Notes on phalangiidae (Arachnida: Opiliones) of southern Africa with description of new species and comments on within-species variation

Christopher K. Taylor

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Notes are provided on a collection of Afrotropical harvestmen (Opiliones: Palpatores: Phalangiidae) from the California Academy of Sciences. A new species of Rhampsinitus, R. conjunctidens n. sp., is described from Limpopo province of South Africa. Rhampsinitus flavobrunneus Starega 2009 and R. silvaticus Lawrence 1931 are recognised as junior synonyms of R. nubicolus Lawrence 1963 and R. vittatus Lawrence 1931, respectively. Both R. conjunctidens and R. nubicolus are recognised as exhibiting strong male dimorphism with major males exhibiting larger body size and greatly enlarged chelicerae relative to minor males; minor males cannot be readily identified to species without examination of genitalia. A discussion is also provided on generic boundaries within Afrotropical Phalangiidae, and a generic key to males of the region is presented.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)236-250
    Number of pages15
    JournalZootaxa
    Volume4272
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 29 May 2017

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