Rhaucus (harvestman)

Rhaucus
Rhaucus serripes
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Family: Cosmetidae
Subfamily: Metergininae
Genus:
Simon, 1879
Type species
Rhaucus vulneratus
Simon, 1879
Species

11 species (see text)

Synonyms
List
  • Cynorta (in part) Goodnight & Goodnight, 1953
  • Megarhaucus Mello-Leitão, 1941
  • Metarhaucus F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1905
  • Neorhaucus F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1905
  • Pararhaucus F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1905
  • Erginus Simon, 1879

Rhaucus is a genus of harvestmen in the family Cosmetidae. The genus is endemic to the northern Andes in Colombia. There are currently seven described species in the genus.[1][2]

Taxonomy

Many other species were included in the genus Rhaucus, until a taxonomic revision (in 2017) reduced the genus to a more clearly defined grouping and synonymized or transferred multiple previously described species to leave five remaining species.[1] A previously synonymized species, R. papilionaceus, was revalidated in 2018.[2]Two other species were later transferred into the genus and two new species described.[3]

Etymology

Rhaucus is likely named for an ancient Cretian town, Rhaucus.[1]

Species

Rhaucus contains the following species:[4] (after García & Kury, 2017; García & Daniela Ahumada-C., 2018; Pinzón-Morales & Pinto-da-Rocha, 2024).[1][2][3]

  • Rhaucus artifex Pinzón-Morales & Pinto-da-Rocha, 2024
  • Rhaucus florezi Garcia & Kury, 2017[1]
  • Rhaucus gaiterus Pinzón-Morales & Pinto-da-Rocha, 2024
  • Rhaucus marmoratus (Roewer, 1912)
  • Rhaucus papilionaceus (Simon, 1879)[2]
  • Rhaucus quinquelineatus Simon, 1879
  • Rhaucus robustus (Mello-Leitão, 1941)
  • Rhaucus serratus (Roewer, 1912)
  • Rhaucus serripes (Simon, 1879)
  • Rhaucus trilineatus (Sørensen, 1932)
  • Rhaucus vulneratus Simon, 1879

(Note: Rhaucus trilineatus is interpreted[4] as having been indirectly transferred to Rhaucus due to the synonymy of Metarhaucus F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1905 under Rhaucus in García & Kury (2017: 417).[1] There, the type species Metarhaucus fuscus Pickard-Cambridge 1905 became a junior synonym of Rhaucus serripes (Simon, 1879)), consequently leading to Metarhaucus = Rhaucus. Other species then placed in Metarhaucus at that time and similarly affected by the same synonymy have since been re-formalised into other genera).

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f García, A.F.; Kury, A.B. (2017-10-26). "Taxonomic revision of the Andean harvestman genus Rhaucus Simon, 1879 (Arachnida, Opiliones, Cosmetidae)". Zootaxa. 4338 (3): 401–440. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4338.3.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 29245710.
  2. ^ a b c d García, A.F.; Ahumada-C, D. (2018-06-28). "Completing the puzzle: Another species of Rhaucus Simon, 1879 (Arachnida: Opiliones: Cosmetidae) from Colombia". Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. 42 (163): 200–206. doi:10.18257/raccefyn.611.
  3. ^ a b Pinzón-Morales, C.A.; Pinto-da-Rocha, R. (2024). "Two new species of Rhaucus Simon, 1879 reveal putative synapomorphies related to the microstructural morphology of male genitalia (Opiliones: Cosmetidae)". Zootaxa. 5555 (1): 35–56. doi:10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5555.1.3.
  4. ^ a b "Rhaucus". Kury, A. et al. (2023). WCO-Lite: World Catalogue of Opiliones. Retrieved 20 Jul 2023.

Further reading

  • Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007). Harvestmen – The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press, USA. ISBN 0-674-02343-9