13011 Mus . ci t. .fit . nat Verona, 1R, 1991, (19941, pp. 1 1 0

MICHELE TEDESCHI - RICCARDO SCIAKY(Milano )

THREE NEW ITALIAN SPECIE SOF THE GENUS HOLOSCOTOLEMON

(Arachnida Opiliones Erebomastridae )

ABSTRACT . Three new species belonging to the genus Holoscotolemon (Opilione sErebomastridae) are here described . H. naturae inhabits the Trompia Valley (Prealps o fBrescia) and seems to be related to H . lessiniense ; H . franzinii lives in Brembana Valle y(Prealps of Bergamo) and shows no close relationship with any of the other known species ,H. monzinii lives in the Northern Apennines and shows affinity with H. oreophilum, fromthe Maritime Alps . A key to the italian species and some remarks on the species known u pto day complete this work .

Key words : Opiliones, Holoscotolemon, new species, Italy .

RIASSUNTO . Tre nuove specie italiane del genere Holoscotolemon (Arachnida OpilionesErebomastridae) . Vengono qui descritte tre nuove specie appartenenti al genere Holoscoto-lemon (Opiliones Erebomastridae) . Di queste, H . naturae è noto della Val Trompia (Prealp ibresciane) e sembra affine a H . lessiniense . H. franzinii è stato rinvenuto in Val Bremban a(Prealpi bergamasche) e non mostra affinità particolari con alcuna altra specie e H. monzi-nii è la prima specie nota dell ' Appennino settentrionale ed è imparentato con H. oreophi-lum, delle Alpi Marittime . Una tabella per la determinazione delle specie italiane e consi-derazioni sulla distribuzione delle specie note completano il lavoro .

Parole chiave : Opilioni, Holoscotolertion, nuove specie, Italia .

The genus Holoscotolemon is the only European genus of the familyErebomastridae . Only three species were known until the '70: H.querilhaci (Lucas, 1864) from Central Massif, H. jaqueti (Corti, 1905 )from Carpathian Mountains and Central Yugoslavia, and H. unicolo rRoewer, 1915, from Austria, Northern Yugoslavia and Eastern Alps ,In 1977 Martens described two additional species from Norther nItaly, H. oreophilum from the Maritime Alps and H. lessiniense fromthe Lessini Mountains ; since then no more species have bee ndiscovered . All these species are endogaeus and live in deep soil, incontact with the clay layers where humidity is always close t osaturation . Very seldom they have also been found in caves, but the ycannot be regarded as true troglobies .

During several research campaigns in Northern Italy, mainly aimed

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MICHELE TEDESCHI - RICCARDO SCIAK Y

at better define the systematic status and distribution area of variou sendogaean species of Coleoptera, three new species o fHoloscotolemon were found, thus allowing a wider knowledge on thi sapparently relict genus, whose distribution area looks now les sdisjunct than earlier . The description of these new species is the mai nsubject of this work .

Holoscotolemon naturae n . sp .

Diagnosis : A species close to H. lessiniense, but with 4 spines(instead of 5) on the ventro-lateral margin of the male tibia o fpedipalp . Glans penis rounded at the sides .

Type material : Holotypus o0' from Val Trompia (BS), Brozzo, m420, 23 .IV.1989, leg . Tedeschi & Sciaky, in coll . Museo Civico diStoria Naturale, Verona . Paratypes : same locality and date of th eHolotypus: 3 o' o0' and 9 9 9 ; Val Trompia (BS), Pezzoro ,23 .IV.1988, leg . Sciaky: 4 o' 0" . Lumezzane (BS) Val Pursì ,23 .IV.1988, leg . Sciaky: 3 0. 0', 9 9 9 , 2 juv . M . Guglielmo (BS) ,V.1990, leg . Monzini: 1 Paratypes in coll . Albertarelli, Chemini ,Giovenzana, Sciaky, Tedeschi, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale ofMilan, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale of Bergamo .

DESCRIPTION . General pattern of the genus . Body length 2 .8-3 .6 mm .Color from pale brown to yellow, infuscated at least in the middle ofabdomen .

Chelicere: basal article with 2 major dorsal spines and 1-2 smalle rones close to them. No other spines are present medially and laterally ;2-3 very small tubercles on the inferior margin . Distal article dorsall ywith two spines, one of which, shorter, just after the articulation an dthe other one, bigger, near the middle . Dorsally and laterally ther eare some other tubercles arranged in parallel rows (fig . 1) .

Pedipalp: trochantere with 2 spines inferiorly ; femur with 5 majorspines dorsally and 4 ventrally (fig . 2) . Medially 4 spines are visible i nthe fore half ; among these, some smaller tubercles can b edistinguished . Patella with 2 medial spines, tibia with 3 ventro-media land 4 ventro-lateral spines, tarsus with 1 small and 3 bigger spines oneach side .

Legs: tarsus of leg 1 of 4 articles ; tarsus of leg 2 of 10 articles ;tarsus of leg 3 of 4 articles ; tarsus of leg 4 of 4 articles .

Genital morphology : penis long, slightly enlarged in the apical

THREE NEW ITALIAN SPECIES OF THE GENUS IIOLOSCOTOLEMON

3

portion of the truncus ; glans slightly narrower than the truncus, wit hrounded sides and with two pairs of small spines at the apex (fig . 7and 8) .

Distribution : Lombardy, Central Prealps, province of Brescia, Va lTrompia . Although many surrounding valleys have been explored inrecent years for faunistic researches on the endogeous faune, nospecimens of this species have been found . Anyway, we canno texclude that it is more widely diffused than we now think . Furtherresearches are needed in order to define more precisely it sdistribution area .

Derivatio nominis : this species is dedicated to the magazine« Natura oggi», who kindly sponsored the expedition during which w ecould collect the largest series of specimens .

Affinities . This species is closely related to H. lessiniense Martens ,1977, from which it differs in the shape of the penis and for th edifferent distribution of spines on femurs of pedipalps (see als oChemini, 1980) . The glans penis of H. naturae is convex in ventra lview (fig . 8), while in H. lessiniense it has the sides rectilinear or eve nconcave in ventral view . The main spines, plus a minor one, on th eventral side of the tibia (fig . 2), while H . lessiniense has four mainspines, plus a minor one, in the same position .

Holoscotolemon franzinii n . sp .

Diagnosis : A species quite isolated within the genus, characterize dby the first segment of cheliceres bearing 3 major dorsal spines an dseveral tubercles . Truncus penis at the apex slightly wider than th eglans .

Type material : Holotypus o' from Val Brembana (BG), Bracca, m

650, 19 .IV.1986, leg . Franzini & Sciaky, in coll . Museo Civico d iStoria naturale, Verona . Paratypes : same locality and date of th e

Holotypus : 10 o' o' and 6 9 9 ; Val Brembana (BG), Tagliate ,19 .IV.1986, leg . Franzini: 3 9 9 ; Val Brembana (BG), Dossena ,7 .V .1983, leg . Sciaky : 1 0' ; Val Brembana (BG), Cornalba ,20 .IV.1986, leg . Sciaky: 2 0' o' and 9 9 9 ; Val Brembana (BG) ,Oltre il Colle, 18 .IV .1980, leg . Pavesi : 1 9 . Paratypes in coll .

Chemini, Tedeschi, Sciaky, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale o fMilan, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale of Milan, Museo Civico d iStoria Naturale of Bergamo .

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MICIIF1,L 'FEI)ESCI II - RICCARDO SCIAK Y

DESCRIPTION . General pattern of the genus . Body length 2 .4-3 .0 mm .Color pale yellow, never infuscated in the middle of abdomen .

Chelicere: basal article with several (10-12) small spines on th edorsal side (fig . 3) . Dorsally there are 3 major spines . Distal articl edorsally with two spines, one of which, shorter, just after th earticulation and the other one, bigger, near the middle . Dorsally an dlaterally there are many other tubercles arranged in parallel rows .

Pedipalp : trochantere with 3 small spines inferiorly; femur with 5major spines dorsally and 4 ventrally (fig . 4) . Medially 4 spines arevisible in the fore half ; among the major spines there are tenths ofsmaller tubercles . Patella medially with 1 spine, tibia with 4 spine smedially and 3 laterally, tarsus with 1 small and 3 bigger spines o neach side .

Leg : tarsus of leg 1 of 4 articles ; tarsus of leg 2 of 10 articles ; tarsu sof leg 3 of 4 articles ; tarsus of leg 4 of 4 articles .

Genital morphology : penis with a long truncus, slightly enlarged a tthe base and the apex ; glans narrower than the truncus, with side svery feebly rounded and with two pairs of small spines in the apica lfourth (fig . 9 and 10) .

DESCRIPTION . Lombardy, Central Prealps, province of Bergamo, Va lBrembana . In spite of the frequent faunistic researches in all th esurrounding valleys, no specimens of Holoscotolemon have beenfound. Anyway, we cannot exclude a wider distribution than the on eknown up to day . We hope that investigations will bring new dat aallowing to know in greater detail the distribution area of this species .

Derivatio nominis : this species is dedicated to our friend GabrieleFranzini, who collected with one of us the largest series of specimens .

Affinities . This species looks quite isolated within the genus ; bothcheliceres and pedipalps are more or less covered with smal ltubercules, so that it is nearly impossible to state their exact number ,while in all the other italian species there is always a small and wel ldefined number of spines . Apart from this, the shape of the penis i squite similar to that of H. naturae and H. lessiniense, but the truncusis shorter and the glans is narrower .

Holoscotolemon monzinii n . sp .

Diagnosis : A species close to H. oreophilum hut with only one bi gspine on the first article of cheliceres (instead of two), the truncus

THREE NEW ITALIAN SPECIES OF THE GENUS HOLOSCOTOLEMON

5

penis more restricted before the apex and the glans penis strongl\dilated in the middle and with the proximal pair of spines just afte rthe middle (instead of the fore third) .

Type material : Holotypus o" from M . Chiappo (PV), 5 .X.1991 ,leg . V . Monzini, in coll . Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Verona .Paratypes : same locality and date of Holotypus : 1 9 ; same locality o fHolotypus, 2 .V.1992, leg . V . Monzini : 2 o" o• and 1 9 ; Tornolo(PR), m 800, Tarsogno (pit-fall traps), IV-VIII .1991, leg . Cerbino &Valle: 1 9 ; id., IX .1991-V.1992 (pit-fall traps), leg . Buttarelli ,Cerbino, Pantini & Valle : 1 9 ; id., 23 .V .1992, leg . Buttarelli ,Pantini & Valle : 1 o" and 2 9 9 ; Beddonia (PR), m 800, Passo d iMontevacà (pit-fall traps), IX .1991-V .1992, leg . Buttarelli, Cerbino ,Pantini & Valle: 2 9 9 . Paratypes in coll . Monzini, Tedeschi andMuseo Civico di Storia Naturale of Bergamo .

DESCRIPTION . General pattern of the genus . Body length 3 .1-4 .1 mm .Color light brown .

Chelicere : basal article with 1 big dorsal spine near the base andanother antero-medial one at the first third . In some specimens fro mthe province of Parma there is one small additional spine, but onl yunilaterally . No other spines are present medially and laterally; a fewvery small tubercles can be seen ventrally . Last segment dorsally wit hone big spine near the middle . Dorsally and laterally there are 2parallel rows, each of 6-7 tubercles (fig . 5) .

Pedipalp: trochantere with 2 spines inferiorly ; femur with 5 majorspines dorsally and 4 ventrally (of which the two first close to thehind margin) (fig . 6) . Medially 2 spines are visible in the fore half ;among these, some smaller tubercles can be distinguished . Patell awith 2 medial spines, tibia with 4 ventro-medial and 4 ventro-latera lspines, tarsus with 1 small and 3 bigger spines on each side .

Leg : tarsus of leg 1 of 5 articles ; tarsus of leg 2 of 10 articles ; tarsu sof leg 3 of 4 articles ; tarsus of leg 4 of 4 articles .

Genital morphology : penis long, slightly enlarged in the apicalportion of the truncus; glans slightly wider than the truncus, wit hrounded sides and with two pairs of small spines, one of which apica land the other in the distal third (fig . 11 and 12) .

Distribution: Northern Apennine, up to day known from theprovinces of Pavia and Parma. While describing H. oreophilum ,Martens (1978) writes that the occurrence of the genu sHoloscotolemon in the Ligurian Alps had long been known, on the

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MICHELF TEDESCHI - RICCARDO) SCIAKY

basis of a mention by Gozo (1908) of Querilhacia querilhaci for. :«Grotta sul Monte Penna» and «Grotta di Val di Pesio» . While thesecond locality is certainly to he attributed to H. oreophilum, the firstone does not refer to this species and it is not on the Ligurian Alps .In fact, Monte Penna is on the Appenines, some 300 km from th enearest locality known for H. oreophilum and very close to thetype-locality of H . monzinii so that this one must he considered as th efirst mention of the distribution of this species .

Derivatio nominis : this species is dedicated to our friend VittorioMonzini, who collected the first typical specimens .

Affinities . This new species is strictly related to H. oreophilum ,even though the characters of the penis, the chelicere and th epedipalp allow a very easy identification . The glans penis is muc hthicker and the apical portion of the truncus more narrowed in H .monzinii than in H. oreophilum ; the first segment of the chelicer ebrings only one big spine in H . monzinii, while two in H. oreophilu mand the tibia of the pedipalp brings three big spines on the ventra lside in H . monzinii while four big and a small one in H. oreophilum .

GENERAL DISCUSSIO N

After the new discoveries the italian species of Holoscotolemon aresix (fig . 13) . In spite of the remarkable homogeneity of the genus ,these species can be divided in small groups : H. unicolor is a quiteisolated species, diffused in Austria, Slovenia and the Eastern ItalianAlps . H. lessiniense and H . naturae are quite strictly related ; the firs tone seems to live in several small mountain groups in the Venetia nregion (Monti Lessini, Monti Berici, Monti Euganei) (Chemini ,1980), the second one lives in the easternmost part of Lombard y(province of Brescia), an area not far from that of the precedin gspecies, but separated by the Adige river, Monte Baldo massif an dGarda Lake, three biogeographical limits that often divid eentomological faunas of different origins (see also Sciaky & VignaTaglianti, 1989) .

H. franzinii seems to occupy a quite isolated position within th egenus, as the peculiar arrangement of spines and tubercules on bot hcheliceres and pedipalps does not seem to be shared by any otherspecies, even though the differences in the shape of the penis do no tseem as important . H. oreophilum and H . monzinii, the two

TIIRF NEW ITALIAN SPECIES OF THE GENUS IIOLOSCOTOLEMON

7

Figg, 1-12 : Right chelicere in medial view (1, 3 and 5), right pedipalp in medial vie w(2, 4 and 6), and penis in ventral (7, 9 and 11) and lateral (8, 10 and 12) view . 1, 2, 7and 8 : holoscotolemon naturae n . sp . ; 3, 4, 9 and 10 : H. franzinii n . sp . ; 5, 6, 11 an d

12 : H . monzinii n . sp .

Ml(i IFIT "[F1)FS( .I II - RI(,( ;ARDO S( ;IAK Y

H. unicolor

■ H. franzini iA H. lessiniense

O H. oreophilu mV H . naturae

• H. monzinii

Fig . 13- Distribution area of the italian species of Holoscotolemon .

southernmost species, are related to each other from a philogenetica lpoint of view, even though the differences between them ar ewell-defined and grant specific differentiation . The best characte rdifferentiating them from the other italian species is mainly the shap eof the penis, with a glans strongly dilated medially .

The occurrence of a species of Holoscololemon on the Apennines i svery interesting and points out once more the affinities between thefauna of the Southern Alps and that of the Apennines, well knownamong the Coleoptera . Other unpublished data on Opiliones confir mthese affinities, i .e . the discovery in the Emilian Apennines, not fa rfrom the area of H. monzinii, of Gyas annulatus, up to now considere das diffused uniquely on the Alpine chain . We expect that new specie sor new localities of H . monzinii will be discovered in the future in th eTosco-Emilian Apenninic chain, allowing us to better understand th edistribution of this group of Arachnida .

Now we will give a key to all the italian species of Holoscotolemo nknown up to day . The characters often concern the shape of th epenis, as in this organ there are the best features allowing todistinguish the species, but up to now all the species are allopatric, soin most cases the locality can help in the determination . In casespecimens of intermediate localities will be discovered in the future,

TI IREE NEW ITALIAN SPECIES OF THE GENUS HOLOSCOTOLEMON

9

this key should allow to decide which of the species they should b eattributed to .

1

First segment of cheliceres with no spines dorsally . Truncus peni senlarged in the middle ; glans penis asymmetrical in dorso-ventra lvision and with only one pair of apical spines unicolo r

First segment of cheliceres dorsally with spines . Truncus peni snot enlarged in the middle ; glans penis symmetrical i ndorso-ventral vision and with two pairs of apical spines 2

2 First segment of cheliceres at least on one side with 1 dorsalspine . Glans penis with 4 spines, 2 of which at the apical thir dand two just after the basal half (fig . 11) . Truncus penis at theapex evidently narrower than the glans . Northern Apennines . monzinii

- First segment of cheliceres constantly with more than 1 dorsalspine . Glans penis with 4 spines, all of which in the apical third(fig . 9) 3

3

First segment of cheliceres dorsally with 3 major spines andseveral tubercles . Truncus penis at the apex slightly wider tha nthe glans (fig . 9) . Lombardy : Prealps of Bergamo franzinii

First segment of cheliceres dorsally without tubercles andgenerally with 2 spines 4

4 Glans penis in dorso-ventral vision parallel-sided or with side sfaintly concave . Truncus penis at the apex slightly wider than th eglans . Tibia of pedipalp in the male with 5 major spines on theventro-lateral margin . Venetian Prealps lessiniense

Glans penis in dorso-ventral vision with sides at least faintl yconvex (fig . 7) . Tibia of pedipalp in the male with 4 major spine son the ventro-lateral margin (fig . 2) 5

5 Glans penis wider than the truncus . Maritime Alps . . oreophilu m

- Glans penis narrower than the truncus (fig . 7) . Lombardy :Prealps of Brescia naturae

REFERENCE S

CIIEMINI C ., 1980 . Alcuni reperti di Opilioni dalle Alpi Italiane (Arachnida, Opiliones) .Studi trent . Sci . nat ., 56, Acta biol . : 71-79 .

Gozo A ., 1908 . Gli aracnidi di caverne italiane. Boll . Soc . ent . ital ., 38 : 109-139 .

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MICHELE TEDESCHI - RICCARDO SCIAKY

MARTENS J ., 1978 . Spinnentiere, Arachnida : Weberknechte, Opiliones . Die Tierwel tDeutschlands, 64: 464 pp ., 815 pp .

SCIAKY R . & VIGNA TAGLIANTI A ., 1989 . The genus Lessinodytes Vigna Taglianti, 1982 : abiogeographical and systematical puzzle . Ann . Biosp ., 17 : 169-174 .

Authors ' address : MICHELE TEDESCHI - Via Arzaga, 11 - 20146 Milano (Italy) - RICCARD OSCIAKY - Via Fiamma, 13 - 20129 Milano (Italy) .

Finito di stampare il 30 giugno 1994 .