The Stygnopsidae are a small family 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 almost all species found in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Name

The name of the type genus ''Stygnopsis'' is combined from the genus '' Stygnus'' (

Stygnidae The Stygnidae are a family of neotropical harvestmen within the suborder Laniatores. Name The name of the type genus is derived from Ancient Greek ''stygnos'' "diabolic being". (2007): Stygnidae Simon, 1879. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.'' 2007: 2 ...

) and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''opsis'', "looks like". (2007): Stygnopsidae. Sørensen, 1932. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.'' 2007: 232ff

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 could be the sister group to

Gonyleptoidea Gonyleptoidea is the most diverse superfamily of the Grassatores. It includes around 2,500 species distributed in the tropics. They are characterized by the simplified male genitalia, with the glans free subapical in the truncus. Gonyleptoidea i ...

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' (including the Assamiidae), with the Stygnopsidae the sister group to the rest of Gonyleptoidea. Although they reach into the

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

, they are more closely related to

neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

harvestmen.

Species

* '' Hoplobunus''

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, 1900 :* '' Hoplobunus apoalensis'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1973 —

:* '' Hoplobunus barretti'' Banks, 1900 — Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus boneti'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1942) — cave, Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus madlae'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1967 — Texas :* '' Hoplobunus mexicanus'' ( Roewer, 1915) — Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus mexicanus'' (Sørensen, 1932) — praeoccuppied; Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus oaxacensis'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1973 — Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus osorioi'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944) — Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus planus'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1973 — Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus queretarius'' Silhavy 1974 — Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus russelli'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1967 —

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

:* '' Hoplobunus spinooculorum'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1973 — Mexico :* '' Hoplobunus zullinii'' Silhavy 1977 — Mexico * '' Karos'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944 — Mexico :* '' Karos barbarikos'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944 :* '' Karos brignolii'' Silhavy 1974 :* '' Karos depressus'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971 :* '' Karos dybasi'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1947) :* '' Karos foliorum'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1945) :* '' Karos gratiosus'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971 :* '' Karos parvus'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971 :* '' Karos projectus'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971 :* '' Karos rugosus'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971 :* '' Karos tuberculatus'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944) :* '' Karos unispinosus'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1946) * '' Mexotroglinus'' Silhavy, 1977 :* '' Mexotroglinus sbordonii'' Silhavy, 1977 — Mexico * '' Paramitraceras'' F. O. P-Cambridge, 1905 :* '' Paramitraceras femoralis'' Goodnight & Goodnight, 1953 — Mexico :* '' Paramitraceras granulatus'' F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1905 —

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

, Mexico :* '' Paramitraceras hispidulus'' F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1905 — Guatemala,

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, Mexico * '' Sbordonia'' Silhavy 1977 — Mexico :* '' Sbordonia armigera'' Silhavy 1977 :* '' Sbordonia parvula'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1953) * '' Stygnopsis'' Sørensen, 1902 — Mexico :* '' Stygnopsis robusta'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971) :* '' Stygnopsis valida'' (Sørensen, 1884) * '' Tampiconus'' Roewer, 1949 :* '' Tampiconus philippii'' Roewer, 1949 — Mexico * '' Troglostygnopsis'' Silhavy, 1974 — Mexico :* '' Troglostygnopsis anophthalma'' Silhavy, 1974 :* '' Troglostygnopsis inops'' (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971)

Footnotes

References

* Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog
Stygnopsidae
* (2003): Annotated catalogue of the Laniatores of the New World (Arachnida, Opiliones). '' Revista Ibérica de Aracnología'' vol. especial monográfico 1: 1-337. * (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. ''Harvard University Press'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q787835 Harvestmen Harvestman families