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| Muscopilio onod Villarreal & García, 2021 |
Abstract
Based on the most recently published morphological cladistic analysis of the family Agoristenidae, the taxonomic position of an undescribed harvestman species was evaluated. According to the results of an updated phylogenetic analysis, the description of a new monotypic genus is proposed to accommodate this new species. The diagnostic characters of the new genus are: free tergites II and III with three large tubercles, and femora and tibiae of legs II–IV with longitudinal rows of conspicuous tubercles. Muscopilio onod gen. et sp. nov. inhabits Andean rainforests in Cundinamarca department, Central Colombia. Remarkably, almost all individuals collected in the field had at least three families of bryophytes, including mosses (Leucomiaceae) and liverworts (Plagiochilaceae, Lejeuneaceae), growing on their legs, and suggesting a mutualistic relationship between epizoic organisms and harvestmen.
Keywords: Andes, Bryophytes, Epibiont, Laniatores, Leiosteninae, Mutualism
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| Drawings of Muscopilio onod gen. nov. and sp. nov. male holotype (MNRJ 19772) and female paratype (MNRJ 60284). (A) Habitus, dorsal view. (B) Habitus, lateral view. (C) Female, habitus, lateral view, showing sexual dimorphism in ocularium shape and size and chelicerae. (DeG). Leg IV of male, in dorsal, ventral, retrolateral and prolateral views. Scale bars: 1 mm. |
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| SEM images of the body of Muscopilio onod gen. nov. and sp. nov. (MNRJ 60284), male paratype. (A) Habitus, dorsal view. (B) Habitus, dorsolateral view. (C) Ocularium, dorsolateral view. (D) Habitus, ventrolateral view. (E) Anal operculum and sternites, ventrolateral view. (F). Coxa I, ventrolateral view. (G). Spiracle, ventral view. (H). Cuticle, mesotergal area I. (I) Setiferous tubercle, area III, detail. Scale bars: A,B,D,E = 500 um; D = 200 um; C,FeH = 100 um; I = 20 um. |
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| Muscopilio onod gen. nov. and sp. nov. (MNRJ 19772), male holotype. (A) Habitus, panoramic view. (B) Habitus, dorsal view. (C) Habitus, lateral view. (D) Habitus, frontal view. Photographs of epizoids on legs of some paratypes (ICN-Ao-1972). (E) Hyphae of fungus on femur II. (F) Liverwort on femur III. (G) liverwort on tibia IV. Scale bars: A = 3 mm; B-G = 1 mm. |
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| Fig. 9. Live specimens of Muscopilio onod gen. nov. and sp. nov. from Cundinamarca: (A) Parque Natural Chicaque, (B, D) Parque Natural Los Tunos (in D, the specimen is under UV light), (C) Reserva de la Sociedad Civil Tenasucá. Pictures by: Ken-ichi Ueda (A), Andrés F. García (B, D) and Osvaldo Villarreal (C). |
Muscopilio Villarreal & García gen. nov.
Type species. Muscopilio onod sp. nov., here designated by monotypy.
Etymology. From the Latin words muscus (= moss) + pre-existing genus Opilio. Gender masculine.
Muscopilio onod Villarreal & García sp. nov
Etymology: In the fictional Sindarin language, created by J.R.R. Tolkien, Onod (plural Onodrim) is the name given to the giant tree-like beings, also known as Ents. For us, the new species, greenish in color and with the legs covered by bryophytes, resembles an Onod. Noun in apposition.
Osvaldo Villarreal and Andrés F. García. 2021. On the Phylogenetic Relationships of Muscopilio, A New Andean Genus of Basibiont Harvestmen (Opiliones: Agoristenidae). Zoologischer Anzeiger. 292; 150-162. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2021.03.006
