Reproductive interference may be liable to occur in harvestmen, because of their non-elaborated mating behavior and presence of nuptial gifts that may elicit females’ less discrimination to mates. Thus, it is probable that a substantial difference in body size is crucial for building sympatry for two closely related species of harvestmen lacking an effective pre-mating barrier for reproductive isolation. I will review some possible cases of character displacement found in Japanese harvestmen: 1) Leiobunum montanum and L. hiraiwai: These two species occurring widely in beech forests in western Japan show a checkerboard pattern of distribution, i.e., they do not coexist in a single local area. A single exception to the rule is found on the northern slope of Mt. Hyonosen, Tottori, where L. montanum getting extremely elongated body coexists with L. hiraiwai. 2) Gagrellula ferruginea and G. testacea: Distributional ranges of the two species meet at the western part of Hiroshima Prefecture, making a narrow zone of sympatry, though a few introgressions of genes are also indicated. Gagrellula testacea becomes smaller in Kyushu where larger G. grandis occurs and attains the smallest body in Shikoku where it becomes sympatric with G. ferruginea. Other examples include 3) Nelima genufusca, N. nigricoxa, and related species; 4) Pseudobiantes japonicus and Epedanellus tuberculatus (Laniatores: Epedanidae).
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