Protimesius Roewer, 1913

Osvaldo Villarreal, Ludson Neves de Ázara & Kury, Adriano Brilhante, 2019, Revalidation of Obidosus Roewerı 1913 and description of two new cave-dwelling species of Protimesius Roewerı 1913 from Brazil (Opiliones: Stygnidae), Journal of Natural History 53 (15), pp. 965-989 : 967

Genus Protimesius Roewer, 1913

Protimesius Roewer, 1913: 439 ; Roewer 1923: 575; Mello-Leitão 1923: 179; Mello-Leitão 1926: 366; Roewer 1931: 151; Mello-Leitão 1932: 421; Mello-Leitão 1935: 112; H. Soares and B. Soares 1974: 614; H. Soares 1978: 75; Pinto-da-Rocha 1997: 275; Kury 2003: 230; Kury and Pinto-da-Rocha 2008: 320 [type species: Protimesius gracilis Roewer, 1913 , by monotypy].

Fonteboatus Roewer, 1931: 156 ; Mello-Leitão 1932: 427; Mello-Leitão 1935: 112 [type species: Fonteboatus coxalis Roewer, 1931 , by subsequent designation, Pinto-da-Rocha, 1997a]. Synonymy established by H. Soares, 1978.

Ideostygnus SØrensen in Ideostygnus SØrensen, 1932: 288 ; Mello-Leitão 1935: 112; H. Soares and B. Soares 1978: 81 [type species: Ideostygnus laevis SØrensen, 1932 , by monotypy]. Synonymy established by Pinto-da-Rocha, 1997.

Misetropius H. Soares, 1978: 71 [type species: Misetropius mendopticus H. Soares, 1978 , by original designation]. Synonymy established by Pinto-da-Rocha, 1997.

Etymology

From Greek πρό (before, forth) + pre-existing genus Timesius . Gender masculine.

Diagnosis

Dorsal scutum type epsilon (never iota, as is frequently present in Obidosus ). Scutal area III with two paramedian backward tilted spines (except P. orcus sp. nov.) ( Figure 1 (a,c)). Leg III – IV without tarsal scopula, tarsal process reduced, with a long terminal seta ( Figure 6 (a)); femur, patella and tibia without particular ornamentation, additional to the normal longitudinal rows of tubercles ( Figure 4 (a – d,g – j)). Penis : with ventral crack between the truncus and lamina parva (LP) ( Figure 7 (b,c,e,f)); ventral surface of the LP with microsetae type T4 and T3 ( Figure 7 (c,f)) (unknown in P. gracilis ). MS B absent, and MS A1 – A2 located on the LP, at same level of MS D (never on the malleus) ( Figure 7 (a – f)).

Included species

P. gracilis Roewer, 1913 , P. lucifer sp. nov. and P. orcus sp. nov.

Combined distribution

Brazil (Amapá, Ceará and Pará), French Guyana (Inini) and Suriname ( Figure 10 (a,b)).

Figures

Figure 1. Protimesius lucifer sp. nov.ı holotype (MNRJ 2560)ı (a–c) habitus: (a) dorsal viewı (b) ventral viewı (c) lateral view; (dıe) patellaı tibia and tarsus of right pedipalp: (d) ectal viewı (e) mesal view; (fıg) distal portion of penis: (f) dorsal viewı (g) lateral view. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Figure 4. Protimesius lucifer sp. nov.ı (a–f) and P. orcus sp. nov.ı (g–l). (aıg) Femur IVı dorsal view; (bıh) femur IVı ventral view; (cıi) patella and tibia IVı dorsal view; (dıj) patella and tibia IVı ventral view; (eık) male basitarsus Iı lateral view; (fıl) female basitarsus Iı lateral view. Vouchers: (a–e) holotype (MNRJ 2560); (f) female paratype (CNHUFPI 2177); (g–k) holotype (MNRJ 19ı403); (l) female paratype (MNRJ 9060). Scale bars = 1 mm.

Figure 6. Protimesius orcus sp. nov. male paratype (MNRJ 4279)ı (a) tarsus IVı lateral view (arrow points the reduced tarsal process and the absence of the scopula); (c) basal setiferous tubercles of the pedipalpal tibia (arrow points bifid border of the socket). Obidosus carnaval comb. nov. (MNRJ 17ı510): (b) tarsus IVı lateral view (arrow points the normal tarsal process and the presence of scopula with not spatulated setae). Scale bars (aıb) = 100 µmı (c) = 50 µm.

Figure 7. Protimesius lucifer sp. nov.ı male paratype (MNRJ 4279) (a–c); Protimesius orcus sp. nov.ı male paratype (MNRJ 9251) (d–f) and Obidosus carnaval comb. nov. (MNRJ 17ı510) (g–h). (a–h) Penisı distal portion: (aıdıg) dorsal view; (bıe) lateral view; (cıfıh) ventral view. Scale bars = 50 µm (a–f); 100 µm (gıh).

Figure 10. South America showing the geographical distribution of the genera Protimesius and Obidosus (a) and the detailed distribution of Protimesius species as defined here (b). Shaded background areas are the Morrone’s (2014) regionalisation of the Neotropics.