A new species of Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 (Scorpiones: Hormuridae) from Similipal Tiger Reserve, Odisha, India

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  Abstract A new species of Liocheles Sundevall, 1833 is described based on male and female specimens collected from Similipal Tiger Reserve, Mayurbhanj district, Odisha, India. The new species can be easily distinguished from all six known congeners by combination of non-overlapping morphological characters such as carinae and granulation morphology of pedipalp and metasomal segments, median eye ratios. The discovery of Liocheles similipalensis sp. n., elevate the total number of species of the genus to seven and represent the fourth species to be described from India. The current study also highlights the need of systematic surveys along with detailed morphological and molecular studies to uncover true diversity and distribution of the genus, and clarity on published distributional records of L. nigripes (Pocock, 1897) and/or L. australasiae (Fabricus, 1775) which are likely to be part of species complexes. Kininge, Saurabh; Thackeray, Tejas; Gogineni, Prakash C.; and Khand...

Extreme ocularium reduction in Gonyleptidae: A new genus of Tricommatinae from the northeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Opiliones: Laniatores)

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Extreme ocularium reduction in Gonyleptidae: A new genus of Tricommatinae from the northeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Opiliones: Laniatores)

Abstract

Valentinus gen. nov. (Gonyleptidae: Tricommatinae) is described based on two new species from the Atlantic Forest of Bahia, Brazil. The genus is characterized by an extremely flattened ocularium with eyes set far apart—a condition rarely found in Gonyleptidae—along with a depressed dorsal scutum, distinctive armature on scutal areas and free tergites, pincer-forming apophyses on coxa and trochanter IV, and, as far as known, a ventral plate entirely devoid of microsetae. Tricommatinae was historically treated as a broad, heterogeneous subfamily comprising 66 genera and over 100 species from as far afield as Eurasia, the Amazon, and the Andes. Recent systematic revisions have restricted the group to a handful of genera endemic to eastern Brazil. The discovery of Valentinus adds to this redefined lineage and expands its known morphological diversity, documenting an unusually flattened ocularium not previously recorded in Tricommatinae.

Kury, A.B. (2026) Extreme ocularium reduction in Gonyleptidae: A new genus of Tricommatinae from the northeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Opiliones: Laniatores). Zootaxa, 5897 (5), 509–528. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5897.5.4