Platybunoides Šilhavý 1955

Zhang, Chao & Zhang, Feng, 2012, On the subfamilial assignment of Platybunoides (Opiliones: Eupnoi: Phalangiidae), with the description of a new species from China, Zootaxa 3190, pp. 47-55 : 48

Platybunoides Šilhavý 1955

Platybunoides Šilhavý 1955: 36 ; 1965: 373; Staręga 1976: 103, 107; Crawford 1992: 39. Type species: Platybunoides argaea Šilhavý 1955 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Body length 1.8–3.2. Carapace with sparse denticles on the lateral borders and around ocularium, without trident. Ocularium prominent with a medial groove and two rows of 7–10 acute tubercles. Supracheliceral lamella with a pair of denticles. Proximal segment of chelicera without ventral spur. Pedipalp unarmed, femur without ventral setiferous tubercles (only with hairs), a small bump prolaterally and distally; patella and tibia with one larger bump prolaterally, which is furnished with setae; pedipalpal claw present but without pectination. Secondary sexual characters absent in the shape of chelicera and pedipalp.

Distribution. China, Turkey.

Differentiation from related genera. Platybunoides is similar to Platybunus C.L. Koch, 1847 , Megabunus Meade, 1855 , Metaplatybunus Roewer, 1911 , Megistobunus Hansen, 1921 , Rilaena Šilhavý, 1965 and Acanthomegabunus Tsurusaki et al., 2000 by having a prominent ocularium. It can be distinguished from Platybunus , Metaplatybunus and Megabunus by the presence of long setiferous tubercles on ventral pedipalpal femur, which is longer than half the femur width, and the presence of hairs only on ventral pedipalpal femur in Platybunoides ( Martens 1978: 259–285, figs 453, 456, 459, 483, 488, 496, 502, 514, 522, 527; Murányi 2008: 55–56, figs 10–11, 16– 17). Platybunoides is similar to Megistobunus , Rilaena and Acanthomegabunus by having short setiferous tubercles in ventral femur, but can be distinguished by the presence of distomesal bump and apophyses on pedipalpal patella and tibia. Megistobunus , Rilaena and Acanthomegabunus have much longer apophyses (Starçga 1984: 31; Martens 1978: 287, fig. 534; Tsurusaki et al. 2000: 74, figs 1G, 3B–C, E–F).

Platybunoides can be distinguished from Buresilia Šilhavý, 1965 and Rafalskia Starçga, 1963 by the absence of a basal apophysis in the male in pedipalpal femur ( Roewer 1956: 258, figs 27–29; 269–270, figs 69–71; Šilhavý 1965: 374; 397–399, figs 3–5).

It is important to note that the date of the publication was not 1956 for this genus, which is different from Crawford’s catalogue ( Crawford 1992) or Kury’s checklist ( Kury 2011). The original date of publication for this genus was 1955 ( Šilhavý 1955). Crawford (1992) also changed the gender for Platybunoides he assumed masculine. While a compound genus-group name ending in the suffix – oides is to be treated as masculine the original author can fix another gender by combination with an adjectival species-group name in another gender form (ICZN 30.1.4.4.). The species epithet of P. argaea refers to the ancient name of the mountain Argaeus, so Šilhavý (1955) deliberately changed the gender specifying the genus as feminine.