Gustavo Miranda

The Eastern Mediterranean amblypygid Charinus ioanniticus (Kritscher, 1959) is recorded from Jordan for the first time, which
represents the first record of an amblypygid for the country. This expands the known distribution of the order Amblypygi and of the
family Charinidae in the region.

The whip spider genus Sarax Simon, 1892 is widely distributed throughout Southeast Asia and part of the Indo-Malayan region. The genus is recorded from several Indonesian islands, but no species are known from inside the area that comprises the biogeographical region of Wallacea, despite being recorded from both sides of the area. An expedition to survey the biology of caves in Timor-Leste (formerly East-Timor) discovered populations of amblypygids living underground and including a remarkable new species of Sarax, S. timorensis sp. n., the first Amblypygi known from the island of Timor. The new species is here described bears the unique character state of two pairs of lateral eyes, instead of three or none as in all other living species of Amblypygi, and expands the biogeographic range of the genus. New records of am-blypygids are given for two caves in Timor-Leste. A detailed description and a discussion of its distribution and the species characters are also provided.

The taxonomy of the Trechona C. L. Koch, 1850 species is revisited with the description of two new species from Southeastern Brazil: Trechona excursora sp. nov., from the state of Minas Gerais, and Trechona cotia sp. nov., from the state of São Paulo. Trechona uniformis Mello-Leitão, 1935 is redescribed, its female newly described and new data are added to descriptions of Trechona rufa Vellard, 1924 and Trechona venosa (Latreille, 1832). A key is given to males and females of all known species of Trechona, and an updated distribution map is presented.

The whip spider genus Phrynichus (Phrynichidae, Amblypygi) is widely distributed in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Asia with a total of 17 species. No records, however, are known from several countries in the Middle East. Here we provide the first record of a whip spider from Iran (Ilam Province), with the description and illustration of a new species, Phrynichus persicus sp. n. This discovery fills a gap in the distribution of the group that is known from both sides of this biogeographically interesting region and is also the northernmost record of the family Phrynichidae. Moreover, all distribution records of the Phrynichus species are mapped (including the first verified record of the order from the United Arab Emirates), an updated key to the species of the deflersi and ceylonicus groups is provided, and Phrynichus andhraensis Bastawade, Rao, Maqsood Javed and Krishna, 2005 (India) is assigned to the ceylonicus group.

Amblypygi Thorell, 1883 has five families, of which Phrynichidae is one of the most diverse and with a wide geographic distribution. The genera of this family inhabit mostly Africa, India and Southeast Asia, with one genus known from the Neotropics, Trichodamon Mello-Leitão, 1935. Trichodamon has two valid species, T. princeps Mello-Leitão, 1935 and T. froesi Mello-Leitão, 1940 which are found in Brazil, in the states of Bahia, Goiás, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Norte. The boundaries of the species are not well established and the characters classically used in the group are poorly defined. The relationship of Trichodamon to the other genera in the family is also subject to debate. Some phylogenetic hypotheses propose Trichodamon as sister to Eurphynichus Weygoldt, 1995 and Phrynichus Karsch, 1879, in the sub-family Phrynichinae. Others suggest Trichodamon in Damoninae, sister to Damon and Phrynichodamon Weygoldt, 1996. The present work has the aim to characterize Trichodamon species, update the species distribution and ascertain the phylogenetic position of the genus in Phrynichidae using morphological characters. Our results show that the diagnostic characters of Trichodamon species, i.e. number of spines on the pedipalp, shape of the frontal process, number of teeth on the chelicerae, male and female shape of gonopods, are highly variable. A gradual colour variation from the northern to the southern areas of the distribution is also present. In face of the high variability, the synonymy of Trichodamon froesi (syn. jun.) with T. princeps is suggested. The cladistic analysis recovered Trichodamon as sister to Phrynichus + Euphrynichus in the subfamily Phrynichinae supported by eight characters, one exclusive to the group (dorsal spines on pedipalp patella positioned on the apex of the article forming the phrynich hand). In Damoninae, Phrynichodamon Weygoldt, 1996 was found as sister to Damon, forming the tribe Damonini, a group supported by the number of ventral spines on pedipalp femur; Musicodamon was recovered as sister to Damonini, forming the subfamily Damoninae, and the clade can be recognized by the presence of sclerotization on the apex of the claw-like projection of the female gonopod. The unranked taxon Euphrynichida Weygoldt, 2000 (Phrynichinae + Damoninae) was recovered with good support and is identified by the rectangular shape of the female gonopod and by the presence of one spine on the proximal series on pedipalp femur.

The modestly diverse order Amblypygi Thorell, 1883 includes five families, of which Charinidae Quintero, 1986 is the most diverse and with the widest geographical distribution. The family currently comprises three genera, Catageus Thorell, 1889, Charinus Simon, 1892 and Sarax Simon, 1892, the first known by one species from a single locality in Myanmar, the second with currently 74 species globally distributed, and the last with 17 species present in Southeast Asia and India. In this paper we describe and illustrate a new genus to accommodate the species Sarax davidovi Fage, 1946 based on unique characters. Weygoldtia gen. nov. (Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia) is supported by two synapomorphies: the presence of a straight crest anterior to the lateral eyes and the longitudinal orientation of the rod sensilla on tarsus of leg I. The new genus can be distinguished from Charinus and Sarax by the number of trichobothria on distitibia IV and the presence of one or two setae on the base of the cleaning organ on pedipalp tarsus. The enigmatic species Catageus pusillus Thorell, 1889 (the single species in the genus) is here synonymized with Stygophrynus cavernicola (Thorell, 1889) (family Charontidae Simon, 1892) and a neotype is designated. As Stygophrynus cavernicola is the type species of the genus, the synonymization of the two species results in the synonymy of the genera. Following the principle of priority, Catageus is maintained and all nine species of Stygophrynus Kraepelin, 1895 now have the following new combination:

Sexual dimorphism is a common feature of life. Researchers have noted that some species of Amblypygi (Class Arachnida) exhibit male-biased sexual dimorphism, but a broad overview of the prevalence of sexual dimorphism in the order does not exist. In order to provide such an overview, we imaged and measured morphological characteristics of 390 amblypygids from 36 species. Our aim was to gain insight into general patterns of sexual dimorphism across the order. We found that, generally, males have larger pedipalps, longer antenniform legs, but smaller carapace widths relative to conspecific females for nearly all species studied. Species ranged from no sexual dimorphism (Phrynus exsul and Charinus insularis) to male pedipalps almost double the length of females in some species (Charon grayi, Euphrynichus amanica). Phylogenetic patterns remain unclear in Amblypygi and our data better match geographic patterns than evolutionary history. We thus suggest that sexual dimorphism is ancestral for the order, but has been reduced or lost in some species.

Eight new species of Charinus Simon, 1892 are described for the Brazilian Amazon, from the states of Pará (C. bichuetteae sp. n., C. bonaldoi sp. n., C. carajas sp. n., C. ferreus sp. n., C. guto sp. n. and C. orientalis sp. n.) and Amazonas (Charinus brescoviti sp. n. and C. ricardoi sp. n.). All new species can be differentiated from the other species of the genus by the number of pseudo-articles in basitibia IV, the presence/absence of median eyes, and the shape of the female gonopod. Brazil now becomes the country with the largest diversity of Amblypygi in the world, with 25 known species. Half of the new species described here have a high degree of endangerment: C. bichuetteae sp. n. is threatened by the flood caused by the hydroelectric dam of Belo Monte, and C. carajas sp. n., C. ferreus sp. n. and C. orientalis sp. n. are endangered by the iron mining in Carajás municipality and surroundings. The Charinus species here described are endemic to the Amazon Region, so in order to assure their preservation, it is strongly recommended a special care with their habitats (type localities) which are facing increasing rates of destruction and deforestation.

Three new species of Macrelmis Motschulsky, 1859 are described and illustrated based on adult males from Rio de Janeiro,
Minas Gerais and São Paulo states (southeastern Brazil). A new species groups definition is proposed for the genus,
with a redefinition of the former six (aristeae sp. group, celsa sp. group, isus sp. group, granigera sp. group, milleri sp.
group and striata sp. group) and designation of four new groups (alea new sp. group, amazonica new sp. group, grandis
new sp. group and jureceki new sp. group). The male genitalia of M. clypeata is illustrated for the first time and distributional
maps for all species of the genus are provided.

The composition of a comic book character often has interesting real-life influences. Given the strong connection between insects and human beings, it is not surprising that they have inspired many fictional characters. We conducted an inventory of the characters that somehow have been inspired by insects, considering only the two major American comic publishers, DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Such characters have had their features compared with the morphology, biology and behavior of living insects from the real world. The overall of 232 characters were obtained, 119 of DC and 113 of Marvel. There is no significant statistical difference between the two publishing houses in relation to number of characters. Despite insects have bad reputation for being injurious, there was no statistical difference between the amount of villains and heroes, considering the total number of characters of both publishing houses. The significant majority of groups of insects which served as inspiration for the characters belong to orders framed in Holometabola groups.

In this article we introduce some important concepts about the relevance of the study and cataloging of Brazilian biodiversity, bringing a discussion of the importance of knowledge about it and its environmental, economic and social consequences. We also discuss some challenges experienced daily by researchers to build this knowledge, as well as its applicability to the environmental conservation. Some Brazilian ecosystems, among marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats, are addressed in this discussion. It is expected that this paper highlights some of the aspects of the huge brazilian biodiversity and encourage new students to become researcher sand explorers toward the knowledge of the planet’s biological heritage.

A biogeografia é a disciplina que explica a distribuição dos grupos de organismos, ou táxons, na superfície da terra. A biogeografia histórica se propõe a estudar agentes do passado utilizando padrões de distribuição de espécies e táxons supra-específicos gerados por processos que atuam em larga escala e dizem respeito a milhares de anos. As rápidas mudanças na biogeografia histórica foram introduzidas por alguns indivíduos com ideias particulares. Este trabalho tem como objetivo descrever os principais passos que conduziram à biogeografia de vicariância e analisar a teoria do modo que se apresenta atualmente. Além disso, fornecer uma lista com os principais trabalhos dos três autores que desenvolveram a biogeografia de vicariância, Donn Rosen, Gareth J. Nelson e Norman Platnick, e uma tabela com os diferentes métodos utilizados em biogeografia histórica nos períodos pré e pós-cladismo. Este trabalho pretende fornecer dados para o ensino e pesqui-sa em bigeografia. A ideia de que a vida evolui junto com a Terra foi clara-mente exposta por Léon Croizat, que apresentou um método para se avaliar essas modificações, a panbiogeografia. A panbiogeografia ganhou força quando se juntou à teoria da tectônica de placas de Alfred Wegener. Pouco depois, Nelson, Rosen e Platnick adicionaram ao método panbiogeográfico o conceito filogenético elaborado por Willi Hennig.

The genus Austrolimnius Carter & Zeck has its greatest known diversity in Oceania, but its fauna in the Americas is poorly known. In this paper, two new species—Austrolimnius uncatus sp. nov. and A. bocainensis sp. nov.—are described and illustrated based on adult specimens collected at Serra da Bocaina National Park, São José do Barreiro Municipality, São Paulo State, and Nova Friburgo Municipality, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Austrolimnius uncatus sp. nov. is characterized by the long setae on the mesotarsus, the medial expansion of the hind tibiae, and the hook-like shape of the male genitalia. Austrolimnius bocainensis sp. nov. can be recognized by the absence of setae on the mid-tarsus, the cylindrical hind tibiae, and the slightly curved genitalia with few setae. A pictorial key for the Brazilian species of the genus is given. New records of Brazilian species of the genus are reported.

A new species of the genus Sarax Simon, 1892 is described from Panay Island, Philippines. Sarax curioi sp. n. is the second species of the genus from the country and can be distinguished from the other Philippine species (Sarax brachydactylus Simon, 1892) by the sclerotized granules of the pedipalp surface, the spines of the pedipalp distitibia, the number of denticles of the chelicerae claw and the shape of the denticles of the chelicerae basal segment. Sarax newbritainensis Rahmadi and Kojima, 2010 is newly recorded from New Ireland Island, Papua New Guinea.

A new species of the genus Charinus—C. vulgaris— is described from Porto Velho, Rondônia. This is the first record of the family Charinidae from the Brazilian Amazonia and of a synanthropic species in South America. Additionally, two new records of the genus for Brazil are made and a key to the Brazilian species of the genus is given.