Sabacon viscayanum ramblaianum is an enigmatic little harvestman which is easily recognised because of highly unusual pedipalps that are longer than the body, with the tarsus being the shortest segment. The tarsus and tibia of the pedipalps are swollen and hairy. There is no terminal claw on the pedipalp. The legs, palps and body are well furnished with dark spines/hairs which are quite unlike the tubercles of other harvestmen in the UK fauna. There is no trident and the ocularium is smooth and much wider than long. The body is marked with dark transverse bands on a brown ground colour. The male has a large, blunt projection (a 'boss') on the dorsal side of the first cheliceral segment.
Sabacon viscayanum ramblaianum was not recorded in the UK until 1980 when it was found in South Wales. Now it is known from many locations in Wales, the Marches and a location in Devon - see the distribution map of the Spider and Harvestman Recording Scheme . In Europe, the subspecies is known in the Pyrenees.
Sabacon viscayanum ramblaianum seems to require a moist environment and has most frequently be found in deep woodland leaf litter.
Very little is known about the phenology of this harvestman, but adults have been collected in late summer and autumn.
Hillyard, P. D., & Sankey, J. H. P. 2005. Synopses of the British Fauna (New Series) No. 4: Harvestmen. Third Edition.Field Studies Council, Shrewsbury.
Richards, P. 2010. Guide to Harvestmen of the British Isles. Field Studies Council, Shrewsbury.
Richards, P. 2017. Tabular key for Identification of British Harvestmen (Opiliones). Unpublished.