Metasarcidae Kury, 1994

Benedetti, Alipio Rezende & Pinto-da-Rocha, Ricardo, 2022, Systematic revision and total evidence phylogenetic analysis of the Andean family Metasarcidae Kury, 1994 (Opiliones: Laniatores), with description of two new genera and twenty new species, Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 80, pp. 309-388 : 309

3.9. Metasarcidae Kury, 1994

Phalangodidae Tricommatinae [part]: Mello-Leitão 1926: 330 (key); Roewer 1927: 536 (cit, key); 1935: 45 (cit, key); Mello-Leitão 1935: 92 (key); 1938: 137 (key); Roewer 1949: 56 (cit); Rambla 1978: 305 (cit).

Prostygninae [part.]: Roewer 1913: 140 (desc, key); 1923: 449 (rdesc, key); 1943: 30 (cit); Mello-Leitão 1926: 348 (key); Roewer 1952: 57 (cit); Soares et al. 1992: 1 (rdesc, key)

Mitobatinae [part.]: Roewer 1913: 284; 1923: 508 (rdesc, key); Mello-Leitão 1932: 390 (rdesc, key); Soares and Soares 1949: 224 (rdesc), 225 (key).

Metasarcinae Kury, 1994: 349 (desc); Kury and Maury 1998: 144; (cit); Kury 2003, 144 (cat); Acosta 2002: 72 (cit), 78 (biog); Giribet and Kury 2007: 82; Kury 2007: 168 (cit); Kury and Pinto-da-Rocha 2007a:185 (cit); Kury and Pinto-da-Rocha 2007b: 196 (cit), 198 (biol), 199 (biol), 201 (key), 203 (biog); Pinto-da-Rocha and Giribet 2007: 91 (cit); Yamaguti and Pinto-da-Rocha 2009: 319 (syst), 320 (biol), 321-324 (cit), 324 (syst), 325 (cit), 326-329 (syst), 358 (syst); Ferreira and Kury 2010: 706 (biol). Mendes 2011:437 (cit), 439 (cit), 441 (cit), 479 (syst).

Metasarcidae : Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2014: 525 (cit), 527 (syt), 532 (syst); Kury and Villarreal 2015: 3-5, 10, 14, 23, 26, 29-30, 38 (cit); Kury and Carvalho 2020: 55 (cit); Benavides et al. 2021: 655 (syst).

Type genus.

Metasarcus Roewer, 1913.

Genera composition.

Ayacucho Roewer, 1949; Huancabamba gen. nov.; Incasarcus Kury and Maury, 1998; Lumieria gen. nov.; Metasarcus Roewer, 1913; and Tschaidicancha Roewer, 1957.

Diagnosis.

Metasarcidae can be easily diagnosed by other Gonyleptoidea by only one feature, the penis with lateral finger-like sacs. Only one genus ( Metalibitia , Cosmetidae ) of Gonyleptoidea possess lateral sacs on ventral plate but its shape and position is different from it and not homologous. It differs from Stygnidae by having ocularium undivided; by Gonyleptidae by pedipalpal femur with long spines; by Cosmetidae by pedipalpus somewhat cylindrical and with spines; by Agoristenidae by having tarsal process; by Cranaidae by pedipalpal femur smooth or small-tuberculate.

Redescription.

Gonyleptoidea with eye mound tall and rounded ( Ayacucho ) or low, medially depressed (the other genera); ocularium with a pair of low tubercles, a pair of high spines or unarmed. Chelicerae swollen in males of some species (also in some females of A. titschacki ). Pedipalpus long and robustly armed; femur sub cylindrical, not flattened (slightly flattened in Ayacucho ); femur and patella in males with a proapical spine (except Ayacucho ). Alpha-type DSS ( Incasarcus and majority of Ayacucho ), gamma-type DSS ( Metasarcus fellinii sp. nov. and Ayacucho spielbergi sp. nov.), gamma-P-type DSS (some Metasarcus and Tschaidicancha joseochoai sp. nov.) and kappa-type DSS ( Huancabamba gen. nov., Lumieria gen. nov., Tschaidicancha and some Metasarcus ). DS moderate to densely granulate. Scutal area I undivided or divided ( Lumieria gen. nov. and some Metasarcus and Tschaidicancha ); area III generally armed with a pair of high spines, a pair of low spines ( I. argenteus ) or tubercles (most Ayacucho , Metasarcus trispinosus sp. nov.) or unarmed (some Ayacucho , I. ochoai , Metasarcus vacafloresae sp. nov.). Male coxa IV generally unarmed; armed with an acute long prolateral tubercle in most Ayacucho or with a retrolateral armature in Metasarcus bergmani sp. nov. and M. limachii sp. nov. Femur IV shorter than DSL in most Ayacucho , about same size in Huancabamba gen. nov. and much longer in the other genera. Tarsal process present. VP of penis well defined, generally subrectangular, without cleft, with three to many (more than 13) pairs of MS C, and lateral finger-like sacs. Stylus long and generally laterally flattened, dorsoventrally widened (broad and sturdy Lumieria gen. nov. and cylindrical in some species); generally with swollen apex and with a caruncle. Dorsal process of glans absent or present.

Distribution.

The family Metasarcidae occurs in Andean Mountains of Bolivia and Peru, the southern limit being the border with Argentina and the northern limit the Huancabamba depression, situated in northern Peru (Figs 28 - 31 ). Most species are found in moderate to high altitudes (circa 4,000 m above sea level). The only exception to is Metasarcus beni sp. nov. (about 170 m above sea level) which occurs in the mountain foothills. A second species, the type-species of the genus Metasarcus , M. bolivianus , has been attributed to the Bolivian lowland region, the Chaco Province, without mention of a more precise locality.

Most species (28 spp.) are known only from their type-locality, and those known from a few records of distribution (6 spp.) are endemic to small areas, where the maximum distance between two records is 150km. A few localities possess sympatric species, such as: Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén /Peru ( T. chaplini sp. nov., T. joseochoai sp. nov., A. pasolinii sp. nov., T. scorsesei sp. nov.), Centro Turistico Ilpa/Peru ( L. woodyalleni gen. et sp. nov., L. antonionii gen. et sp. nov.), Zongo/Bolivia ( M. kurosawai sp. nov., M. vacafloresae sp. nov.), Cutervo/Peru ( A. uniseriatus comb. nov., H. kubricki gen. et sp. nov., A. spielbergi sp. nov.). Ayacucho titschacki , which occurs in the Peruvian Central Andes, (near to Ocollo, Virgem de Cacharras de Cocha) and Ayacucho tapacocha nom. nov., which occurs in northern Peru, are the species with the largest distributions recorded in the Ayacucho and Ancash areas, respectively. This high level of endemism is comparable to the eastern coast of South America, where most species occupy small areas of endemism (see Da-Silva et al. 2017). However, the harvestmen fauna from Peru and Bolivia is poorly sampled, which prevents a more detailed comparison with other regions.

All Bolivian species of Metasarcidae belong to the type genus, Metasarcus , and occur in the eastern Andes from La Paz to Tarija Province ( M. fellinii sp. nov. is the southernmost species of the family), the Altiplano being the northern distribution limit. Its sister genus, Incasarcus is present only in the Peruvian Cusco Department, in Montane tall grass vegetation (Puna) and scrub and montane Rain Forest. Both genera are separated by Puna Seca and Titicaca lake, which means the Altiplano.

Ayacucho is widespread in most of the Peruvian Andean region, from Cajamarca to Ayacucho departments, the Rio Apurimac being the southern limit of its distribution. The only metasarcid species recorded from the western Andean foothills is A. roeweri nom. nov., from Rio Fortaleza (2700 m above sea level, Ancash, Cajacay, Peru), where the riparian forest El Bosque de Fortaleza is found. Most species can be found in two types of vegetation, the Mountain short grass and Andean wastes (Quechua) and Mountain tall grass and scrub (Puna). One species, A. pasolinii sp. nov. was recorded from the Mountain Rain Forest (Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén, Oxapampa, Peru).

The monotypic genus Huancabamba gen. nov. is recorded only in Cutervo ( Cajamarca Department), in Mountain Rain Forest.

Lumieria gen. nov. has only two species, sympatrically distributed at Centro Turistico Ilpa (Junin Department - Bolivia). This locality is covered by Mountain tall grass and scrub.

Tschaidicancha has four species recorded in only three regions, two of which are very close to each other. T. scorsesei sp. nov., T. joseochoai sp. nov., and T. chaplini sp. nov. occur in Mountain Rain Forest, and T. weyrauchi in areas with scrubs of Mountain Tall Grass and Scrub.

Figures

Figure 28. Distribution of Ayacucho spp. in Peru

Figure 31. Distribution of Metasarcus in Bolivia. A M. beni sp. nov., M. bergmani sp. nov., M. fellinii sp. nov., M. limachii sp. nov., M. vacafloresae; B M. clavifemur, M. kurosawai sp. nov., M. trispinosus sp. nov.