[ID] Confirmation Paroligolophus agrestis?

[Fauna]

Cleaned up the greenhouse the other day and found these (amoung others), i placed them in a large pot out of harms way untill i finished what i was doing. As soon as they met they started doing the naughty, the larger female pushed the smaller male around for about three minutes untill she got him on his back, then it was all over...i only wish i filmed instead of trying to take a series of shots, which all turned out blurry and useless...except this one


(Q) Are these Paroligolophus agrestis and do they breed all year round?

[Geoff F]

Well Gordon is the expert here concerning the breeding of Harvestmen but, at the moment, I can't get the link to his site to connect.

Another excellent source of full information, if you are prepared to purchase a small book, is Harvestmen by P. D. Hillyard from the Field Studies Council.

However, to return to the original question. They certainly look superficially like Paroligolophus agrestis although ideally a really close up view of the trident assembly on the 'nose' would be perfect. Real experts view the male penis under a microscope!

But the eyes are relatively small and virtually spineless. The gap between them is pale in colour.

The legs are relatively short.

The body colouration is roughly correct, although this can be quite variable. The pale stripe along their backs is rather indistinct but this can also be variable and there is definitely some paleness showing on one of those specimens. The brown colouration ends abruptly on tergite 5

This species can often be found rather late in the year providing the temperature is reasonable. During a brief mild day recently I saw one on my sunny house wall.

But they have a rather short life and all die off during the winter. Juveniles appear during the late Spring. It is certainly late for them to be mating but I suppose a greenhouse environment may alter their natural life cycle slightly.

Mating apparently (I haven't been so lucky as you to actually witness it) is rather rampant with little in the way of formal introductions. Females have a rather voracious sexual desire and will mate with as many males as they can find.

So all in all, those are excellent photographs which provide a very interesting record.

[Bruce Williams]

Interesting pic Christian.

If you haven't already seen it, you might find this excellent overview of Opiliones in the UK and Continental Europe interesting: http://sites.google.com/site/opilionesuk/ (Project Controller is Arp Kruithof who was an active WAB member until a year or so ago).

Unless I resort to log turning I rarely come across active harvestmen after the end of October and don't really begin to see them in any number until early spring. Based on this I had assumed that mating took place during the warmer months. Sankey and Savoury (British Harvestmen) are a bit vague - I quote: "The eggs of most British species are laid in the autumn and do not hatch until the following spring, but other species* may lay their eggs at any time for them to hatch after a fortnight ".

*Unclear here if they are referring to non-British species or a few British species?

If you read through the link I gave you there is reference to P. agrestis' enthusiasm for mating. Also somewhere on the same webpage (it's a long one) there is a note about a willingness to mate when brought in from the cold (I'm not sure of the species/details here as I couldn't locate this bit with just a quick reread).

Interesting contribution Geoff.

Bruce

[Action_Man]

Yes they are Paroligolophus agrestis, I see these more often than any other in my garden, although this year I have hardly seen any Opiliones at all, I`m putting this down to last Winters harsh weather, and there has been very few ID enquiries here at the WAB forums this year.

If you want see Paroligolophus agrestis mate, you just need to catch an adult male and female, place them in a container together, and they will almost immediately start mating.

Nice information Geoff and Bruce, not a great deal more i can add really ...

[Action_Man]

There is a handy little fold out field guide to British Opiliones, for just £3.50.

Looking for an identification guide to harvestmen?

This 12-panel laminated fold-out chart covers the adults of the harvestmen found in the field in the British Isles. Harvestmen are spider-like invertebrates that are most commonly seen in late summer and autumn. Although they have 8 legs, the whole body is fused into one unit, without the 'waist' seen in spiders.

FSC Publications : Harvestmen

[Fauna]

Wow!! Thanks all for your very informative replies

Cheers Geoff...will definetly look into buying that book suggestion, though it will have to wait until i get my hands on...A Key to the Collembola (Springtails) of Britain and Ireland. Though, i could stretch my budget to get hold of the fold out field guide that Gordon has suggested for the time being.

Cheers Bruce...also, you can't beat a bit of log turning, thats where i do most of my wildlife searching, it does play havoc with your back though

Thanks Gordon...great site you have there, i forgot i had this book marked. Will give it a good read through later and hopefully make me spend more time with Opiliones. The only ones i do record are Megabunus diadema and Nemastoma bimaculatum .

Thanks again...

[Fauna]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

ideally a really close up view of the trident assembly on the 'nose' would be perfect. Real experts view the male penis under a microscope!

I see what you mean, I did manage this photo of the male after they parted, you can just make out the trident spines on the clypeus...

[Geoff F]

That is an ideal angle. The trident is rather small but the middle spine is slightly larger and sloping forwards. A few tubercles behind the trident is also typical for this species.

And that photo also clearly shows that the eyes are virtually without spines.

They are a bit short in the leg number department; but that often occurs in mature specimens.

[Fauna]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

That is an ideal angle. The trident is rather small but the middle spine is slightly larger and sloping forwards. A few tubercles behind the trident is also typical for this species.

And that photo also clearly shows that the eyes are virtually without spines.

They are a bit short in the leg number department; but that often occurs in mature specimens.

Thanks for the extra info

I'm certainly going to pay more attention to these in the new year. Some 22 species of opiliones have been recorded in my VC with Oligolophus hanseni just added to the list this year...so looks like i'm in a good area for them.