Zootaxa 2773: 1–65 (2011) ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Monograph ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2011 · Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) ZOOTAXA 2773 Revision of the genus Megalopsalis (Arachnida: Opiliones: Phalangioidea) in Australia and New Zealand and implications for phalangioid classification CHRISTOPHER K. TAYLOR Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. E-mail: [email protected] Magnolia Press Auckland, New Zealand Accepted by P. Schwendinger: 15 Dec. 2010; published: 23 Feb. 2011 Christopher K. Taylor Revision of the genus Megalopsalis (Arachnida: Opiliones: Phalangioidea) in Australia and New Zealand and implications for phalangioid classification (Zootaxa 2773) 65 pp.; 30 cm. 23 February 2011 ISBN 978-1-86977-657-2 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-86977-658-9 (Online edition) FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2011 BY Magnolia Press P.O. 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ISSN 1175-5326 (Print edition) ISSN 1175-5334 (Online edition) 2 · Zootaxa 2773 © 2011 Magnolia Press TAYLOR Table of contents Abstract . 3 Introduction . 4 Material and methods . 5 Phylogenetic analysis . 7 Characters used in analysis . 13 Results and discussion of character analysis . 23 Taxonomic descriptions. 30 Neopilionidae Lawrence 1931. 30 Enantiobuninae Mello-Leitão 1931 . 30 Megalopsalis Roewer 1923 . 31 Key to species of Megalopsalis . 31 Megalopsalis serritarsus Sørensen 1886 . 32 Megalopsalis epizephyros new species . 35 Megalopsalis eremiotis new species . 37 Megalopsalis hoggi (Pocock 1903a) . 39 Megalopsalis leptekes new species . 41 Megalopsalis pilliga new species . 43 Potentially excluded species . 44 Hypomegalopsalis new genus . 45 Hypomegalopsalis tanisphyros new species . 45 Tercentenarium new genus . 47 Forsteropsalis new genus . 47 Key to species of Forsteropsalis . 48 Forsteropsalis chiltoni (Hogg 1910) new combination . 48 Forsteropsalis distincta (Forster 1964) new combination . 50 Forsteropsalis fabulosa (Phillipps & Grimmett 1932) new combination. 51 Forsteropsalis grayi (Hogg 1920) new combination . 52 Forsteropsalis grimmetti (Forster 1944) new combination . 53 Forsteropsalis inconstans (Forster 1944) new combination . 55 Forsteropsalis marplesi (Forster 1944) new combination . 56 Forsteropsalis nigra (Forster 1944) new combination, new rank . 58 Forsteropsalis wattsi (Hogg 1920) new combination . 62 Acknowledgements . 62 Bibliography . 62 Abstract A morphological phylogenetic analysis is conducted of Australasian harvestmen previously included in the family Monoscuti- dae. Monophyly of Monoscutidae is not supported, and the subfamilies Monoscutinae and Megalopsalidinae are synonymised with the South American subfamily Enantiobuninae. Monoscutidae is re-synonymised with the family Neopilionidae. The anal- ysis also demonstrates the polyphyly of species previously assigned to the genus Megalopsalis. Megalopsalis epizephyros new species, M. eremiotis new species, M. leptekes new species and M. pilliga new species are described and M. serritarsus and M. hoggi are redescribed, all from Australia. Hypomegalopsalis tanisphyros new genus and species is described from Western Australia. Megalopsalis linnaei is transferred to Tercentenarium new genus. Forsteropsalis new genus is established to include species from New Zealand (including Auckland Island): Macropsalis chiltoni (type species), Pantopsalis distincta, Macropsa- lis fabulosa, Pantopsalis grayi, Megalopsalis grimmetti, Megalopsalis inconstans, Megalopsalis marplesi, Megalopsalis nigra and Pantopsalis wattsi. REVISION OF MEGALOPSALIS (NEOPILIONIDAE) Zootaxa 2773 © 2011 Magnolia Press · 3 Introduction Long-legged harvestmen of the family Monoscutidae are widespread in Australia and New Zealand, found in all parts of both countries except for the northwest part of Australia. In New Zealand, they are the only indigenous family of long-legged harvestmen (Eupnoi) except for the Caddidae represented by a single species, Acropsopilio neozelandiae (Forster 1948b) whereas the Australian fauna also includes representatives of Caddidae (Forster 1955; Hickman 1957) and Neopilionidae (subfamily Ballarrinae; Hunt & Cokendolpher 1991), with the family Sclerosomatidae marginally represented by a single species restricted to the northeasternmost tip of the continent (Taylor 2009a). Three species of the families Phalangiidae and Sclerosomatidae have been recorded in Australia and New Zealand as introduced exotics (Hickman 1957; Gruber & Hunt 1973). To date, taxonomic studies of Monoscutidae have been conducted solely on a descriptive basis, a situation that is not unusual for Opiliones, and the current paper includes the first major attempt to classify the Monoscutidae phylogenetically. A review of phylogenetic studies of Opiliones has been published by Giribet & Kury (2007). The phylogeny of the order as a whole has been investigated by Shultz (1998), Giribet et al. (1999, 2002, 2010), Giribet & Wheeler (1999) and Shultz & Regier (2001), using a variety of morphological (Shultz 1998; Giribet et al. 1999, 2002) and molecular (Giribet et al. 1999, 2002, 2010; Giribet & Wheeler 1999; Shultz & Regier 2001) methods. Each of these order-level analyses supported a monophyletic clade Eupnoi, including the superfamilies Caddoidea and Phalangioidea. All analyses have also agreed in placing Caddo (the only representative of Caddoidea analysed to date) outside Phalangioidea, but not all phalangioid families have been represented. The only other numerical analysis to date to examine the Phalangioidea has been the morphological analysis by Hunt & Cokendolpher (1991). That analysis focused on Neopilionidae and Monoscutidae (‘Phalangiidae’ and ‘Gagrellidae’ [regarded by Crawford 1992 and Tourinho 2007 as part of Sclerosomatidae] were included as com- posite terminal taxa), assumed phalangioid monophyly, and was rooted by a priori polarisation of characters rather than use of an outgroup (unless otherwise indicated, family names used in the introduction and phylogenetic analy- sis of this paper refer to the classification used by Crawford 1992 and Cokendolpher et al. 2007). Selected rather than consensus results were presented, and several distinct hypotheses of phalangioid relationships were presented after analysis. Hunt & Cokendolpher (1991) proposed the existence of a clade uniting species of Phalangioidea in which the spiracle was closed by an occluding entapophysis (originally described by Šilhavý 1970). This clade was also implicitly supported by Martens (1976, 1978, 1986) who recognised its members as a single family Phalangii- dae (including Sclerosomatidae) on the basis of genital morphology. Phalangioidea was represented in the analysis of Giribet et al. (2002) by species of Phalangiidae, Sclerosomatidae and the incertae sedis genus Dalquestia (placed by Crawford 1992 in the ‘Metopilio assemblage’), with support for monophyly of each family as well as their forming a monophyletic clade. However, members of the families Monoscutidae, Neopilionidae and Protolo- phidae were not analysed. Giribet et al. (2010) also included Protolophus, Eurybunus (another member of the ‘Metopilio assemblage’ according to Crawford 1992) and two New Zealand representatives of Monoscutidae but not Neopilionidae. Monophyly was supported for Phalangiidae and Sclerosomatidae (with Protolophus included in Sclerosomatidae) but the entapophyseate clade was not supported; instead, Monoscutidae was placed as the sister taxon to Sclerosomatidae. However, except for the monophyly of the families themselves, support for family rela- tionships within the Phalangioidea was low. Macropsalis serritarsus Sørensen 1886 was the first species of long-legged harvestman to be described from Australia, and the second from Australasia after the.