New Zealand is home to 30 recognised endemic mite harvestman species and subspecies, 26 of which were described by Ray Forster in 1948 and 1952. These species comprise three genera: Rakaia Hirst, 1926, Neopurcellia Forster, 1948, and Aoraki Boyer & Giribet, 2007. Here, we focus on the diversity and distribution of Aoraki: we describe A. grandis Boyer, Tuffield & Dohr, sp. nov. and A. meridialis Boyer, Hahn & Ward, sp. nov. and we synonymise A. granulosa (Forster, 1952) with A. tumidata (Forster, 1948), bringing the total of named species and subspecies to twelve, and extending the southern range of the genus by over 100 km. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed three major lineages within the genus characterised by differing levels of granulation of the male fourth tarsus. We report striking variation in the range size and level of genetic structuring present within currently recognised species and subspecies of Aoraki, and propose future studies to address evolutionary, biogeographic and taxonomic questions in the group.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BDD4D61C-B099–44D5–949C-34AD217A016F.

The Scirtidae Fleming, 1821 has been identified as one of the earliest diverging groups of Polyphagan beetles and is particularly speciose in Australia. However, very little is known about the origin of the Australian scirtids and there is a need for a robust, well-supported phylogeny to guide the genus and species descriptions and understand the relationships among taxa. In this study we carried out a phylogenetic analysis of the Australian Scirtinae Fleming, 1821, using DNA sequence data from ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and included representative taxa from New Zealand, New Caledonia, South America, South Africa and Eurasia in the analysis. Bayesian analyses of a concatenated dataset from 79 taxa recovered four major Southern Hemisphere groupings and two Australian–Eurasian groupings. The Veronatus group mainly consisted of genera from New Zealand, with the three Australian representatives only distantly related to each other. Relaxed molecular clock analyses, using the estimated age of the crown node of the Polyphaga for calibration, support a Gondwanan history for four of the groups of Australian Scirtinae and a northern origin for two groups. Our results highlight the value of commercially available UCEs for resolving the phylogenetic history of ancient groups of Coleoptera.

The integration of multiple lines of evidence in the delimitation of taxa is becoming the gold standard in modern taxonomy and systematics. However, multi-layered taxonomy is still incipient when it comes to species description within a mega-diverse group of organisms (e.g. arthropods), especially those inhabiting secluded environments such as caves. This may represent a significant shortcoming, because species in subterranean habitats generally show deep convergence in their somatic traits, perplexing our ability to delimit species by traditional approaches. The genus Troglohyphantes Joseph, 1882 (Araneae: Linyphiidae) is presently known to include 129 species and 5 subspecies, all of which are primarily distributed in subterranean habitats of the European mountain ranges. Recent studies on Italian alpine species covered taxonomy and faunistic, biogeography and ecology. However, our knowledge about the actual species diversity of Troglohyphantes spiders is far from complete, and it is expected that significant levels of overlooked diversity might exist within the genus. In this work, we combined morphological data with target gene molecular data, functional trait analysis and thermal physiology to explore overlooked diversity in Troglohyphantes vignai auct., a species of subterranean spider in the Western Italian Alps with an apparently broader distribution than its congeners. Our approach proved effective in uncovering overlooked diversity and further supporting the split of T. vignai auct. into three distinct species whose distribution ranges how striking resemblances with that of other subterranean spiders. We here describe the new species and discuss their origins in light of their geographical vicariance, niche convergence, thermal ecology and divergence time.

The systematics of Philodromidae is far from complete, especially for the Neotropical genera. Among these, Petrichus Simon, 1886 is a poorly known genus restricted to arid and semi-arid environments of South America. In this work, we performed a total-evidence analysis to assess the phylogenetic relationships of Petrichus and revised the taxonomy. Petrichus is monophyletic and closer to Titanebo and the New World Ebo. Within Petrichus, two clades are obtained: the Eremean Clade, containing five species displaying a Neotropical distribution; and the Patagonian Clade, with the seven species inhabiting southern South America. Our results also support a previous hypothesis on the phylogenetic relationships within Philodromidae. Thanatini is monophyletic and includes Fageia and Berlandiella, although this is not statistically supported, whereas Philodromini emerges as paraphyletic. We propose Philodromini be expanded to contain all genera having eyes on tubercles analysed in this work plus the closely related Halodromus, whereas the circumscription of Thanatini should await future phylogenetic analyses with new evidence. As for taxonomic proposals, we synonymise Bacillocnemis Mello-Leitão, 1938 with Petrichus, Petrichus ornatus Schiapelli & Gerschman, 1942 and P. luteus (Nicolet, 1849) with P. junior (Nicolet, 1849), P. lancearius Simon, 1905 with P. tullgreni Simon, 1902; we transfer P. corticinus Mello-Leitão, 1944 to Misumenoides Pickard-Cambridge, 1900 (Thomisidae); and P. fuliginosus (Nicolet, 1849), P. cinereus Tullgren, 1901, P. sordidus Tullgren, 1901 and P. zonatus Tullgren, 1901 are regarded as nomina dubia. In total, 13 species are recognised for the genus, of which four are new (described by Griotti & Grismado): P. spira, from western Argentina, P. patagoniensis, from south-western Argentina, P. roigjunenti, from Argentina and Chile and P. eremicus, from north-central Chile.

ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/References/1220255e-6431-45c2-adfe-ed58d1f89b17