Meterginus

Meterginus inermipes, copyright Daniel N. Proud.

Belongs within: Cosmetidae.

Meterginus is a genus of cosmetid harvestmen found in Central and northern South America.

Characters (from Roewer 1923): Robust animals with strong (especially third and fourth) legs. Area I with one median tubercle pair; area III with one median spine pair; areas II, IV and V and free tergites I–III unarmed. Second cheliceral segment of male usually strongly thickened and rising well above first segment. Legs in both sexes with basal segments of legs III and especially IV much thicker and stronger than in legs I and II; telotarsus II 3-segmented; tarsi I–IV each more than 6-segmented, variable. Secondary sexual dimorphism often expressed in legs III and especially IV of male.

<==Meterginus Pickard-Cambridge 1905 K03
    |--*M. basalis Pickard-Cambridge 1905 K03 [=Paecilaema basalis GG53]
    |--M. affinis Roewer 1963 K03
    |--M. albonotatus (Goodnight & Goodnight 1953) [=Paecilaema albonotatum] K03
    |--M. apicalis Pickard-Cambridge 1905 [=Cynorta apicalis] K03
    |--M. dorsalis Pickard-Cambridge 1905 K03
    |--M. flavicinctus (Gervais 1842) (see below for synonymy) K03
    |--M. inermipes Roewer 1947 K03
    |--M. latesulfureus (Simon 1879) [=Erginus latesulfureus, Rhaucus latesulfureus] K03
    |--M. marginellus (Simon 1879) [=Erginus marginellus, Rhaucus marginellus] K03
    |--M. marmoratus (Roewer 1912) [=Pararhaucus marmoratus] K03
    |--M. obscurus (Sørensen 1932) [=Rhaucus obscurus] K03
    |--M. prosopis Roewer 1912 K03
    |--M. serratus Roewer 1912 K03
    |--M. simonis (With 1932) [=Rhaucus (Erginus) simonis, Rhaucus (Erginus) serratus ms] K03
    |--M. tibialis Pickard-Cambridge 1905 K03
    |--M. togatus (Sørensen 1932) [=Rhaucus togatus] K03
    `--M. zilchi Roewer 1954 K03

Meterginus flavicinctus (Gervais 1842) [=Cosmetus flavicinctus, Cynorta flavocincta (l. c.), Pararhaucus flavicinctus] K03

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[GG53] Goodnight, C. J., & M. L. Goodnight. 1953. The opilionid fauna of Chiapas, Mexico, and adjacent areas (Arachnoidea, Opiliones). American Museum Novitates 1610: 1–81.

[K03] Kury, A. B. 2003. Annotated catalogue of the Laniatores of the New World (Arachnida, Opiliones). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología, volumen especial monográfico 1: 1–337.

Roewer, C. F. 1923. Die Weberknechte der Erde: Systematisches Bearbeitung der bisher bekannten Opiliones. Gustav Fischer: Jena.