Genus Fresiax gen. nov.

Figs 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Nuncia [part] (only references to Nuncia spinulosa): Maury 1990: 108; Maury 1992: 5; Acosta and Maury 1998: 579; Kury 2003: 22.

Etymology.

The genus name Fresiax is a combination of “ Fresia, ” the name of the wife of Mapuche’s military leader Caupolicán, and the Greek word ὄνυξ (onyx = nail, claw), which is part of the generic name Triaenonyx, the type genus of the family Triaenonychidae . The genus name Fresiax is feminine.

Diagnosis.

The male genitalia of Fresiax exhibits a pars distalis considerably reduced (as in F. mauryi sp. nov.), a ventral plate longer than the capsula externa (as in F. conica sp. nov.), and a capsula externa divided into two lamellae, a character that distinguishes it from any other triaenonychid genus. Additionally, the pedipalp femora possesses at least three dorsal and four ventral spines.

Type species.

Nuncia spinulosa Maury, 1990

Included species.

Fresiax conica sp. nov., Fresiax fray sp. nov., Fresiax mauryi sp. nov., Fresiax pichicuy sp. nov., Fresiax spinulosa (Maury, 1990), comb. nov.

Distribution.

Argentina: Río Negro Province. Chile: Coquimbo, Valparaíso, Araucanía, Los Ríos, Los Lagos (Fig. 4 A).