First record of a representative of Ballarrinae (Opiliones: Neopilionidae), Americovibone remota sp. nov., from New Zealand

Abstract

Americovibone remota sp. nov. is described as the first New Zealand representative of the Ballarrinae, a Gondwanan-distributed group of harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Palpatores), from a female collected at Dart Hut in Mount Aspiring National Park. Though closely allied by external and ovipositor morphology to Americovibone lanfrancoae Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 of southern South America, A. remota lacks the reflexed pedipalpal tibia previously regarded as characteristic of the Ballarrinae. The genus Americovibone is restricted to austral Nothofagus forests which have a similar trans-Pacific distribution.