The two southernmost species of the Andean genus Acrographinotus Holmgren (Arachnida, Opiliones, Gonyleptidae) described from Bolivia and Argentina Author Acosta, Luis E. text Zootaxa 2024 2024-07-19 5481 5 547 562 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5481.5.4 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.5481.5.4 1175-5326 12783058 B8DC6181-5F90-4071-AE4A-B121F5BF7C90 Acrographinotus Holmgren, 1916 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 41185CA6-EC2C-4040-A8FF-99158F984DA2 Acrographinotus Holmgren 1916: 89 ; Acosta 2001: 58 [complete synonymy]. Type species. Acrographinotus erectispina Roewer, 1929 , by subsequent designation of Roewer (1929) (see nomenclatural history in Acosta 2001 ). Included species. Acrographinotus erectispina Roewer, 1929 , A. curvispina Roewer, 1929 , A. ortizi ( Roewer, 1957 ) , A. ornatus ( Roewer, 1929 ) , A. ceratopygus ( Soares & Bauab, 1972 ) , A. mitmaj Acosta, 2002a , A. niawpaq Acosta, 2001 , A. opacus ( Roewer, 1952 ) , A. tariquiae sp. nov. , A. calilegua sp. nov. Remarks. The most recent incorporation into the genus is A. opacus , originally described in the Brazilian genus Liogyndulus Mello-Leitão, 1932 . As Soares & Soares (1984: 309) synonymyzed the latter under Cobania Roewer, 1913 , the combination Cobania opaca was implied ( Acosta 1996 ), though never explicit. “ Liogyndulus” opacus was listed by Kury (2003: 153) as Pachylinae incertae sedis, because “this species has nothing to do with Cobania ” . Finally, Kury & Pinto-da-Rocha (2020) placed it in Acrographinotus , an action upheld by the diagnoses match (details not given, however) and biogeographic considerations (an Andean species is unlikely to belong to a Brazilian genus). Since the types and only known specimens of Liogyndulus opacus are two females and a juvenile ( Acosta 1996 ), while sound diagnostic features involve males ( Acosta 2001 ), this assignment should be taken with caution and would require further evidence. Distribution. Higher altitudinal belts on Andean and sub-Andean ranges of Perú , Bolivia and northern Argentina ( Fig. 1 ); elevation range 1660–4750 m a.s.l. (~29% of records from above 4000 m ; 77% above 3000 m ; only 5% below 2000 m ). Diagnosis update. Ocular mound with a median apophysis, either tall or low, acute or blunt; in species with low armature ( e.g. , A. mitmaj , A. ortizi ), intraspecific variation may span from a short apophysis to completely unarmed, even with a median depression or notch instead, giving the false appearance of a paired condition. DS in most cases unarmed, be it smooth or with barely scattered granulation or very small round tubercles; only exceptionally ( A. ornatus ) tubercles are large in all areas, pustule-like (males) or round-flat (females). Pp femur without a medial subapical spine. Tarsal formula 6:8–10:7:7. Males with FT-III armed by a single median apophysis, sometimes with a row of granules or (seldom) small apophyses on each side. Free tergites I–II and dorsal anal plate unarmed. VAP either completely unarmed, just granulous, or armed with a pair of horn-like apophyses, be it independent or fused to a shelf-like tegumentary projection in between (in A. calilegua sp. nov. only the latter remains). Coxa IV with a short prolateral apophysis, blunt or truncate, mostly transverse or slightly diagonal; it is rarely large and sigmoid ( A. ornatus ). Trochanter IV sub-trapezoid, articulated obliquely outwards; it is most frequently asymmetric (the prolateral side shorter than the retrolateral one); exceptions are A. ornatus and A. mitmaj , with trochanter IV more symmetric in shape and articulation fairly straight. FeIV straight or arched, in most species with longitudinal rows of granules or blunt tubercles; in some cases ( A. curvispina , A. ortizi , A. mitmaj ) granules and apophysis are acute; only exceptionally spine-like apophyses are very large ( A. ornatus ). Penis: distal end of VPS dilated and armed with a downward-pointing process; on top of the dilated portion there is, with a few exceptions, a membranous projection (the VPS has been described to resemble a ‘round-crested ibis head’). Besides the armature of ocular mound, DS and FT-III, the feature, VPS shape is the best defining character of Acrographinotus among Pachylinae genera ( Acosta 2001 ).