Ischyropsalididae

Ischyropsalididae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Suborder: Dyspnoi
Superfamily: Ischyropsalidoidea
Family: Ischyropsalididae
Simon, 1879
Genus: Ischyropsalis
C. L. Koch, 1839
Type species
Ischyropsalis kollari
C. L. Koch, 1839
Species
see text
Diversity
37 species

The Ischyropsalididae are a family of harvestmen with about 40 described species.

Contents

Description

Species in this family range in body length from about four to 8.5 mm. They have moderately long legs. The greatly enlarged chelicerae can be almost twice as long as the body. While they share this feature with the Nipponopsalididae, this is a case of convergent evolution. The elongated pedipalps are rather slender. Some species occur in caves.[1]

Distribution

Members of this family are restricted to Europe, with many species found in the mountains (Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathian Mountains, and Dinaric Mountains. They reach into the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and Poland in the north and to Calabria in the south. A find from Sardinia is considered doubtful.[1]

Relationships

The nearest relatives of the Ischyropsalididae are possibly the genera Ceratolasma and Acuclavella (Ceratolasmatidae) from western North America. While the genus Taracus (Sabaconidae) has anatomical similarities, it is not closely related.[1]

Name

The genus name is a combination of Ancient Greek ischyros "strong" and psalis "shears", referring to the greatly enlarged chelicerae.

Species

  • Ischyropsalis apuana apuana Caporiacco, 1930
  • Ischyropsalis apuana nanus Dresco, 1969
  • Ischyropsalis helwigii helwigii (Panzer, 1794)
  • Ischyropsalis helwigii lucantei Simon, 1879 - high Pyrenees
  • Ischyropsalis pyrenaea pyrenaea Simon, 1872
  • Ischyropsalis pyrenaea alpinula Martens, 1978
  • Ischyropsalis pyrenaea venasquensis Dresco, 1968

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Gruber, Jürgen (2007): Ischyropsalididae Simon, 1879. In: Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 145ff

References