The Eupnoi are a suborder of harvestmen, 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") an ...

s. (2007): Morphology and Functional Anatomy. In: Pinto-da-Rocha ''et al.'' 2007: 17f Examples of this suborder include '' Hadrobunus grandis'' (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'' (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-Sib ...

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 n ...

, 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 ...

(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 th ...

, 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 sou ...

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 coun ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. 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 sta ...

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 coun ...

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 historica ...

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 ma ...

, 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 south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. 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 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 ter ...

, with Laniatores 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 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 ** Monoscutidae (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 Relict (biology), relicts of that time. The family members range in s ...

(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 (49 genera, 381 species) The supposed family " Stygophalangiidae", with its sole described species '' Stygophalangium karamani'' 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=Juhoslavij ...

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 e ...

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

Distribution

Relationships

Systematics

See also

Footnotes

References