs ( Figs 14 , 15H ). Short and unarmed legs, femora straight. Coxa IV convex in dorsal view with few apical granules and basally without clavi inguines. Pectinate claws in legs II and IV in one row with three spines. Tarsal counts: 7, 11, 7, 7 ( Mello-Leitão, 1936).

Colour (in alcohol, Fig. 14 ). Dorsal scutum, pedipalp, chelicerae and coxae of legs strong orange-yellow (68), DS with numerous sparse pale yellow (89) spots on granules that occur in all DS, but mesotergum. Free tergites with granules of the same colour of background. Areas I–III with lateral pale yellow (89) stripes forming arcs, area III with transversal arcs in scutal groove posterior to the spines. Other podomeres of legs pale greenish-yellow (104).

Penis ( Fig. 15A–D ). Ventral plate subrectangular not elongate and triangular lateral-apical borders. Subdistal lateral margin of VP with two pairs of MS-C, large, curve and flattened. Two pairs of MS-D located in apical half of VP, MS-D1 twice longer than MS-D2 and closer to MS-C2, both MS-D straight and conical. One pair of MS-A in the median region of VP, straight, conical and diffuse base, as long as MS-D1 . Ventral surface with two latero-basal thick stripes composed with microsetae type 4 ( T4 ) occupying a portion of the truncus. Glans with a rounded dorsal process, stylus with a large wattle with an extended serrate part and with stylar barbs .

Figures

Figure 4. Habitus in vivo of some non-discosomaticinae. A, Eucynortella cryptograma from Manabí (Ecuador). B, Vononana adrik from the biological research station Panguana (Peru). C, Taito spaceinvaders from Humaitá (Brazil). D, Flirtea valida from Pará (Brazil). E, Eulibitia scalaris from Boyacá (Colombia). F, Metalibitia sp. from Bolivian Amazon. G, Acantholibitia pluriarcuata from Piauí (Brazil). H, Libitioides albolineata from North Carolina (USA). Photographs of Martin Mandák (A), Dieter Schulten (B), Leonardo Carvalho (C, D, G), Miguel Medrano (E), Arthur Anker (F) and Jason Crockwell (H).

Figure 10. Map of known distribution of Acantholibitia. Numbers correspond to the following WWF ecoregions:1 = Cerrado, 2 = Bahia interior forest, 3 = Maranhão Babaçu forest, 4 = Caatinga Enclaves moist forest, 5 = Caatinga, 6 = Pernambuco interior forest, 7 = Pernambuco coastal forest.

Figure 14. Acantholibitia pluriarcuata, male (MZUSP 48841). A, dorsal view. B, dorsal panoramic view. C, lateral view. D, frontal view. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figure 15. SEM images of some structures of Acantholibitia pluriarcuata, male (MZUSP 48841). A–D, penis: A, dorsal view; B, lateral view; C, ventral view; D, detail of stylus, lateral view. E, left pedipalpus, mesal view. F, left basichelicerite, dorsal view. G, left cheliceral hand, dorsal view. H, claws of leg IV, oblique view. Scale bars: 10 μm (D), 50 μm (A–C, H), 200 μm (E, G), 100 μm (F).