Meeting Abstract

P2-82   -   A Unique New Species of Mite Harvestmen from New Zealand Anderson, SF*; Fu, PA; Moyes, N; Shu, Y; Boyer, SL; Macalester College; Macalester College; Macalester College; Macalester College; Macalester College sander12@macalester.edu

Terrestrial arthropods present considerable opportunities for species discovery, especially in New Zealand, which is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Mite harvestmen are small invertebrates found in leaf litter on forest floors with highly limited dispersal. Our lab focused on the geographic area around Otago and Canterbury on the South island of New Zealand to explore a group of Rakaia whose species identities and phylogenetic affinities were unknown. We sequenced the mitochondrial locus COI, and combined those data with published sequence data from Rakaia and outgroup taxa. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of the dataset and estimated divergence times using BEAST. We used scanning electron microscopy to capture high definition photos of morphology. Utilizing both morphology and genetic data, we clarified relationships among described and novel species. These exciting new discoveries further our mission to discover new species and piece together New Zealand biogeographical history.