Abstract
The family Podoctidae, which includes 131 species predominantly from Tropical Asia and Australasia, faces significant taxonomic challenges due to historically inadequate species descriptions. This study presents a detailed redescription of Bonea sarasinorum Roewer, 1914, the type species of the genus Bonea, based on specimens collected from its type locality in Sulawesi. The male of B. sarasinorum is described for the first time, enabling a reassessment of the genus’s systematic placement. Our findings confirm that Bonea belongs to Podoctinae lato sensu (including Erecananinae) rather than Ibaloniinae. However, several morphological traits suggest that Bonea is not a monophyletic group, with B. sarasinorum sharing close affinities with Dongmoa, while other Bonea species may be more closely related to Baramia and Hoplodino. Morphological terminology for the Podoctidae is updated, and the male genitalia of B. sarasinorum are compared to other Podoctinae species, revealing unique traits such as a deeply cleft distal truncus and poorly developed follis. This study highlights the importance of acquiring new material and employing modern imaging techniques, such as microCT, to refine taxonomic understanding of this family.
References
- Kury, A.B. & Granado, A.A. (2025) MicroCT Scan visualization of femur IV apophyses: a promising tool for phylogenetic reconstruction in K92, exemplified by a new species of Cajango (Arachnida: Opiliones: Gonyleptidae). Zootaxa, 5563 (1), 209–221. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5563.1.14
- Kury, A.B. & Machado, G. (2009) Notes on Santobius from Vanuatu and Fiji and the status of the eastern Melanesian Ibalonius (Arachnida: Opiliones: Podoctidae). Zoological Studies, 48 (4), 524–538.
- Kury, A.B. & Machado, G. (2018) Do the species with facies reclinobunoides make up a clade?–A new Lomanius (Opiliones, Podoctidae) from Vietnam and a discussion on its relationships. Zootaxa, 4441 (1), 151–170. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4441.1.9
- Kury, A.B. & Machado, G. (2021) The genus Eurytromma from Sri Lanka: the homology of penial macrosetae in Podoctidae matches the gonyleptoid AE11 pattern (Opiliones: Laniatores: Epedanoidea). The Journal of Arachnology, 49, 358–370. https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-20-078
- Kury, A.B. & Medrano, M. (2016) Review of terminology for the outline of dorsal scutum in Laniatores (Arachnida, Opiliones). Zootaxa, 4097 (1), 130–134. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4097.1.9
- Kury, A.B., Mendes, A.C., Cardoso, L., Kury, M.S., Granado, A.de A. Giribet, G., Cruz-López J.A., Longhorn, S.J., Medrano, M., Oliveira, A.B.R. de, Kury, I.S. & Souza-Kury, M.A. (2024) World Catalogue of Opiliones. WCO-Lite Version 2.7. Available from: https://wcolite.com/ (accessed 29 May 2025)
- Kury, A.B. & Villarreal, O. (2015) The prickly blade mapped: establishing homologies and a chaetotaxy for macrosetae of penis ventral plate in Gonyleptoidea (Arachnida, Opiliones, Laniatores). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 174 (1), 1–46. [in English] https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12225
- Martens, J. (1987) Die Grossgliederung der Opiliones und die Evolution der Ordnung (Arachnida). In: Barrientos, J.A. (Ed.), Actas del X Congreso Internacional de Aracnología, Jaca (España), Septiembre 1986. Vol. I. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (C.S.I.C.) & Grupo de Aracnología (Asociación Española de Entomología), Jaca, pp. 289–310.
- Roewer, C.-F. (1914) Die Opiliones der Sammlung der Herren Drs. Paul u. Fritz Sarasin auf Celebes in den Jahren 1893–1896. Archiv für Naturgeschichte, 79 (10), 70–96. [1913]
- Roewer, C.-F. (1923) Die Weberknechte der Erde. Systematische Bearbeitung der bisher bekannten Opiliones. Gustav Fischer, Jena, 1116 pp.
- Roewer, C.-F. (1927) Weitere Weberknechte I. 1. Ergänzung der: “Weberknechte der Erde”, 1923. Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins zu Bremen, 26 (2), 261–402, pl. 1.
- Roewer, C.-F. (1949) Über Phalangodidae II. Weitere Weberknechte XIV. Senckenbergiana, 30 (4/6), 247–289.
- Suzuki, S. (1969) On a collection of opilionids from Southeast Asia. Journal of Science of the Hiroshima University, 22, 11–77.
- Suzuki, S. (1977) Report on a collection of opilionids from the Philippines. Journal of Science of the Hiroshima University, 27 (1), 1–120.
- Suzuki, S. (1982) Contributions to the taxonomy and zoogeography of the Opiliones of the Philippines, Bismarck and Solomon Islands. With an appendix on some related species from the Moluccas and Sumatra. Steenstrupia, 8, 181–225.
- Weber, M. (1988) Die Phalangodidae – eine polyphyletische Familie der Gonyleptoidea? (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores). PhD Thesis, Fakultät für Biologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen und Mainz. Available from: http://www.mwspider.de/Publication/diplom.htm (accessed 29 May 2025)
- Zhang, C., Kury, A.B. & Zhang, F. (2013) Notes on Bonea Roewer, 1914 and Lomanius Roewer, 1923 (Opiliones: Laniatores: Podoctidae), with the description of three new species from China. Zootaxa, 3630 (2), 201–224. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3630.2.1