A new species of Expanathura (Crustacea: Isopoda: Anthuroidea) from Iriomote Island, Japan, with a note on male polymorphism

We describe Expanathura monile sp. nov. from Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan, northwestern Pacific. This species resembles E. collaris, E. macronesia, and E. haddae in having very broad uropodal rami, a broad telson, and a moderately shortened pleopod 1 endopod, but differs from these three species in the female having (1) the head with a dorsal V-shaped band of brown pigmentation, (2) the antennular flagellum with 3–4 articles, (3) antennal peduncular article 2 with an outer triangular projection, (4) the uropodal endopod longer than wide, (5) the uropodal exopod with an acute triangular projection, (6) an oval telson, and (7) the posterolateral setae on the telson similar in length. We present a revised key to known species in the genus Expanathura and briefly discuss the male polymorphism observed in E. monile.

Systematics and phylogeography of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest endemic harvestmen Neosadocus Mello-Leitão, 1926 (Arachnida: Opiliones: Gonyleptidae)

Neosadocus harvestmen are endemic to the Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Although they are conspicuous and display great morphological variation, their evolutionary history and the biogeographical events underlying their diversification and distribution are still unknown. This contribution about Neosadocus includes the following: a taxonomic revision; a molecular phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear markers; an investigation of the genetic structure and species’ diversity in a phylogeographical framework. Our results show that Neosadocus is a monophyletic group and comprises four species: N. bufo, N. maximus, N. robustus and N. misandrus (which we did not find on fieldwork and only studied the female holotype). There is astonishing male polymorphism in N. robustus, mostly related to reproductive strategies. The following synonymies have resulted from this work: “Bunoweyhia” variabilis Mello-Leitão, 1935 = Neosadocus bufo (Mello-Leitão, 1926); and “Bunoweyhia” minor Mello-Leitão, 1935 = Neosadocus maximus (Giltay, 1928). Most divergences occurred during the Miocene, a geological epoch marked by intense orogenic and climatic events in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Intraspecific analyses indicate strong population structure, a pattern congruent with the general behavior and physiological constraints of Neotropical harvestmen.

Systematics and phylogeography of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest endemic harvestmen Neosadocus Mello-Leitão, 1926 (Arachnida: Opiliones: Gonyleptidae)

Neosadocus harvestmen are endemic to the Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Although they are conspicuous and display great morphological variation, their evolutionary history and the biogeographical events underlying their diversification and distribution are still unknown. This contribution about Neosadocus includes the following: a taxonomic revision; a molecular phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear markers; an investigation of the genetic structure and species' diversity in a phylogeographical framework. Our results show that Neosadocus is a monophyletic group and comprises four species: N. bufo, N. maximus, N. robustus and N. misandrus (which we did not find on fieldwork and only studied the female holotype). There is astonishing male polymorphism in N. robustus, mostly related to reproductive strategies. The following synonymies have resulted from this work: Bunoweyhia variabilis Mello-Leitão, 1935 = Neosadocus bufo (Mello-Leitão, 1926); and Bunoweyhia minor Mello-Leitão, 1935 = Neosadocus maximus (Giltay, 1928). Most divergences occurred during the Miocene, a geological epoch marked by intense orogenic and climatic events in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Intraspecific analyses indicate strong population structure, a pattern congruent with the general behavior and physiological constraints of Neotropical harvestmen.

Male Horn Lack of Allometry May be Tied to Food Relocation Behaviour in Lifting Dung Beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Eucraniini)

The small dung beetle tribe Eucraniini includes extremely specialized species that have been defined as “lifters” according to their food relocation behaviour. They are characterized by the presence of well-developed expansions on the head and pronotum, which can be included in the large and varied group of horns, whose presence is usually related to complex reproductive tactics. In this study, two closely related species, Anomiopsoides cavifrons and A. heteroclyta, were examined employing traditional and geometric morphometrics to test whether the Eucraniini has polymorphic males that might exhibit different reproductive tactics, as in the sister tribe Phanaeini, for which a male trimorphism was demonstrated. If also present in Eucraniini polyphenism could be considered a plesiomorphy common to the two clades. The inter- and intraspecific shape variation and object symmetry of the head and the scaling relationships between body size and traits were evaluated. Marked interspecific and small intraspecific differences in shape variation, high symmetry, and similar isometric growth patterns were shown in both species. The hypothesis of male polymorphism in Anomiopsoides was thus rejected. Instead, the results supported the alternative hypothesis that Eucraniini lacks male polymorphism, perhaps due to functional constraints affecting the shape of the structures involved in their peculiar food relocating behaviour.

New Australasian Zalmoxidae (Opiliones: Laniatores) and a new case of male polymorphism in Opiliones

Six new species of litter-inhabiting harvestmen, four from New Caledonia and two from Australia, in the genus ZalmoxisSørensen, 1886 (Opiliones: Laniatores: Zalmoxidae) are described and illustrated using light microscropy and SEM. Amolecular phylogeny including these and related species indicates that the New Caledonian Zalmoxis are monophyletic,though the morphology of one species is consistent with the apomorphies of Metazalmoxis Roewer, 1912. Accordingly,Zalmoxis Sørensen, 1886 is considered the senior synonym of Metazalmoxis Roewer, 1912 new synonymy. Zalmoxistherefore remains the sole zalmoxid genus outside of the Neotropics. The new species add significantly to the known mor-phological diversity of Zalmoxidae, specifically in the case of one species from Queensland, Australia, with polymorphic males—the first such record for the superfamily Zalmoxoidea.