Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) from the Atlantic Forest of the Fernão Dias Environmental Protection Area, southern Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest harbors the world’s greatest diversity of harvestmen. However, this biome is highly modified and fragmented, negatively impacting biodiversity. Thus, the present study aimed to inventory the harvestmen fauna in the Fernão Dias Environmental Protection Area (Fernão Dias EPA), in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The study was conducted in the municipality of Gonçalves, within the Fernão Dias EPA. Harvestmen sampling took place from October 2019 to March 2020. A total of 265 individuals from 24 species and morphospecies were collected. Reported six new species for the state: Acanthogonyleptes singularis (Mello-Leitão, 1935), Ampheres luteus (Giltay, 1928), Meteusarcoides caudatus (Piza, 1940), Ogloblinia intermedia (Soares, 1944), Megapachylus anomalus (Mello-Leitão, 1922), and Gonyleptes pseudogranulatus (Soares, 1946). This underscores the importance of the Fernão Dias EPA for the protection of the harvestmen fauna in the state of Minas Gerais.

Keywords

• biodiversity
• conservation
• inventory