Neopilionidae

Neopilionidae
Pantopsalis listeri
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Superfamily: Phalangioidea
Family:
Lawrence, 1931
Diversity
19 genera, 78 species

The Neopilionidae are a family of harvestmen.

It has a clearly Gondwanan distribution, with species found in Australia, South Africa and South America; they probably represent relicts of that time.

The family members range in size from the small Americovibone lancafrancoae (0.9 mm) to over 4 mm in the Enantiobuninae.[1]

Some species of Enantiobuninae have blue pigmentation, which is rather unusual in harvestmen.[1]

The former family "Monoscutidae" has recently been subsumed within the subfamily Enantiobuninae.[2]

Name

The family name is a contraction of Ancient Greek neo "new" and Latin Opilio, a genus of harvestman.

Subdivisions

According to the Catalogue of Life, Neopilionidae includes three subfamilies, which contain a total of 19 genera and 78 species.[3]

  • Ballarrinae Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991
    • Americovibone Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991
    • Arrallaba Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991
    • Ballarra Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991
    • Plesioballarra Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991
    • Vibone Kauri, 1961
  • Enantiobuninae Mello-Leitão, 1931 (incl. Monoscutidae)
    • Acihasta Forster, 1948
    • Australiscutum Taylor, 2009
    • Forsteropsalis Taylor, 2011
    • Mangatangi Taylor, 2013
    • Megalopsalis Roewer, 1923
    • Monoscutum Forster, 1948
    • Neopantopsalis Taylor & Hunt, 2009
    • Pantopsalis Simon, 1879
    • Spinicrus Forster, 1949
    • Templar Taylor, 2008
    • Tercentenarium Taylor, 2011
    • Thrasychiroides Soares & Soares, 1947
    • Thrasychirus Simon, 1884

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Cokendolpher, James C. (2007): Neopilionidae Lawrence, 1931. In: Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 121ff
  2. ^ Taylor, C.K. 2011. Revision of the genus Megalopsalis (Arachnida: Opiliones: Phalangioidea) in Australia and New Zealand and implications for phalangioid classification. Zootaxa 2773: 1–65.
  3. ^ "Neopilionidae Lawrence, 1931 | COL". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 2021-11-11.

References

  • Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog: Neopilionidae
  • Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-02343-9