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Stygnopsidae

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Family of harvestmen/daddy longlegs

Stygnopsidae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Suborder: Laniatores
Infraorder: Grassatores
Superfamily: Gonyleptoidea
Family: Stygnopsidae
Sørensen, 1932
Species

see text

Diversity
8 genera, c. 40 species

The Stygnopsidae are a small family of harvestmen, with almost all species found in Mexico.

Name

The name of the type genus Stygnopsis is combined from the genus Stygnus (Stygnidae) and Ancient Greek opsis, "looks like".

Description

The body length of these harvestmen ranges from 2.5 (Karos) to 7 mm (Hoplobunus). Their color ranges from dark brown to black, with much lighter appendages. Cave-dwelling species are pale light brown.

Distribution

As in other Laniatores, most species have narrow distributions. Almost all species occur in Mexico, with some found in the southern USA (Hoplobunus), and Guatemala, El Salvador and Belize (Paramitraceras).

Relationships

Epedanidae

Assamiidae

Stygnopsidae

other Gonyleptoidea

Proposed phylogeny (after Kury 2003)

Epedanidae could be the sister group to Gonyleptoidea sensu lato (including the Assamiidae), with the Stygnopsidae the sister group to the rest of Gonyleptoidea. Although they reach into the Nearctic, they are more closely related to neotropical harvestmen.

Species

  • Karos Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944 — Mexico

Footnotes

  1. ^ Mendes, Amanda C. & Kury, Adriano B. (2007): Stygnopsidae. Sørensen, 1932. In: Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 232ff

References

  • Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog: Stygnopsidae
  • Kury, Adriano B. (2003): Annotated catalogue of the Laniatores of the New World (Arachnida, Opiliones). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología vol. especial monográfico 1: 1-337.
  • Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-02343-9
Taxon identifiers
Stygnopsidae
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