Nelima monfraguense Wijnhoven 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wijnhoven, Hay
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Opiliones
Sclerosomatidae
Nelima
Nelima monfraguense

description: Nelima monfraguense Wijnhoven sp. nov.
Figs 1–7
Type material. Male holotype (MNCN 20.02/41863): SPAIN, Serradilla, province of Cáceres, Extremadura,; 39.82903° N, - 6.17841° E; 405 m a.s.l.; 4 May 2024; under a dead tree trunk; hand collecting; H. Wijnhoven leg.; Paratype (MNCN 20.02/41864): 1 ♀; same collection data as holotype.
Diagnosis. A medium large species, the male has short and robust legs and enlarged leg femora I and III, and robust spiny pedipalps; the dorsum is dark brown, scattered with small light spots, lateral sides yellowish; penis is elongated, approximately parallel-sided, alate part being only slightly wider than truncus. The female also is dark brown, the legs are short and robust, with enlarged femora I and III. In both sexes the leg femora have trichomes.
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the National Park Monfragüe from Extremadura, Spain.
Description of male holotype
Size: length 3.70, width of prosoma 2.33, BLI 1.21.
Dorsum (Fig. 1): Ground colour pale yellow to ochre, with dark brown pattern; lateral sides of prosoma and front region of the eye tubercle yellowish, prosoma margins darkened. Large transverse dark brown patch behind the eye tubercle. Ozopores very small (app. 50 μm), round. Supracheliceral lamellae with two cone-shaped projections each with an apical granule. Opisthosoma dark brown, scattered small pale spots, lateral sides pale yellowish, mottled with brown. Dorsal integument with microgranulate microsculpture consisting of minute black granules.
Eye tubercle: Shallow, canaliculate, located at one and a half its length from front of the carapace; silvery yellowish, eyes surrounded by a black ring, two paramedian rows of 5 small denticles and a few minute sensory setae.
Venter and coxae: Venter and coxae pale yellowish, with short black setae.
Chelicerae (Fig. 2): Pale yellowish, robust.
Pedipalps (Fig. 3): Pale yellow, distal half of femur darkened, as well as distal and lateral sides of patella and tibia; very robust, femur, patella and tibia enlarged.All segments with black-tipped denticles. Pedipalpal femur stout, ventral and retrolateral sides with large denticles; patella robust, distally and retrolaterally with some denticles; tibia short and thick, ventral and ventrolateral side with denticles. Patella, tibia and tarsus covered with fine trichomes. Pedipalpal tarsus almost straight, very slightly curved inward; in the proximal one third the tarsus is bulged ventrally, and has three large denticles, tarsus ventrally with a row of small black denticles and two additional denticles in distal half; claw pectinate.
Legs (Fig. 4): Leg lengths Table 1. Legs brown, pale yellowish-brown at the articulating joints. Dorsodistal half of femur, the patella, tibia, metatarsus and tarsus of all legs with cover of minute trichomes. Trochanters anteriorly and posteriorly darkened. All leg femora with irregular rows of black-tipped denticles. Tibia II with 9 pseudo-articulations; metatarsi I–IV with 2, 7, 2 and 3 pseudo-articulations, respectively. Leg I very robust, femur extremely thickened, covered with numerous denticles, ventrally with irregular row of triangular denticles (Figs 1, 4D); patella I ventrally with some denticles; tibia I thickened, ventral, pro- and retrolateral sides with denticles. Leg II long and slender, diameter of femur II about one third diameter of femur I; patella II slender. Leg III femur, and tibia thickened. Leg IV femur slender, tibia slightly thickened.
Penis: Elongated and robust (Fig. 5). Truncus broad in dorsoventral view, almost parallel-sided, very slightly and continuously widening to alae. Intrinsic penial muscle extending from truncus base to proximal alate section. Alae almost parallel-sided, slightly widening distally, consisting of two dorsal and two ventral membranes which are fused proximally, forming two indistinct pockets, opening to the exterior distally as well as laterally. Ventral membranes attach to the truncus distal to the dorsal membranes, terminating near the base of the glans. Dorsal membranes forming an approximately rectangular distal outline, distal membrane margins fringed (Fig. 5F). Wings with internal field of scale-like microstructures. Glans long and cylindrical, narrowing midway and slightly broadening again distally, tapering into a short stylus (Fig. 5B, E), distally with two pairs of sensory setae. Measurements: penis length 1.98; basal truncus width 0.24; truncus to pockets length 1.05; pockets to glans length 0.57; pockets width 0.26; glans length 0.36.
Description of female paratype (Figs 1, 4E, 6)
Size: Length 4.57, width of prosoma 2.06, BLI 0.96. Colouration of chelicera, pedipalp and legs as in the male.
Dorsum (Fig. 1): Two posterior tergites of prosoma, and tergites of opisthosoma brown and bordered with transverse light band. Opisthosoma with scattered light silvery, yellowish spots, lateral sides pale yellowish. Tergites V and VI with a paramedian pair of irregular light spots. Dorsal integument with microgranulate microsculpture.
Eye tubercle, venter, coxae and chelicerae as in the male.
Pedipalps (Fig. 6B): Smaller and more slender than in the male, median side of femur and patella distally each with a single denticle; patella, tibia and tarsus with trichome cover; tarsus straight, no denticles, claw pectinate.
Legs: Leg lengths Table 1. Colouration as in the male. Leg I femur thickened (Fig. 4E). Like the male, dorsodistal half of femur, the patella, tibia, metatarsus and tarsus of all legs with cover of minute trichomes. Tibia II with 8 pseudo-articulations; metatarsi II–IV with 5, 2 and 4 pseudo-articulations, respectively. Leg III femur somewhat enlarged.
Seminal receptacles (Fig. 6A): Seminal receptacles in segment 5 of the ovipositor (note: these structures were distorted during preparation; they also proved difficult to judge because of their transparency); consisting of one small round thick-walled pocket, and presumably a thin-walled second outer pocket is present.
Habitat (Fig. 7): N. monfraguense sp. nov. was found 3 km west of Serradilla, in the province of Cáceres (Extremadura). Northern parts of Serradilla municipality comprise a section of the river Tagus and western parts of the National Park Monfragüe. The specimens were collected in a small patch of cork oak trees (Quercus suber), under a dead tree trunk, in the vicinity of a small stream named ‘Las Datas’. The soil consists of a mixture of gravel and clayey soil. At time of collecting the location was moist with traces of digging activity of wild boars (Sus scrofa). Floral elements of the typical ‘dehesa’ landscape vegetation at the type location include Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo), Sage-leaved Cistus (Cistus salvifolius), Smilax (Smilax aspera), Italian Gladiole (Gladiolus segetum) and Green-flowered Birthwort (Aristolochia paucinervis).
Phenology: Both adult specimens were collected at the beginning of May, indicating that N. monfraguense sp. nov. probably matures in late winter/early spring, completing its life cycle by the end of spring, thus avoiding the dry summer season.
Distribution: Only known from the type locality.
description: Published as part of Wijnhoven, Hay, 2024, A new harvestman species of the genus Nelima (Opiliones: Sclerosomatidae) from Extremadura, Spain, pp. 383-391 in Zootaxa 5541 (3) on pages 384-389, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5541.3.9, http://zenodo.org/record/14241142