García A.F.1, Kury A.B., Villarreal O. 2022. Chasing the elusive core identity of Avima Roewer, 1949 (Arachnida: Opiliones: Agoristenidae) // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.31. No.2: 217–227 [in English].
Departamento de Invertebrados, Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão, 20.940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. E-mail1: agarciarinc@gmail.com
doi: 10.15298/arthsel. 31.2.10
ABSTRACT. The holotype of Avima leucobunus Roewer 1949, type-species of Avima, is studied, and its genital morphology is described for the first time. The Avima albiornata species group is here proposed to include three species, i.e. Avima albidecorata (Šilhavý, 1979), A. albiornata (Goodnight et Goodnight, 1947) and A. intermedia (Goodnight et Goodnight, 1947), from Northeastern Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname. A. albiornata (Goodnight et Goodnight, 1947) is herein considered a senior subjective synonym of A. leucobunus, syn.n. Avima leiobuniformis (Šilhavý, 1973), syn.n. is considered a junior subjective synonym of A. intermedia. With the aim of chasing the elusive core identity of Avima, a discussion about some diagnostic characters for the genus, which currently includes a large number of unrelated Leiosteninae species, is given.
KEY WORDS: harvestmen, Leiosteninae, South America, taxonomy.