Beierochelifer peloponnesiacus (Beier, 1929)

Hernández-Corral, Jesús, Zaragoza, Juan A. & Micó, Estefanía, 2018, New species of Pseudoscorpiones (Arachnida) from tree hollows in a Mediterranean oak forest in Spain, Zootaxa 4497 (2), pp. 201-225 : 211-212

Beierochelifer peloponnesiacus (Beier, 1929)

( Fig. 4 )

Rhacochelifer jonicus Beier, 1932 , n. syn.

Material examined. Spain, Castilla y León Community, Salamanca province , La Bastida (40°35′26″N, 06°02′50″W), ♂ ( CEUA 00106313 ), ET, 27.IV.2012 ; ♀ (CEUA 00106314), ET, 22.V.2012; ♂ (DEUA 2027), ET, 26.VI.2012; ♂ (MNCN 20.02/18246), WT, 26.VI.2012; all leg. A. García-López, E. Micó & A. Ramírez- Hernández.

Description (Ƌ, ♀). Body well sclerotized ( Fig. 4 ). Carapace granulate, without coarser granules; two transverse furrows, subbasal one more attenuated and 1.4 times far from median furrow than to posterior margin, median furrow 2.0 times far from anterior margin than to subbasal furrow; posterolateral corners without elongated lateral keels. Setae short, clavate and apically dentate; chaetotaxy 45:33:13(91), anterior margin with 4‒5 setae, metazone with 10 posteromarginal and 3 medial setae. One pair of well developed eyes, diameter 0.08 mm, distance to anterior margin 0.11 mm.

Chelicera with 5 setae on hand, ib always and db occasionally finely dentate at apex, the others smooth. Fixed finger with 3 small distal teeth. Movable finger with subgaleal seta (gl) 0.8 from base; distally with 1‒3 very low tubercles, almost smooth; galea 0.055‒0.065 mm long, with 5‒6 apical rami; rallum with 3 blades, the distal with 7 teeth in distal half, other blades with 0‒3 teeth; serrula exterior with 18‒22 blades.

Tergites I‒X divided, chaetotaxy of hemitergites 7:7‒8:8:9‒10:10‒11:9‒11:9‒10:9‒11:8‒11:7‒10, tergite XI 12‒14 (2 long tactile setae, apically acuminate, length 0.23‒0.26 mm), XII 2, I‒XI with 1 discal seta, IV‒XI with 1 lateral and 1 medial seta; setae finely dentate apically. Male anterior genital operculum with 38‒40 discal and marginal setae, posterior genital opening with 8‒13 setae, 4 internal setae (2+2), statumen convolutum as illustrated by Mahnert (1977a); female anterior genital operculum with 22 setae, posterior with 8; hemisternites IV‒X: 5‒ 7:7:7:7‒8:8‒9:7‒9:7‒10, sternite XI 10‒13 (2 long tactile setae, length 0.23‒0.25 mm) setae, XII with 2 setae, stigmatal plate of sternite III 0, IV 1 seta.

Pedipalpal coxa with 4‒5 setae on manducatory process, including suboral seta ( Judson 1998) and 1 very long seta, 17‒18 setae on the disk, leg coxa I 7‒9, II 7‒9, III 6‒9, IV 19‒25 setae.

Pedipalp femur granulate on both faces, patella and chelal hand granulate paraxially, without coarser granules. Trochanter with prominent, rounded, antiaxial hump, femur abruptly pedicellate, maximum width slightly proximad of middle. Dental row of fixed chelal finger shorter than that of movable finger, with 33‒38 teeth, movable finger with 36‒43 teeth, both fingers with basal teeth rounded. Venom ducts present in both fingers, nodus ramosus approximately at same level in both fingers, proximad of et in fixed finger and distad of t in movable finger. Trichobothria ist, it and est at same level; est halfway between st and t; ratio sb‒st / st‒t 1.2.

Leg I tarsus of male with prominent dorsodistal projection, distal margin strongly concave, claws asymmetric, external claw apically bifurcate and dentate along distal two-thirds, length of claws 0.14 mm, 0.9 times tarsus width. Leg IV tarsus with a short tactile seta, apically acuminate or finely dentate, length 0.11 mm, shorter than the tarsus width, 0.59‒0.62 from base, claws symmetric. All legs with smooth subterminal setae on tarsi.

Measurements (mm) and ratios. Males, followed by female in square brackets: Body 2.56‒3.20 [4.13]. Carapace 0.97‒1.04/0.98‒1.04 (1.0) [1.05/1.06 (1.0)]. Chelicera 0.30‒0.32/0.17‒0.18 (1.8) [0.31/0.15 (2.0)], movable finger 0.23‒0.24 [0.24]. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.49‒0.56/0.35‒0.38 (1.4‒1.5)[0.51/0.36 (1.4)], femur 0.92‒ 0.97/0.37‒0.40 (2.4‒2.5) [0.93/0.39 (2.4)], patella 0.82‒0.86/0.39‒0.44 (2.0‒2.1) [0.83/0.40 (2.1)], hand+ 0.88‒ 0.95/0.45‒0.51 (1.8‒1.9) [0.93/0.55 (1.7)], hand - 0.76‒0.85 (1.6‒1.7) [0.82 (1.5)], movable finger 0.65‒0.66 [0.67], chela+ 1.43‒1.54/0.45‒0.51 (3.0‒3.2)[1.52/0.55 (2.8)], chela - 1.34‒1.44 (2.8‒3.0) [1.44 (2.6)]; ratio movable finger/hand+ 1.3‒1.4 [1.4], femur/movable finger 1.4‒1.5 [1.4], femur/carapace 1.0 [0.9], femur/patella 1.1‒1.2 [1.1], patella/hand+ 0.9 [0.9], chela+/carapace 1.5 [1.4], chela+/femur 1.5‒1.6 [1.6]. Leg I: femur+patella 0.59/0.20‒ 0.22 (2.7‒2.8) [0.56/0.20 (2.8)], femur 0.30/0.20‒0.22 (1.4‒1.5) [0.27/0.20 (1.4)], patella 0.42‒0.45/0.20‒0.21 (2.1) [0.44/0.20 (2.2)], tibia 0.37‒0.39/0.17 (2.2‒2.3) [0.38/0.14 (2.7)], tarsus 0.31‒0.33/0.16 (2.0‒2.1) [0.34/0.11 (3.2)]. Leg IV: femur+patella 0.85‒0.93/0.34‒0.35 (2.5‒2.6) [0.89/0.33 (2.7)], femur 0.32‒0.33/0.22‒0.23 (1.4‒ 1.5) [0.33/0.21 (1.6)], patella 0.72‒0.78/0.34‒0.35 (2.1‒2.2) [0.73/0.32 (2.3)], tibia 0.61‒0.68/0.20‒0.21 (3.1‒3.3) [0.62/0.19 (3.3)], tarsus 0.43‒0.45/0.13‒0.14 (3.2‒3.3) [0.43/0.14 (3.1)].

Ecology. The genus Beierochelifer has mainly been reported under tree bark (e.g. Beier 1963, 1967; Heurtault 1982; Krajčovičová & Christophoryová 2017; Mahnert 1977a; Petrov 2004), usually of oak, pine or sycamore. Krajčovičová & Christophoryová (2017) recorded one specimen of Beierochelifer peloponnesiacus peloponnesiacus (Beier, 1929) found in a tree hollow, along with others from bark of Quercus cerris L. The Spanish specimens were also found in tree hollows, but in this case the tree species was Q. pyrenaica .

Remarks. The genus Beierochelifer was created by Mahnert (1977a) for some taxa previously included in the genus Rhacochelifer . Beierochelifer differs from Rhacochelifer mainly in the absence of coxal sacs in leg IV of males, the smooth subterminal setae on the leg tarsi and the genital structure in both sexes. Three species and one subspecies of Beierochelifer have been described: B. anatolicus ( Beier, 1949) , from Greece (Dodekanisos, North Aegean) and Turkey; B. geoffroyi Heurtault, 1982 , from France; B. p. peloponnesiacus , from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Slovakia; and B. p. jonicus ( Beier, 1932) , from Greece. B. anatolicus and B. geoffroyi are distinctly smaller (e.g. pedipalp femur shorter than 0.70 mm) than both subspecies of B. peloponnesiacus (about 0.90 mm) ( Beier 1949, 1963; Heurtault 1982). The above described specimens from Spain share characteristics of both subspecies of B. peloponnesiacus , such as the ratios of the pedipalpal femur (2.4‒2.5, as in B. p. jonicus ) and patella (2.0‒2.1, as in B. p. peloponnesiacus ), which were given as differential characteristics by Beier (1963). The measurements of the pedipalpal femur, patella, hand and movable finger were found to overlap in the two subspecies ( Petrov 2004). Given the insignificant differences between them and their overlapping distributions (Krajčovičová & Christophoryová 2017; Volker Mahnert, in litt.; this study), the separation of the two subspecies is not justified and it can be concluded that B. p. jonicus represents a junior subjective synonym of B. peloponnesiacus n. syn.

Figures

FIGURES 2–6. Habitus of species from Salamanca province. 2. Neobisium hispanicum n. sp.; 3. Amblyolpium dollfusi Simon, 1898; 4. Beierochelifer peloponnesiacus (Beier, 1929); 5. Rhacochelifer gaeli n. sp.; 6, Rhacochelifer nonidezi n. sp.