Libitia gandalf, Medrano & Ázara & Kury, 2020

Medrano, Miguel, Ázara, Ludson Neves de & Kury, Adriano Brilhante, 2020, The short-legged Andean cosmetids revisited: the genus Libitia Simon, 1879 with description of two new species (Opiliones, Cosmetidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 634, pp. 1-25 : 14-15

Libitia gandalf sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:FBDC8502-2FE9-4413-B4C5-CD74D8D68EA1

Figs 9–10 , 14

Diagnosis

Can be separated from all the other species of the genus in having the blots pattern invading carapace and occupying entirely area I of mesotergum. Scutal groove between carapace and area I without white marks forming a smile-like pattern immersed in a white ‘beard’ and one spot without filling at each side of that ‘smile’.

Etymology

Noun in apposition from the fictional character Gandalf the White, one of the protagonists in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Blot pattern of dorsal scutum resembles the white beard of the character while smiling.

Material examined

Holotype

COLOMBIA • ♂; Meta Department, San Juanito, Parque Nacional Natural Chingaza ; 4.471391° N, 73.675435° W; 2990 m a.s.l.; IAvH-I-69 .

Paratype

COLOMBIA • 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype; IAvH-I-86 .

Description

Male holotype (IAvH-I-69)

MEASUREMENTS. CL = 1.7, AL = 2.6, CW = 2.6, AW = 3.7, IOD = 0.6, Fe I = 2, Ti I = 1.4, Fe II = 3.4, Ti II = 2.3, Fe III = 2.9, Ti III = 1.7, Fe IV = 3.3, Ti IV = 2.7.

DORSUM ( Fig. 9 A–E). Dorsal scutum alpha-type, areas I–III, anterior and posterior margin of scutum, and lateral margins with granules. Free tergites with rows of granules and anal operculum finely granular. Posterior margin of dorsal scutum convex. Area I and posterior part of carapace with yellow solid blot, except for a fragmented area in scutal groove and one unfilled spot at each side.

VENTER. Free sternites finely granular; coxae II–IV finely and uniformly granular; coxa I with longitudinal row of tubercles and smooth area corresponding to lace area of pedipalp. Anal operculum finely granular.

LEGS ( Fig. 9 F–G). Coxa IV granulated with distal prodorsal small apophysis. Coxa IV granulated. Femur IV substraight, with two longitudinal ventral rows of small tubercles along entire length. Tarsal counts: 5(3)/7(3)/5/5-6.

COLOR ( Fig. 9 ). Body background and appendages Moderate Orange Yellow (71) mottled in Deep Yellowish Brown (75), ladder mask Pale Greenish Yellow (104). Trochanters and tarsomeres of legs Light Greenish Yellow (101).

Female

Similar to males, with coda longer. Basitarsomeres I, III and IV not enlarged. Tarsal counts: 5(3)/6– 7(3)/6/6.

Variation

No remarkable variation encountered in spots of DS in the examined specimens.

Figures

Fig. 9. Libitia gandalf sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (IAvH-I-69), habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Dorsal view, anterior margin of carapace. C. Dorsal view, panoramic. D. Frontal view. E. Right lateral view. F–G. Right femur IV, dorsal and ventral view, respectively. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 10. Libitia gandalf sp. nov., holotype (IAvH-I-69), distal part of penis. A. Dorsal view. B. Laterodorsal view. C. ventral view. Scale bar = 50 μm.

Fig. 14. Central Colombia, showing the distribution of species of Libitia Simon, 1879 (inset: NW South- America, for context). Highlighted Colombian departments are from north to south: Boyacá (red), Cundinamarca (orange) and Meta (yellow).