Kovalius Tchemeris, 2023

Tchemeris, Aleksey N., 2023, Kovalius-a new genus of cave-dwelling harvestmen from the Caucasus (Opiliones Sclerosomatidae: Leiobuninae), Zootaxa 5227 (4), pp. 486-494 : 486-487

Genus Kovalius Tchemeris gen. nov.

Type species: Kovalius logunovi sp. nov. fixed by monotypy in the present paper.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B0AD6236-A517-477C-8BE4-786840205195

Diagnosis. Leiobuninae having the following characters: 1) body rounded, medium-sized, integument soft ( Figs 1–2 ). 2) Supra-cheliceral lamella small, without armament. 3) Chelicerae normal, medium sized, first segment with ventral spine ( Figs 5–6 ). 4) Рedipalps with setae only ( Fig. 3 ), patellae with distinctly pronounced inner apophysis exceeding half the length of the patellae, tibiae with small inner distal apophysis ( Figs 3, 7 ), tarsal claw toothed ( Fig. 4 ). 5) Coxae smooth, with setae only, without rows of denticles or tubercles near anterior and posterior margins ( Fig. 2 ), femora I and III thickened, femora I especially thickened and more heavily armored than other legs ( Figs 1–2 ), all legs covered with trichomes, tibia of legs II with 4–5 pseudosegments; 6) Penis structure unique ( Figs 8–10 ) and described in detail in Table 1 . 7) Coloration characteristic for Leiobuninae ( Figs 1–2 ).

Relationships. To date, only two species of Nelima from the cave west and the North-West Caucasus only two representatives of Leiobuninae belonging to the genus Nelima Roewer, 1910 were known: N. doriae (Canestrini, 1871) and N. pontica Charitonov, 1941 . The new genus Kovalius is a member of the subfamily Leiobuninae and is close related to the genus Nelima , and can be distinguished by the characters as follows: pedipalps with inner apophysis on patellae and tibiae, femora I noticeably thickened and more heavily armed than other legs, penis structure unique and strongly differs from Nelima ( Table 1 ).

Etymology. The new genus is named in honour of Dr. Alexander G. Koval, the Russian entomologist and biospeleologist (Saint Peterburg, All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection), professional collector and author of a series of publications devoted to the cave fauna of the Caucasus and Crimea.

Type species. Kovalius logunovi sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 1–2. Kovalius logunovi sp. nov., male holotype: 1—body dorsal view, 2—body lateral view. Scale bar 1,0 mm.

FIGURES 3–7. Kovalius logunovi sp. nov., male holotype: 3—right pedipalp inner view, 4—tarsal claw of palp, 5—second and third segments of left chelicerae frontal view, 6—left chelicerae lateral view, 7—patellae and tibiae of left pedipalp dorsal view. 3, 5-7—scale bar 0,5 mm, 4—scale bar 0,25 mm.

FIGURES 8–10. Kovalius logunovi sp. nov., penis of male holotype: 8—lateral view, 9—ventral view, 10—dorsal view. Scale bar 0,5 mm.