Bochicidae is a family of

pseudoscorpion Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions, are small, scorpion-like arachnids belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones, also known as Pseudoscorpionida or Chelonethida. Pseudoscorpions are generally beneficial to humans bec ...

s distributed throughout the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, from the

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, as well as in Europe (

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

). Members of the family can be diagnosed mainly by features of the claws, notably the presence of exactly 12

trichobothria Trichobothria (singular trichobothrium) are elongate setae ("hairs") present in arachnids, various orders of insects, and myriapods that function in the detection of airborne vibrations and currents, and electrical charge. In 1883, Friedrich Da ...

on each claw (members of other similar families possess many more) and a long, as opposed to short,

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

duct. Some species live in caves while some are surface-dwelling.

Genera

, the ''World Pseudoscorpiones Catalog'' accepts the following twelve genera: * '' Antillobisium'' Dumitresco & Orghidan, 1977 * '' Apohya'' Muchmore, 1973 * ''

Bochica Bochica (also alluded to as Nemquetaha, Nemqueteba and Sadigua) is a mythical figure in the religion of the Muisca, who inhabited the ''Altiplano Cundiboyacense'' before the Spanish invasion by conquistadors in the central Andean highlands of pre ...

'' Chamberlin, 1930 * '' Leucohya'' Chamberlin, 1946 * '' Mexobisium'' Muchmore, 1972 * '' Paravachonium'' Beier, 1956 * '' Spelaeobochica'' Mahnert, 2001 * '' Titanobochica'' Zaragoza & Reboleira, 2010 * '' Troglobisium'' Beier, 1939 * '' Troglobochica'' Muchmore, 1984 * '' Troglohya'' Beier, 1956 * '' Vachonium'' Chamberlin, 1947

References

Pseudoscorpion families {{pseudoscorpion-stub