Homolophus chevrizovi Starega & Snegovaya 2008
Creators: name: Snegovaya, Nataly Yu.
name: Cokendolpher, James C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Opiliones
Phalangiidae
Homolophus
Homolophus chevrizovi

description: Homolophus chevrizovi Staręga & Snegovaya, 2008
Figures 4, 19–20
Homolophus chevrizovi Staręga & Snegovaya, 2008: 78–79, figs. 13–18
Diagnosis. The species differs from all congeners, including the most closely related, Homolophus almasyi (Roewer, 1911), H. asiaticus Gricenko, 1979a and H. gricenkoi Staręga & Snegovaya, 2008, by the following: very long and slender legs; pedipalps and chelicera with only setae, no denticles. Few denticles anywhere on body.
Type Locality. Tajikistan, Khodjent distr., Gissar Mt. Range, Khodja Obi Garm, 38°53’45.6”N, 68°47’53.6’’E, ca. 1740 m a.s.l., indoor.
Distribution. Tajikistan (Fig. 4).
Specimens Examined. TAJIKISTAN, Varzob District, ca. 31 km N of Dushanbe, Kondara Canyon, 37°28’5.3’’N, 71°35’39.2’’E, 2400–2500 m a.s.l., 12– 14.07.2018, leg. D. V. Logunov (1 male, 2 females, 4 juv., MMUE).
Description. Medium-sized harvestmen; body rectangular, with rounded corners; medium sclerotization of body cuticle, slender, 2.0 times longer than wide; length 4.0 mm, width 2.0 mm. Body with large dark-brown hourglass-shaped saddle, remainder of body light-brown, almost yellow with brown spots and light colored indistinct dashed longitudinal stripe down entire length of body (stripe only faintly indicated or absent on male, more obvious in female); covered by transverse rows of small denticles. Ocularium low, slightly wider than long, small, 1.0 times its length from anterior margin of cephalothorax, smooth without denticles. Legs very long, cylindrical in cross-section, slender, not thickened, covered by transverse row of small denticles and setae. Leg lengths (mm): I 8.0 + 1.6 + 6.8 + 6.0 + 13.0 = 35.4, II 14.0 + 2.0 + 12.5 + 5.0 + 21.0 = 54.2, III 7.0 + 1.6 + 6.5 + 9.5 + 15.0 = 39.6, IV 10.0 + 1.6 + 8.0 + 7.0 + 24.6 = 51.2. Pedipalps very long and slender, only with setae no denticles, Mt ventrally with strip of sensory microdenticles on basal 2/3 of segment. Pedipalp segment lengths (mm): 1.6 + 0.8 + 1.1 + 2.0 = 5.5. Chelicerae small, slender, lacking tabby marks, without denticles, only with setae. Cheliceral basal segment length 1.2 mm, ventrally with blunt rounded bulge, distal segment length 1.7 mm. Penis short, length (mm): truncus 2.5, glans 0.5, stylus 0.1; base widened, rounded, and gradually narrowing towards apex; truncus bowed, recurved in lateral view, dorsoventrally flattened; glans somewhat “banana-shaped”, with broadened basal portion and recess ventrally on each side.
Female differs mainly from male in body shape; less slender, 2.0 times longer than wide; length 5.0 mm, width 3.5 mm. Pedipalps (except for Ta sensory microdenticles), chelicerae, and legs not notably sexually dimorphic. Leg lengths (mm): I 8.2 + 2.0 + 7.0 + 8.5 + 14.1 = 39.8, II 14.6 + 2.2 + 13.0 + 11.5 + 29.5 = 112.1, III 8.5 + 2.0 + 7.0 + 10.1 + 15.2 = 42.8, IV 14.4 + 2.0 + 8.5 + 13.5 + 22.4 = 60.8. Pedipalp segment lengths (mm): 1.6 + 0.8 + 1.0 + 2.2 = 5.6. Cheliceral basal segment length 1.0 mm, distal segment length 1.1 mm.
Comments. The glans has but one pair of short spines near the stylus. Generally, in Homolophus there are two. This should be checked on future collections of males of this species.
description: Published as part of Snegovaya, Nataly Yu. & Cokendolpher, James C., 2021, Further studies on harvestman genus Homolophus (Opiliones: Phalangiidae), with descriptions of two new species, pp. 301-353 in Zootaxa 4908 (3) on pages 329-331, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4908.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4441762