Two new Colombian harvestmen of the genus Vima (Arachnida: Opiliones: Agoristenidae)

Two new Colombian species of the genus Vima Hirst, 1912 are described: Vima dilectus sp. nov. from the Meta department


INTRODUCTION
In the early lineages of Gonyleptoidea there exist an undesignated grade (paraphylum), chracterized by the absence of a well-defined flat ventral plate and expanded subdistal portion of the penis (Kury 2014, Kury and Villarreal 2015, Villarreal et al. 2022).This group has been referred to as "hammer-bearing Gonyleptoidea" by Villarreal and García (2021).At least four harvestmen families are included in the malleus-bearing Gonyleptoidea group: Agoristenidae, Cryptogeobiidae, Gerdesiidae, and Stygnidae.Among these, only Agoristenidae and Stygnidae encompass species found in Colombia.
Similar to other families of Neotropical harvestmen, generic diagnoses within Agoristenidae have traditionally been established using the Roewerian taxonomic system.This approach has resulted in the inclusion of unrelated species within inadequately defined genera based on minor characteristics (Villarreal et al. 2015, Villarreal et al. 2023).Efforts have been initiated to address this issue, including the development of a Leiosteninae phylogeny (Kury 1997, Villarreal and García 2021, García and Villarreal 2023).Nevertheless, determining the precise generic placement of numerous species remains a challenge.
In Colombia, the Leiosteninae subfamily is represented by eight genera and 15 species.Vima Hirst, 1912, was described to accommodate V. insignis Hirst, 1912 from Guyana (Hirst, 1912).Subsequently, Vima was expanded and re-diagnosed to incorporate a second species from Colombia, V. panita García and Kury, 2020, from the department of Caquetá (García and Kury 2020).
Recent examination of specimens from two Colombian natural history collections, we identified two undescribed species of Vima from the Meta and Santander departments.In this paper, we describe and illustrate two new species from the Colombian departments of Meta and Santander.Additionally, we provide a species distribution map and offer a taxonomic key for the identification of all Vima species.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The photographs were taken with a Leica M205C stereoscope attached to a Leica DFC450 digital camera and posteriorly edited in Photoshop CC 2014 software afterwards.Coloration descriptions use the standardized names (transcribed verbatim) and their numbers of the 267 Color Centroids of the NBS/IBCC Color System (Jaffer c2001).Drawings of external morphology and penis were made with the aid of a camera lucida and vectorized in Inkscape (Harrington et al., c2004).The collection data were transcribed verbatim from the labels, and additional interpolated information (e.g., specific locality, geographic coordinates) were estimated with Google Maps and are placed between square brackets.

DESCRIPTION
Measurements.See table 1. Dorsum.DS outline epsilon, type 2. Ocularium elliptical and medium, without median depression, tuberculated, located medially on the carapace.Mesotergum (abdominal scutum) delimited, divided into four areas, each one with a pair of paramedial large granules (Figs 1b,d,e,.DS widest at level of area II.Area I divided into two halves with some granules; areas II-IV undivided and with some granules (Figs 1b,.Posterior border of scutum curved (Figs 1a-b).Free tergites I-III with a row of granules (Figs 1b,d,. Venter.Stigmatic area with a few granules and a posterior row of conspicuous granules.Stigmata oval and concave (Fig. 1c).Coxa I with a curved row of tubercles increasing in size distally, and one proximal, large, and trapezoidal tubercle on the anterior margin of the coxa I, with a medium-sized tubercle at its base, and one small tubercle at the proximal face (Fig. 2c); coxa II longer than coxa I; coxa III longer than I and II; coxa IV backward (Fig. 1c).
Chelicera.Basichelicerite (segment I) trapezoid with wellmarked bulla (Figs 1b,d); three large tubercles on ectal face, two large tubercles on posterior margin, and two medium-sized tubercles on the dorsomedial face (Figs 1b,d,2a).Chelicera swollen (Figs 1,2a,d).Anterior region of the hand with setiferous tubercles of different sizes that go from the medial region of the hand to the base of movable and fixed fingers.Fixed finger with the inner surface finely grooved.Movable finger with one trapezoid sub-basal tooth and the inner surface of the distal portion dentated (Fig. 2d).
Penis.LP small (width twice the height) and apically depressed with anterolateral blunt and not dorsoapically pointed swollen tips (Figs 2f, g).Malleus with two pairs of branched MS-A located in the dorsal half, MS-A2 located far from the base of the stylus; one pair of branched MS-B on the ventral side; MS-C absent; two pairs of medium-sized MS-D1-D2 located close to each other and near the stylus on a keel between the dorsal region of the LP and the base of the stylus; MS-E2 large and branched, MS-E1 medium-sized, conical, and located slightly distal to MS-E2 on the ventral side of the LP (Figs 2f, g).Stylus elongated, mostly straight, and surpassing the LP; connective tissue present between the sharp DP and the stylus, slightly corrugated, with irregular peaks on the apical medial region (Figs 2f, g).

Distribution and habitat.
The species is only known from the forests of the lowlands of Meta department (Acacías municipality) (Fig. 5), in the limits between the Cordillera Oriental montane forests and the ecoregion of the Apure-Villavicencio dry forests (Olson et al. 2001).
Etymology.The species is named after the late entomologist German Amat García, for his great teaching contribution to Colombian entomology.Amat is the Catalan version of the Latin surname Amatus, meaning the loved one.Dilectus, in Latin, has the same meaning.

DESCRIPTION
Measurements.See table 1.
Diagnosis.Segments of pedipalp concolor (as in V. insignis; in V. panita and V. dilectus the distal femur, patella, and tibia are withish).Anteroproximal tubercle of coxa I with three marked peaks (smooth in the rest of the species).Low ocularium (high in the rest of the species).
Peaks on the connective tissue between DP and stylus higher at medial region (same height in V. bellator; mostly smooth and with just one medial peak in V. panita; tissue absent in V. insignis).d, 4a).Chelicera swollen (Figs 3,4a).Anterior region of the hand with small setiferous tubercles on the medial region, and a group of medium-sized/large tubercles close to the base of the movable and fixed fingers.Fixed finger  with the inner surface finely grooved.Movable finger with one trapezoid sub-basal tooth, and with the inner surface on the distal portion dentated (Fig. 4d).
Pedipalps.Trochanter with one ventral, subapical, and medium-sized tubercle.Femur with a ventroectal row of four setiferous tubercles, the two basalmost larger than the two distalmost, and one medium-sized ventromesal setiferous tubercle on the distal portion (Figs 3c, d, 4e).
Legs.Leg I filiform, legs I-IV straight and smooth.Leg IV thicker than the others; coxa IV with one small dorso-distal tubercle dorsally projected (Fig. 3a); Fe IV length almost four times DS length (Fig. 3a).Tarsus IV without   process and the stylus, slightly corrugated, with irregular peaks on the apical medial region (Figs 4f, g).
Distribution and habitat.The species is known from the forests of the lowlands of Santander department (Cimitarra and Puerto Parra municipalities) (Fig. 5) situated in the ecoregion of the Magdalena Valley montane forests (Olson et al. 2001).
Etymology.This species is named after the Colombian entomologist German Amat García.The name German, the Slavic form of Herman, is a masculine given name from an ancient Germanic name formed by harja (army) and mann (man), meaning warrior.Bellator, in Latin, has the same meaning.
Key to the species of Vima Hirst, 1912 (males) 1a Mesotergal areas II-III armed with a dorsal yellowish hump (García and Kury, 2020: fig.2), penis stylus without connective tissue between the dorsal process and the stylus (García and Kury, 2020:
Notably, the genus Vima also exhibits an intriguing dis-

AUTHORS' CONTRIBUTIONS
AFG led the project, did a primary identification of the species, made the figure plates, and wrote the descriptions.OVM participated in the identification of the species and writing of the manuscript, complemented the descriptions and outlined the discussion.Both authors wrote the manuscript.
Dorsum.DS outline epsilon, type 2. Ocularium medium, located medially on the carapace, without median depression and smooth.Mesotergum delimited and divided into four areas each one with a pair of paramedial low granules(Figs 3b, d, e,.DS widest at level of area II.Area I divided into two halves, ornate with some granules; areas II-IV undivided and with some granules(Figs 3b,.Posterior border of scutum convex(Figs 3b, 4a).Free tergites I-III with a row of granules (Figs3b, d, 4a-b).Venter.Stigmatic area with few granules.Stigmata oval and transverse (Fig.3c).Coxa I with a sigmoidal row of tubercles increasing in size distally, one proximal, large, tricapitated tubercle on the anterior margin, and one medium-sized tubercle on the posterodistal region (Fig.4c); coxa II longer than coxa I; coxa III slightly longer than I and II; coxa IV backward (Fig.3c).Chelicera.Basichelicerite trapezoid, with well-marked bulla (Figs3b, d); two large tubercles on the ectal face, three large tubercles on the posterior margin, and some medium-sized tubercles on the dorsomedial face(Figs 3b,

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Map showing the distribution of the species of Vima in northern South America.
(García and Villarreal, 2023)process of the stylus connected by a dorsal keel.This is a condition shared with the genera BarinasGonzález-Sponga, 1987and some species of AvimaRoewer, 1949 (e.g., A. wuayuunaiki García, González &  Gutiérrez, 2022).García and Ahumada-C.(2022)proposedthegenericsynonymbetweenBarinasandVimina, referring to the dorsal keel present in Barinas virginis(González-Sponga, 1987) as a "connective tissue".Subsequently, García and Ahumada-C.(2022)describedthespeciesBarinas guanenta García and Ahumada-C., 2022, which lacks the mentioned connective tissue but possesses a dorsal process.In Vima, all the species exhibit a dorsal process in the stylus, with most (except the type species V. insignis) also having the connective tissue.Furthermore, the tip of the stylus in Vima is thick and curved towards the dorsal part, resembling the condition observed in species of Barinas, albeit with a more abrupt curvature.While the presence of the connective tissue may be homoplastic in Vima and Barinas(Villarreal and García 2021), an alternative hypothesis(García and Villarreal, 2023)suggests a closer relationship between them and challenges the monophyly of Vima.According to this latter hypothesis, the presence of the connective tissue is a derived trait shared by species of a larger clade encompassing Barinas, Vima and Avima tuttifrutti García and Pastra-only simplified schematic drawings of their genitalia are available for some of them.To re-diagnose Vima and establish a phylogenetic hypothesis of Leiosteninae genera, a comprehensive analysis of all known species of Barinas and Vima, as well as a case-by-case review of the species of Avima is imperative.