The New Zealand long-legged harvestmen appear to show a striking difference in the size and coloration of males and females, and between males of the same species. Here we report the first study using DNA data from these charismatic animals to understand the relationships among the different species and attempt to solve the puzzle of assigning different-looking females and males to the same species. The results show which females and males belong to the same species, and that in fact, there are more than one kind of male for each species.

In Opiliones, sexual dimorphism can be widespread and exaggerated, impacting species identification, assignment of females to described species and biodiversity assessments. Here, we use DNA sequence-based species discovery methods to shed light on the morphological disparity displayed in several species of neopilionid harvestmen from New Zealand. The analyses allowed us to assign females and juveniles to several morphospecies, to identify putative new species and to assign some unidentified species to genera and to study the relationship between genetic variability and morphological disparity.

Taxonomic descriptions of land flatworms have largely been based on morphological characters. Here we describe two new species of land planarians, based on both morphological and molecular analyses, and investigate their phylogenetic relationships. Our results demonstrate that DNA barcoding, using the mtDNA COI gene, should be used with caution for reconstructing phylogenies, and other slower-evolving nuclear genes are a feasible alternative for resolving some of the phylogenetic relationships.

Scirtidae are a cosmopolitan group of beetles with aquatic or saproxylic larvae that are a major component of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Here we provide the first molecular phylogenetic study of the family, focusing on Australian species, but including key Palaearctic taxa. Our results reveal the presence of new species, highlight generic-level uncertainties, provide a sequence database for linking larvae and adults, and provide a basis for future biogeographic studies.

A new species of the troglobiotic scorpion genus, Alacran, which inhabit some of the world's deepest caves in Mexico, is described. A phylogenetic analysis of the three known species of Alacran revealed that their evolutionary relationships agree with the geological history of the caves in which they occur. An initially widespread ancestral population evolved into three geographically isolated species, following fragmentation of the southern Sierra Madre del Sur.