Ludson Neves de Ázara

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro | UFRJ · Departamento de Invertebrados

From an ecological and evolutionary standpoint, troglobitic organisms are of special interest because they have evolved in, and are restricted to, the subterranean environment. Iandumoema Pinto-da-Rocha, 1997 stands out for being the only Brazilian harvestmen genus with more than one troglobitic species, with three species described from caves in M...

The old genus Libitia Simon, 1879 of small Andean harvestmen is revisited. The monotypic genus Libitiella Roewer, 1947 is herein considered a junior subjective synonym of Libitia. Accordingly, Libitiella bipunctata (Sørensen, 1932) is restored to the combination Libitia bipunctata. The species Libitia cordata and Libitia bipunctata comb. nov. are r...

The genus Gonyleptellus Roewer, 1930 is revised and reordered; a new species Gonyleptellus angeloi sp. nov. is described from Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, three additional species are transferred from other genera and one species is removed, resulting in five species in this genus. The following nomenclatural acts are proposed herein: Gonyleptes...

The penial and tarsal morphology of Protimesius is studied and morphological data support the revalidation of Obidosus with the subsequent new combinations (20 species) and restored combinations (two species). Emended diagnoses are proposed for both genera, and two cave-dwelling new species of Protimesius are described and illustrated: P. lucifer s...

In Brazil, the order Opiliones has been well studied, making this country the leader in research with the group, but few extensive works have been made on the distribution of harvestmen associated with caves. In this context, the present paper aims to list all records of the superfamily Gonyleptoidea associated with Brazilian caves, using records f...

Background K92 is a clade of Gonyleptidae harvestmen of which the greatest diversity lies within the large non-monophyletic subfamily Gonyleptinae. K92 formally includes five subfamilies: Caelopyginae Sørensen, 1884, Gonyleptinae Sundevall, 1833, Hernandariinae Sørensen, 1884, Progonyleptoidellinae Soares & Soares, 1985 and Sodreaninae Soares & Soa...

Three new species of Eusarcus Perty, 1833 are described from Brazilian caves, increasing the number of species of the genus to 40, eight of which have occurrences in caves. Eusarcus capixaba sp. nov. is described from Lapa do Sítio Paraíso Cave, municipality of Ecoporanga, state of Espírito Santo. Eusarcus marmoreus sp. nov. is described from Caver...

The sixth species of Gonyleptellus is described from the mountains of Nova Friburgo in Rio de Janeiro State, south-eastern Brazil. Gonyleptellus camelopardalis sp. nov. more closely resembles G. pustulatus and G. angeloi due to the proapical apophysis curved backwards with a secondary branch, and more specifically the latter because of the reduced...

Leptus (Leptus) guarani sp. n. is described from Brazil based on eight larvae. List of host-parasite associations between Leptus and arthropods in America is given. New hosts for Leptus: Acanthogonyleptes editus, Caldassius nigripe, Gonyleptes gonyleptoidess and Moreiranula mamillata (Opiliones: Gonyleptidae) were found. New and corrected measureme...

The species Brachylibitia ectroxantha was described by Mello-Leitão in 1941 and since then it was never again reported or studied. Its type is certainly lost and his identity was until now a mystery; it is currently considered as species inquirenda and transferred to Eulibitia in a recent revision of the genus. Herein, we designate a neotype and pr...

Several species of harvestmen occur in natural subterranean cavities using these habitats as shelters and sites of oviposition. Many species have evolved in these environments, thus becoming cave-dwellers. In a few cases harvestmen have been reported in artificial cavities (mines), but without details about their distribution or natural history. Ba...

Newportia (Newportia) spelaea n. sp. and Newportia (N.) potiguar n. sp. are here described from Bahia and Rio Grande do Norte State, respectively. These two species show highly troglomorphic traits, such as elongation of antennae, legs, ultimate legs, tergites, pronounced depigmentation and reduced sclerotization of the cuticle. Both species occur...

Cryptops (Cryptops) spelaeoraptor is here described from Toca do Gonçalo cave, Bahia state, Brazil. This species presents highly troglomorphic traits and can be separated from all other species of Cryptops by possessing a unique trait in Scolopendromorpha: the ultimate pair of legs presents saw teeth on each of the prefemur to tarsus 2 (rather than...

Mitogoniella mucuri sp. nov. is described for some caves in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This species differs from other Mitogoniella species by large tubercles on the ocularium that have fused bases and free apices (or almost fully fused tubercles with bifurcated apices), and by a large dry-mark between tubercles on the longitudinal groove of area III. M...

Cryptops (Trigonocryptops) iporangensis n. sp., and C. (T.) hephaestus n. sp. are described from SE Brazil. C. (T.) iporangensis n. sp. presents highly troglomorphic characters and is described from a remarkable cave system located in Sao Paulo State, the Areias cave system, from were other 16 troglobitic species are also known. C. (T.) hephaestus...

The order Holothyrida includes one of the rarest groups of mites. For the moment, 28 species are known, but only one occurs in Brazil. This work aimed to describe the female of Diplothyrus schubarti, along with presenting the first occurrence of organisms of this order in caves. A total of 54 specimens were collected, in 17 caves in three municipal...