Neogonyleptes Roewer, 1913

Pérez-Schultheiss, Jorge, 2022, Two new species of Neogonyleptes Roewer, 1913 (Opiliones: Gonyleptidae: Pachylinae) from the Nahuelbuta mountain range, Chile, Zootaxa 5168 (3), pp. 361-374 : 362-363

Genus Neogonyleptes Roewer, 1913

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5D1A07DC-382D-4397-A342-B739522F42AB

Neogonyleptes Roewer 1913: 199 ; 1923: 475; Mello-Leitão 1926: 352; Roewer 1930: 346; Mello-Leitão 1932: 342; 1935: 105; Canals 1936: 69; Piza 1940: 313; Mello-Leitão 1944: 20; Soares & Soares 1949: 195 [= Neogonyleptoides ]; Cekalovic 1968: 7; 1985: 13; Kury 2003: 177; Pérez-Schultheiss et al. 2021: 422 (type species: Gonyleptes docilis Butler, 1874 , by original designation).

Neogonyleptoides Roewer 1913: 203 ; 1923: 476; Mello-Leitão 1926: 352; Roewer 1930: 346; Mello-Leitão 1932: 348; 1935: 105; Piza 1940: 313 (type species Gonyleptes karschii Sørensen, 1902 , by original designation). Synonymy established by Soares & Soares (1949).

Species included: Neogonyleptes docilis ( Butler, 1874) , N. karschii ( Sørensen, 1902) , N. chilensis ( Roewer, 1913) , N. frontalis ( Sørensen, 1902) , N. hamatus H. Soares, 1968 , N. floresi sp. nov. and N. pedrazai sp. nov.

Diagnosis update. Medium-sized Pachylinae , with ocularium unarmed or provided with a paramedian pair of granules or spines. Dorsal scutum area III+IV armed with a pair of paramedian granules or spines, or a large, apically bifurcated apophysis, directed backwards. Free tergites II and III with single transverse row of granules, the medial pair sometimes enlarged. Pedipalp femur unarmed in the distomesal area. Leg IV strongly dimorphic, more developed and armed in adult males: coxa with a large apical prolateral apophysis and with or without a short, retro-apical one; trochanter variously armed, at least with a proximal prolateral prominence or tubercle, and a varied, simple, or complex dorsodistal apophysis; femur, patella, and tibia dorsally granular, provided with processes, spines, or granules with shapes and positions characteristic for each species. Penis glans turgid and dorsally projected, with ventral process shorter than stylus, distally curved ventrad in a straight angle.

Comments. According to the Roewerian system, the genus Neogonyleptes can be recognized by the following combination of characters: ocularium armed with two spines or tubercles, scutal area III+IV with a pair of paramedian tubercles or spines, pedipalp femur unarmed, and tarsal formula 6,+6,+6,+6 ( Soares & Soares 1949). The updated diagnosis given herein includes characters brought by the new species described in this paper and not previously recorded, such as the bifid process on area III+IV and some features of male genitalia. However, this diagnosis should still be considered as preliminary, since some characters appear to have important variability and must be carefully analyzed.

Recently, I studied specimens identifiable as Neogonyleptes docilis from various localities in south central Chile (e.g., Pérez-Schultheiss et al. 2021), as well as several additional undescribed species closely allied to it (one of them erroneously identified as ‘ Aff. Tumbesia fuliginosa ’ by Pérez-Schultheiss et al. 2019). These species are characterized by area III+IV armed by a pair of tubercles, so matching the older restricted scope of Neogonyleptes . On the opposite, N. karschii , N. chilensis , the two species here described, and at least one additional undescribed species, closely allied to each other, bear a pair of large apophyses instead, as in the former definition of Neogonyleptoides . This suggests that the current diagnosis of Neogonyleptes comprises at least two main groups of species. A review for an updated concept of Neogonyleptes and allies must consider a complete analysis of all undescribed species available up to now, because the potential exists for the presence of previously unknown character states, such as those introduced here for the new species.

In some phylogenetic analyses, the genera Neogonyleptes and Tumbesia Loman, 1899 form a clade highly supported by morphological ( Acosta 2020) and molecular evidence ( Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2014). The principal identified synapomorphies that support this clade are the scutal areas III+IV fused and the ventral process of stylus curved and distally bent ( Acosta 2020); however, in both studies the genus Neogonyleptes was represented only by N. kaschii , therefore the relationship of Tumbesia with the type species of the genus, N. docilis , remains unknown.