Pio A. Colmenares

Fortia, gen. nov., a new genus of Stygnidae with two new Colombian species, is diagnosed and described. Two possibly sympatric species Fortia jedi, sp. nov., and Fortia sith, sp. nov. (both from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia), are described and illustrated. Relationships of the new genus are discussed.

Among Opiliones (Arachnida), there are many taxa either with no familial assignment or erroneously located in their current family. This is the case of Ethobunus pilosus, formerly in Phalangodidae and before this work in Zalmoxidae. To assess the phylogenetic position of this taxon, we started with a revision of the male genitalia; followed by the...

Some taxonomic changes are made in Amazonian Stygnidae, based on reinterpretation of generic boundaries: (1) the hitherto monotypic genus Jime Pinto-da-Rocha & Tourinho, 2012 is newly recorded from Venezuela: Jime praecursor spec. nov. (Tobogán de la Selva, Amazonas state) is described and a new generic diagnosis is provided. The genital chaetotaxy...

The whip spider (Amblypygi) genus Paraphrynus Moreno, 1940 is distributed from the southern U.S.A. to the Greater Antilles and northern South America. Mexico is the diversity hotspot of the genus where many morphologically similar species occur, often in close geographical proximity. The present contribution aimed to resolve the diversity and phylo...

Among Opiliones, the family Samoidae Sørensen, 1886 is a group of small Laniatores with a wide tropical distribution. Neotropical samoids are distributed mainly in the Caribbean subregion, with species recorded from insular localities and the Venezuelan coastal range. Previously, for continental South America only three genera and just a few specim...

1. Arthropod diversity and non-flying arthropod food web are strongly influenced by habitat components related to plant architecture and habitat structural complexity. However, we still poorly understand the relationship between arthropod diversity and the vegetation structure at different spatial scales. Here, we examined how harvestmen assemblage...

Among the Amazonian families of harvestmen the members of Stygnidae are better known due to the recent revision of the family and efforts of specialists describing new taxa in the last few years. Species of Amazonian genus Auranus Mello- Leitão, 1941, have been collected in several inventories that were carried out in different locations of the Ama...

We describe Avima anitas sp. nov. based on material collected in the Brazilian state of Roraima, representing the first record of Agoristenidae in the State. The new species differs externally from other species of Avima by presenting­ one proximal tubercle on the mesal face of the male cheliceral segment II and a pair of dark spots partially cover...

Between 1998 and 2011, the Venezuelan arachnologist Manuel Ángel González-Sponga (GS) published a series of taxonomic papers devoted to the Pholcidae of Venezuela. Of his 22 new genera, 20 were monotypic when described, suggesting a high percentage of synonyms. We studied his descriptions and as far as accessible his type specimens and propose the...

In this paper we describe two new species of Phareicranaus Roewer, 1913: Phareicranaus rohei sp. nov. from the state of Amazonas, Brazil and Phareicranaus tizana sp. nov., from the state of Zulia, Venezuela. The number of known species of this genus increases to 47. We discuss and suggest the possible relationships of these species with their relat...

A new species of the genus Rowlandius Reddell & Cokendolpher, 1995 is described from Sierra San Luis, Falcón State, northwestern Venezuela. Rowlandius arduus sp. n. may be characterized by having movable finger of chelicerae with a diminute sub-distal tooth, male with a poorly developed dorsal eminence on abdominal segment XII, and female with two...

We report a case of predation by harvestmen (Prionostemma sp.) on a terrestrial isopod (“Philosciidae”), observed in the San Luis Mountains, Falcón State, Venezuela. Data on habitat and associated fauna are given.

A new species of whip spider from Sierra de Perijá, in Zulia State, Venezuela, is described. Phrynus araya sp. n. is characterized by cheliceral morphology, pedipalp spination and the shape of the female gonopods. Comments on the knowledge of the order Amblypygi in Venezuela are made, with emphasis on Zulia State. Some comments on the natural histo...

Eutrecha longirostris Maury, 1982 is herein recorded from Venezuela for the second time, based on one adult male from Lara State, central-western region of the country. A brief description, illustrations of the chelicerae, a map showing the known distribution of this taxon, data on its natural history and a few comments on its morphology are given.

Artema atlanta Walckenaer 1837, Crossopriza lyoni (Blackwall 1867) and Micropholcus fauroti (Simon 1887) are recorded for the first time in Venezuela. An overview and comments on the current diversity of pholcid spiders in Venezuela are given.

A new genus and species of Hubbardiidae are herein described from Sierra de Perijá, northwestern Venezuela, South America. As in Hansenochrus Reddell & Cokendolpher, 1995, and Rowlandius Reddell & Cokendolpher, 1995, the female specimens of the new genus have a tetrasegmented flagellum, but the metapeltidium is clearly divided, the movable finger o...