The Eupnoi are a suborder of
harvestmen
The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of ext ...
, with more than 200 genera, and about 1,700 described species.
They consist of two superfamilies, the Phalangioidea with many long-legged species common to northern temperate regions, and the small group Caddoidea, which have prominent eyes and spiny
pedipalp
Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...
s.
[ (2007): Morphology and Functional Anatomy. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.'' 2007: 17f]
Examples of this suborder include ''
Hadrobunus grandis
''Hadrobunus grandis'' is a species of harvestman that occurs in the United States (Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlan ...
'' (Sclerosomatidae), ''
Phalangium opilio
''Phalangium opilio'' is a species of harvestman belonging to the family Phalangiidae.
Distribution
It is "the most widespread species of harvestman in the world", occurring natively in Europe, and much of Asia. The species has been introduced ...
'' and ''
Dicranopalpus ramosus
''Dicranopalpus ramosus'' is a species of harvestman. Males are up to 4 mm long, females can reach up to 6 mm. Both sexes have very long legs (especially the second pair can reach up to 5 cm), with a distinct elongated apophysis ...
'' (Phalangiidae).
Distribution
Caddoidea are mostly found in temperate zones of both hemispheres; however, they are known from the
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
only from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and from
Baltic amber
The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 1 ...
(about 40 million years old). One species known from Japan is also found in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, where several more species are found. Other species occur in Southern
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Neopilionidae show a
Gondwana
Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...
n distribution, with species found in South America,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and Australia.
Sclerosomatidae are divided into several subfamilies, with Gagrellinae found in the
Indo-Malayan and neotropical region, Gyinae at high elevations in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
,
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
and
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, Leiobuninae in the holarctic region down to
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, and Sclerosomatinae only in the Palearctic.
In the Phalangiidae, the Phalangiinae are most diverse in the Mediterranean, with several endemic genera in nearby coastal Africa. Although there are several Phalangiinae in the Nearctic, they are all introduced. Opilioninae are mostly palearctic, with a few species found in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. Oligolophinae are holarctic, with most species found in Europe. Platybuninae are also found from Europe to the Caucasus, with one find from
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
.
[ (2007): Phylogeny and Biogeography. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.'' 2007]
Relationships
Two different views exist at the moment: in the traditional view Eupnoi and
Dyspnoi
Dyspnoi is a suborder of harvestmen, currently comprising 43 extant genera and 356 extant species, although more species are expected to be described in the future. The eight families are currently grouped into three superfamilies: the Acropsopil ...
form a
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
, with
Laniatores
Laniatores is the largest suborder of the arachnid order Opiliones with over 4,000 described species worldwide. The majority of the species are highly dependent on humid environments and usually correlated with tropical and temperate forest habit ...
as a sister group; however recently it has been proposed that Eupnoi are sister to a clade formed by Dyspnoi and Laniatores.
Systematics
Although the two recognized superfamilies Caddoidea and Phalangoidea are probably monophyletic, the limits of families and subfamilies are uncertain in many cases, and are in urgent need of further study.
[
:''Genus and species numbers are from the year 2005.''
* ]Caddoidea
Caddidae is a family of harvestmen arachnids with 15 known species, the only family of the Eupnoi superfamily Caddoidea.
They have mostly a body length between one and three millimeters. (2007): Caddidae Banks, 1893. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.. ...
** Caddidae
Caddidae is a family of harvestmen arachnids with 15 known species, the only family of the Eupnoi superfamily Caddoidea.
They have mostly a body length between one and three millimeters. (2007): Caddidae Banks, 1893. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.. ...
(6 genera, 21 species)
* Phalangioidea
Phalangioidea is a superfamily of the harvestman suborder Eupnoi with five recognized families and more than 1,500 species.
It is not to be confused with the similar spelled subfamily Phalangodoidea, which is also a harvestman superfamily, but w ...
** Monoscutidae
The Monoscutidae are a family of harvestmen with 32 known species that all occur in or near Australia and New Zealand.
Species range in body length from two to three millimeters (Monoscutinae) and three to ten mm (Megalopsalidinae). The chelicer ...
(5 genera, 32 species)
** Neopilionidae
The Neopilionidae are a family of harvestmen.
It has a clearly Gondwanan distribution, with species found in Australia, South Africa and South America, and probably represent relicts of that time.
The family members range in size from the small ...
(8 genera, 15 species)
** Sclerosomatidae
The Sclerosomatidae are a family of harvestmen with about 1,300 known species.
Name
The name is combined from Ancient Greek ''skleros'' "hard" and ''soma'' "body". (2007): Sclerosomatidae. Simon, 1879. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.'' 2007: 127ff
...
(148 genera, 1273 species)
** Phalangiidae
The Phalangiidae are a family of harvestmen with about 380 known species. The best known is ''Phalangium opilio''. ''Dicranopalpus ramosus'' is an invasive species in Europe.
It is not to be confused with the harvestman family Phalangodidae, wh ...
(49 genera, 381 species)
The supposed family "Stygophalangiidae
''Stygophalangium karamani'' is a species of arachnid. Although sometimes classified as a harvestman in the infraorder Eupnoi (Phalangioidea), its identity is uncertain, but it is probably a species of Acari (mites).
Name
The genus name is a co ...
", with its sole described species ''Stygophalangium karamani
''Stygophalangium karamani'' is a species of arachnid. Although sometimes classified as a harvestman in the infraorder Eupnoi (Phalangioidea), its identity is uncertain, but it is probably a species of Acari (mites).
Name
The genus name is a co ...
'' Oudemans, 1933 from former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
is not a harvestman, but very likely a species of mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...
.
See also
* Harvestman phylogeny
Footnotes
References
Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog
(2005)
* (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. ''Harvard University Press''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1953008
Harvestmen
Arthropods of South America
Arthropod suborders