''Ischyropsalis'' is a genus of

harvestmen The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an Order (biology), order of arachnids, Common name, colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs (see below). , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered w ...

in the monotypic family

Ischyropsalididae Ischyropsalididae is a family of harvestmen The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an Order (biology), order of arachnids, Common name, colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs (see below). , over 6,6 ...

, 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

chelicera The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or as a type ...

e can be almost twice as long as the body. While they share this feature with the

Nipponopsalididae Nipponopsalididae is a family of harvestmen with three described species in one genus, ''Nipponopsalis'', which is found in East Asia. Name The genus name ''Nipponopsalis'' is a combination of ''Nippon'', meaning Japan, where the genus was first ...

, this is a case of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

. The elongated

pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...

s are rather slender. Some species occur in

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

Distribution

Members of this genus are restricted to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, with many species found in the mountains (

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

, and

Dinaric Mountains The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Her ...

). They reach into the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, northwestern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in the north and to Southern Italy (''i.e.''

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

) in the south. A find from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

is considered doubtful.

Species

These 24 species belong to the genus ''Ischyropsalis'': *''

Ischyropsalis adamii ''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 ''Ischyr ...

'' Canestrini, 1873 *'' Ischyropsalis alpinula'' Martens, 1978 *''

Ischyropsalis cantabrica ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Luque & Labrada, 2012 *''

Ischyropsalis carli ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Lessert, 1905 *''

Ischyropsalis dentipalpis ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Canestrini, 1872 *''

Ischyropsalis dispar ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Simon, 1872 *''

Ischyropsalis gigantea ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Dresco, 1968 *''

Ischyropsalis hadzii ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Roewer, 1950 *''

Ischyropsalis hellwigi ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' (Panzer, 1794) *''

Ischyropsalis hispanica ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Roewer, 1953 *'' Ischyropsalis kollari'' C.L.Koch, 1839 *''

Ischyropsalis lithoclasica ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Schönhofer & Martens, 2010 *''

Ischyropsalis luteipes ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' Simon, 1872 *'' Ischyropsalis magdalenae'' Simon, 1881 *'' Ischyropsalis manicata'' C.L.Koch, 1865 *''

Ischyropsalis muellneri ''Ischyropsalis'' is a genus of harvestman, harvestmen in the monotypic family Ischyropsalididae, with 24 described species. They are found in Europe. Description The genus ''Ischyropsalis'' was described by Carl Ludwig Koch, C.L. Koch, 1839, wi ...

'' Hamann, 1898 *''

Ischyropsalis navarrensis ''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 ''Ischy ...

'' 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 Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), 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."

References

External links

* * Harvestmen {{opiliones-stub