Neopilionidae Explained
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 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
- Neopilioninae Lawrence, 1931
References
- Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog: Neopilionidae
- (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press
Notes and References
- (2007): Neopilionidae Lawrence, 1931. In: Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 121ff
- 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.
- Web site: Neopilionidae Lawrence, 1931 COL. 2021-11-11. www.catalogueoflife.org.
