Ischyropsalis Explained
Ischyropsalis is a genus of harvestmen in the monotypic family Ischyropsalididae, with 24 described species. They are found in Europe.
Description
The genus Ischyropsalis was described by C.L. Koch, 1839, with the type species Ischyropsalis kollari C.L. Koch, 1839. Species in this genus range in body length from about 4 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.
Distribution
Members of this genus 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 Southern Italy (i.e. Calabria) in the south. A find from Sardinia is considered doubtful.
Species
These 24 species belong to the genus Ischyropsalis:
- Ischyropsalis adamii Canestrini, 1873
- Ischyropsalis alpinula Martens, 1978
- Ischyropsalis cantabrica Luque & Labrada, 2012
- Ischyropsalis carli Lessert, 1905
- Ischyropsalis dentipalpis Canestrini, 1872
- Ischyropsalis dispar Simon, 1872
- Ischyropsalis gigantea Dresco, 1968
- Ischyropsalis hadzii Roewer, 1950
- Ischyropsalis hellwigi (Panzer, 1794)
- Ischyropsalis hispanica Roewer, 1953
- Ischyropsalis kollari C.L.Koch, 1839
- Ischyropsalis lithoclasica Schönhofer & Martens, 2010
- Ischyropsalis luteipes Simon, 1872
- Ischyropsalis magdalenae Simon, 1881
- Ischyropsalis manicata C.L.Koch, 1865
- Ischyropsalis muellneri Hamann, 1898
- Ischyropsalis navarrensis Roewer, 1950
- Ischyropsalis nodifera Simon, 1879
- Ischyropsalis petiginosa Simon, 1913
- Ischyropsalis pyrenaea Simon, 1872
- Ischyropsalis ravasinii Hadzi, 1942
- Ischyropsalis robusta Simon, 1872
- Ischyropsalis redtenbacheri Doleschall, 1852
- Ischyropsalis strandi Kratochvil, 1936
The following may be valid since 2023:
- Ischyropsalis aguerana Luque & Labrada, 2023
- Ischyropsalis impressa Luque & Labrada, 2023
and as valid (restored?):
- Ischyropsalis noltei Dresco, 1972
Etymology
The genus is feminine. The genus name is a combination of Ancient Greek ischyros "strong" and psalis "shears", referring to the greatly enlarged chelicerae.
Taxonomic synonyms
The following are a selection of proposed synonyms, hence no longer valid.
- I. alfkeni Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. muellneri
- I. amseli Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. adamii
- I. archeri Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. dispar
- I. asturica Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. nodifera
- I. austriaca Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. manicata
- I. balcanica Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. manicata
- I. bosnica Roewer, 1914, synonym of I. kollari
- I. caporiaccoi Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. luteipes
- I. corcyraea Roewer, 1914, synonym of I. muellneri
- I. corsica Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. nodifera
- I. dacica Roewer, 1916, synonym of I. manicata
- I. danubia Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. kollari
- I. franzi Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. hellwigii
- I. goodnighti Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. dispar
- I. helvetica Roewer, 1916, synonym of I. dentipalpis, I. manicata
- I. janetscheki Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. nodifera
- I. kastneri Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. manicata
- I. knirschi Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. strandi
- I. kratochvili Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. adamii
- I. lusitanica Roewer, 1923, synonym of I. robusta
- I. moreana Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. nodifera, I. pyrenaea
- I. nicaea Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. navarrensis
- I. nivalis Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. kollari
- I. noltei Dresco, 1972, synonym of I. dispar
- I. pentelica Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. carli
- I. pestae Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. luteipes
- I. plicata Roewer, 1923, synonym of I. hellwigii
- I. reimoseri Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. kollari
- I. segregata Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. kollari
- I. spinichelis Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. kollari
- I. strasseri Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. kollari
- I. styriaca Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. kollari
- I. turki Roewer, 1950, synonym of I. navarrensis
According to L. Labrada and C. Prieto in Schönhofer (2013), "Establishment of the present-day taxonomy and validating species-specific characters in Ischyropsalis have been mainly facilitated by the thorough revision of Martens (1969). Having been unable to borrow many types from the Iberian Peninsula, part of his work remained hypothetical for that local fauna, which was later corrected by Dresco (e.g. 1970, 1972), Luque (1991, 1992) and Prieto (1990a, 1990b). Of the 42 species described or emended by Roewer (1914, 1916, 1923, 1950, 1953a) only two remain valid."
Further reading
- (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press
