Megalopsalis (Intutoportula) new subgenus

Fig. 4a

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 1743293F-E793-4639-9E31-1526FAACBBF8

Type species: Spinicrus minimum Kauri, 1954 .

Other included species (original combinations): Spinicrus porongorupense Kauri, 1954; Megalopsalis suffugiens Taylor, 2013b; Megalopsalis walpolensis Taylor, 2013b .

Etymology: Gender feminine, from the Latin intutus, unguarded, and portula, a small gate, hence ‘a small unguarded gate’, in reference to the lack of a grill of spines at the spiracle opening.

Description: Pedipalp patella of both sexes lacking distinct apophysis or hypersetose area; tarsal claw with ventral tooth-row. Penis (Fig. 4a)with glans short, subtriangular, basally deep but rapidly narrowing distad in lateral view; bristle groups relatively long; shaft with distinct waist behind bristle groups. Spiracle with covering spines almost or entirely absent but usually with lace tubercles present in lateral corner (Taylor 2013b).

Comments: This subgenus corresponds to the Megalopsalis minima species-group as recognised by Taylor (2013b). The spiracle morphology, lacking either protective spines or enantiophysis, has not been recorded from any other Phalangioidea (Šilhavý 1970). These structures are presumed to offer protection from desiccation so their absence in Intutoportula must be considered curious. Intutoportula species are restricted to southern Western Australia (Kauri 1954; Taylor 2013b), with three of the four species inhabiting the High Rainfall Province of the south-western land division, a region recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot (Rix et al. 2015; Brundrett 2021). The outlier is M. suffugiens which may be able to survive in its more arid Nullarbor habitat through its association with subterranean refugia (Taylor 2013b).