Search results for "Opiliones"

Behavioral roles of the sexually dimorphic structures in the male harvestman, Phalangium opilio (Opiliones, Phalangiidae)

2006

Abstract: In various animal species, male sexual dimorphic characters may be used during intrasexual contests as ornaments to attract females, or to hold them before, during, or after copulation. In the well-known harvestman, Phalangium opilio L., 1758, the behavioral functions of these male sexually dimorphic structures have never been studied in detail. Therefore, in addition to a morphometric study, 21 male contests and 43 sexual interactions were analyzed. Our observations revealed that during contests, the male cheliceral horns form a surface by which the contestants use to push each other face-to-face while rapidly tapping their long pedipalps against the pedipalps of the opponent, oc…

Mittel- und nordeuropäische Weberknechte aus dem Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt (Arachnida: Opiliones)

2005

Central and North European harvestmen from the Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt (Arachnida: Opiliones). About 1100 individuals belonging to 32 opilionid species (300 series), mainly of German origin, were identified based on material provided by, and stored at, the Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt (Main). A list of all species with habitat information is included. Comments on two remarkable species (Oligolophus hanseni, Odiellus spinosus) are given. The comments include the importance of some series as reference material from MARTENS (1978), additions to regional faunas and the expansion of the known distribution of some thermophilous species.

2014

Large prosomal scent glands constitute a major synapomorphic character of the arachnid order Opiliones. These glands produce a variety of chemicals very specific to opilionid taxa of different taxonomic levels, and thus represent a model system to investigate the evolutionary traits in exocrine secretion chemistry across a phylogenetically old group of animals. The chemically best-studied opilionid group is certainly Laniatores, and currently available chemical data allow first hypotheses linking the phylogeny of this group to the evolution of major chemical classes of secretion chemistry. Such hypotheses are essential to decide upon a best-fitting explanation of the distribution of scent-g…

Revision of the genus Trogulus Latreille: the Trogulus coriziformis species-group of the western Mediterranean (Opiliones:Trogulidae)

2008

Within the well researched European fauna of harvestmen, the genus Trogulus Latreille exhibits unexpectedly high cryptic diversity. The species’ uniform morphology hinders an exclusively morphological approach to their systematics and taxonomy, and a preliminary molecular study estimated the number of species to be three times higher than currently known. The current study focuses on a clearly defined species-group within Trogulus, combining molecular (~1700 bp 28S rRNA and the cytochrome b gene), distributional, morphometric and morphological data. Relationships are reconstructed using Bayesian inference, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood and this information is subsequently used t…

PENIS MORPHOLOGY IN ONCOPODIDAE (OPILIONES, LANIATORES): EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS AND RELATIONSHIPS

2002

Abstract An interim report on our ongoing revisional study is given together with a short summary of the current knowledge on the systematics and distribution of the family Oncopodidae (Opiliones, Laniatores). An exceptionally high diversity in male genitalia is shown and its possible evolution is discussed. Four major penis types are distinguished in the Oncopodidae and compared with similar forms in other laniatorean families.

Feinstruktur der Tarsal-Dr�se vonSiro duricovius (Joseph) (Opiliones, Sironidae)

1979

Alle Arten der Sironidae tragen als sekundares mannliches Geschlechtsmerkmal ein epidermales Drusenorgan im letzten Tarsalglied des 4. Laufbeines. Das Sekret tritt dort dorsal, exponiert auf einer kanulenartigen Apophyse, dem Adenostyl, nach ausen.

On Harvestmen from the Soutpansberg, South Africa, with Description of a New Species ofMonomontia(Arachnida: Opiliones)

2008

The harvestman fauna of the Western Soutpansberg was investigated during two collecting trips. Comments are made on the variability, ecology and remarkable morphological features of the collected material. Characters are displayed and differences to type series are highlighted. Monomontia neglecta sp. n. is described from material housed at the Natal Museum. Metabiantes leighi Pocock, 1902 is recorded for the first time for the Soutpansberg area. A species list is provided, listing all known records and the state of endemism. The relative species richness of the eastern Soutpansberg is discussed in comparison with the western area.

Vier Dekaden Weberknechtforschung mit dem 64. Band der ‚Tierwelt Deutschlands‘ – Rückblick, aktueller Stand und Ausblick

2021

A short history of the Opiliones volume in ‘Die Tierwelt Deutschlands’ published by Martens (1978) is presented. The area under consideration comprises Central Europe expanded by large parts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, non-Mediterranean France, Benelux, the complete Alps and in the south-east those parts of Romania and Croatia whose fauna was sufficiently well known. Additions and changes which appeared since 1978 are highlighted: new species discovered in this area, taxonomic changes, important distributional records, as well as changes of faunal composition due to human-mediated influences and climate change are addressed. Perspectives for further research concern faunal inventory …

Fissiphalliidae, a new family of South American laniatorean harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones)

2009

Fissiphalliidae, a new family of the Opiliones suborder Laniatores, is described in the superfamily Gonyleptoidea, based on a new genus (Fissiphallius n. gen.) und 3 new species (F. sturmi n. sp., F. spinulatus n. sp., F. sympatricus n. sp.) from Colombia. Most emphasized are the male genitalic characters, unique in Opiliones: A honzontally split truncus which results in a long movable (glans) and an immovable finger (distal part of the truncus). Both hide the extremely long stylus with the seminal opening at its end. In an expanded state, the movable finger is bent dorsally by an erectile vesicle. It is shown that male genitalic characters in Opiliones display clear functional and construc…

Molecular phylogeny, biogeographic history, and evolution of cave-dwelling taxa in the European harvestman genusIschyropsalis(Opiliones: Dyspnoi)

2015

Abstract We estimated a multigenic molecular phylogeny and reconstructed biogeographic history for the European harvestman genus Ischyropsalis C.L. Koch 1839 (Dyspnoi). To reconstruct historical biogeographic patterns we conducted an algorithmic VIP analysis which revealed patterns consistent with a vicariance-dominated history. The existing morphology-based systematic framework for Ischyropsalis is mostly inconsistent with molecular phylogenetic results, and a new informal system is established that recognizes three main clades and several sub-clades. Species-level analyses revealed two non-monophyletic species (I. pyrenaea Simon 1872 and I. luteipes Simon 1872); subspecies of I. pyrenaea …