Paecilaema C. L. Koch 1839
Creators: name: Kury, Adriano B.
name: Medrano, Miguel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Opiliones
Cosmetidae
Paecilaema

description: Paecilaema C. L. Koch, 1839b
Paecilaema C.L. Koch 1839b: 21; C.L. Koch 1840: 107 (combined); Roewer 1917: 101; Roewer 1923: 364; Roewer 1925: 5;
Roewer 1928: 595; Roewer 1933: 288; Mello-Leitão 1932: 79; Mello-Leitão 1933: 107; Mello-Leitão 1940: 304; Kästner
1937: 387; Caporiacco 1951: 17; Ringuelet 1959: 426; Goodnight & Goodnight 1953: 54 (part.); Goodnight & Goodnight
1973: 94; Goodnight & Goodnight 1977: 162; Rambla 1978b: 7; González-Sponga 1991: 196; González-Sponga 1992:
329; Kury 2003: 74 (part.); Kury & Alonso-Zarazaga 2011: 51. Paecilima [subsequent incorrect spelling] C.L. Koch 1839a: 104, captions figs 584–585 (combined). Poecilaema [subsequent incorrect spelling] Agassiz 1846: 11; Roewer 1912: 87; Roewer 1915: 124; Mello-Leitão 1935a: 374;
Mello-Leitão 1937: 289; Mello-Leitão 1942b: 6. Poecilaema [subsequent incorrect spelling] Simon 1879: 191; Simon 1880: 102; Pickard-Cambridge 1905: 570. Poecilima [subsequent incorrect spelling] Canestrini 1888: 106. Poecilaema [subsequent incorrect spelling] Mello-Leitão 1923: 113. Poeciloema [subsequent incorrect spelling] Mello-Leitão 1926: 334. Poecilaema [subsequent incorrect spelling] Sørensen in Henriksen 1932: 328.
Etymology. Paecilaema from Greek πoικίλoς (spotted, pied, dappled) + εἷµα, ατoς (garment). Gender neuter.
Diagnosis. Small cosmetids (4 mm of body length) with slender, straight and unarmed legs (Figs 1 and 2). DS outline beta-type with constrictions slightly marked (Fig. 10A). Scutal area III with a pair of spines (Figs 1, 2, 7, 10B, except for P. muticum: Fig 10C). Carapace flat and abdomen more or less convex in lateral view (Figs 9C, 10B). Chelicerae monomorphic, basichelicerite with tubercles mostly in proximal part as a transversal row, cheliceral hand armed with equal sized teeth in movable and fixed fingers (Figs 10, 12A,B). VP of the penis (Figs 12 F-G) subrectangular with distal border straight. From distal to proximal part the macrosetae are: MS C1-C2, MS D1-D2 and MS A1. MS C1-C2 large, contrasting with the smaller size of other MS; MS D2 minute. Microsetae of ventral side of VP absent or much reduced –at least for P. melanacanthum (Ferreira, Pedroso & Kury, 2005) and P. u-flavum –, like in Cosmetus and Flirtea, although this character is very plastic in Cosmetidae. In Cynorta there are two patches of T4 with a median field of T1 (Kury 2016).
Comparisons. Closest to Cosmetus, Cynorta and Metavononoides by (1) dorsal scutum with a backbone of isolated round dots and (2) macrosetae A much reduced in size and in number (to only one pair). Closest to Metavononoides by (1) having the first part of a true lyra (the inner outline), that is, solid circular spots coloring large granules (solid punctulations), defining a fenestra magna (Figs 4–6), (2) dots of backbone small (as opposed to large in Cosmetus and Cynorta; except for P. ornatissimum Mello-Leitão, 1942). It differs from Metavononoides by (1) anal operculum sexually dimorphic (in male Paecilaema armed with two or three highlighted tubercles larger than the surrounding granules; Figs 6 E–F, 9B–D, 10A–C, except for P. albisectum (Mello-Leitão, 1942), P.
ornatissimum), (2) a complete lyra with a diaphanous body formed by different shades of white/pale-yellow which define the other fenestrae (see Figs 5 A-C contrasting with Figs 5 D-F, 6), and (3) higher tarsal counts on posterior legs, leg III: 7–9, leg IV: 7–10 (both legs 6–7 in Metavononoides).
Type species. Cosmetus u-flavum Perty, 1833, by subsequent designation of Pickard-Cambridge (1905).
Included species according to the present diagnosis. Besides the type species, the following nine species currently in Metavononoides should be transferred to Paecilaema:
1) Paecilaema albisectum (Mello-Leitão, 1942) comb. rest. (Fig. 5 F)
Paecilaemula albisecta Mello-Leitão 1942a: 159, fig. 1.
Paecilaema albisectum: Soares & Soares 1987: 2, figs 10–12.
Metavononoides albisectus: Kury 2003: 71.
2) Paecilaema albosigillatum (Mello-Leitão 1941) comb. nov. (Fig. 5 E)
Poecilaemula albosigillata Mello-Leitão 1941: 436.
Metavononoides albosigillatus: Kury 2003: 71.
3) Paecilaema lyra Sørensen, 1932 nom. rest. (Fig. 6F)
Poecilaema lyra Sørensen in Henriksen 1932: 334, fig. 23; Mello-Leitão 1935b: 115 [junior subjective synonymy of Paecilaemula bella Mello-Leitão, 1932 by Kury (2003a); synonymy disclaimed herein].
4) Paecilaema melanacanthum (Ferreira, Pedroso & Kury, 2005) comb. nov. (Figs 2 A-C, 6D)
Metavononoides melanacanthus Ferreira, Pedroso & Kury 2005: 46, figs 1–8.
5) Paecilaema muticum Sørensen, 1932 comb. rest., nom. rest. (Fig. 6C)
Poecilaema muticum Sørensen in Henriksen 1932: 329 [junior subjective synonymy of Paecilaemula bella Mello-Leitão, 1932 by Kury (2003a); synonymy disclaimed herein].
6) Paecilaema ornatissimum Mello-Leitão, 1942 nom. rest. (Fig. 5 D)
Poecilaema ornatissimum Mello-Leitão 1942b: 6 fig. 3 [junior subjective synonym of Eucynorta brasiliensis Mello-Leitão, 1923 by B. Soares (1944a); junior subjective synonym of Paecilaemula preciosa Roewer, 1928 by Kury (2003a); synonymy disclaimed here].
7) Paecilaema peculiare (Roewer, 1917) comb. nov. (Figs 2 D-F, 6A)
Poecilaemula peculiare Roewer 1917: 104, fig. 11.
Paecilaemula peculiaris: Roewer 1923: 375, fig. 456; Roewer 1928: 605; Mello-Leitão 1932: 66, fig. 32. Poecilaemula peculiaris: Henriksen 1932: 336.
Metavononoides peculiaris: Kury 2003: 71.
8) Paecilaema preciosum (Roewer, 1928) comb. nov. (Fig. 6B)
Paecilaemula preciosa Roewer 1928: 606, fig. 4; Mello-Leitão 1932: 65, fig. 31.
Metavononoides preciosus: Kury 2003: 71.
9) Paecilaema renneri (Ferreira, Pedroso & Kury 2007) comb. nov. (Figs 2 G-H, 6E)
Metavononoides renneri Ferreira, Pedroso & Kury 2007: 231, figs 1–6.
In contrast with P. u-flavum, none of them is given detailed taxonomic treatment here (not even a complete list of synonyms), rather they will be dealt with in later works. Numerous specimens that fit in the current diagnosis of Paecilaema are being examined in an ongoing project.
Other species formally included. Discounting the species transferred to the six revalidated genera below, there are still around 100 official Paecilaema. A complete list may be found in Kury’s (2003) catalogue under the heading Paecilaema. A case-by-case examination will be needed to determine the precise generic allocation of each one. A more recently described species of Paecilaema – P. batman Pinto-da-Rocha & Yamaguti, 2013– has been transferred to Flirtea by Kury & García (2016).
description: Published as part of Kury, Adriano B. & Medrano, Miguel, 2018, A whiter shade of pale: anchoring the name Paecilaema C. L. Koch, 1839 onto a neotype (Opiliones, Cosmetidae), pp. 191-219 in Zootaxa 4521 (2) on pages 202-204, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4521.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/2609787