New data on Paecilaemella (Opiliones, Cosmetidae): two new Ecuadorian species from opposite Andean slopes.

Abstract

The genus Paecilaemella Roewer, 1925 currently comprises six described species distributed across the upper Amazon Basin and both slopes of the northern Andes. In this study, we describe two new Ecuadorian species - one from the Pacific slope (Esmeraldas Province) and another from the Amazonian slope (Pastaza Province). The new taxa corroborate the trans-Andean distribution of the genus and contribute with useful morphological data for future phylogenetic analyses of Cosmetidae. The species are named in honor of Fernanda Salazar and Taryn Ghía, of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE, Quito), whose generous assistance and friendship greatly facilitated our fieldwork in Ecuador.