Unveiling high solifuge diversity: Review of the genus Pseudocleobis Pocock, 1900 (Ammotrechidae) in Chile with the description of nine new species

Abstract

The Pseudocleobis from Chile are revised. Pseudocleobis morsicans (Gervais, 1849) and P. chilensis Roewer, 1934 are considered species inquerenda. Pseudocleobis andinus (Pocock, 1899) is removed from the Chilean fauna, and its previous records are considered misidentifications. Pseudocleobis alticola Pocock, 1900 is recorded from Chile for the first time. Nine new species are described, Pseudocleobis elongatus n. sp., P. atacamensis n. sp., P. puna n. sp., P. krausi n. sp., P. choros n. sp., P. lalackama n. sp., P. mumai n. sp., P. cekalovici n. sp. and P. escuadra n. sp. The species can be distinguished by the male chelicera morphology. We discuss the relationship of Chilean Pseudocleobis with other species of the genus, based on morphology. This work increases the number of known Chilean solifuge species by almost 70%, revealing the high degree of diversification of this group in Chile.