''Satrapanus'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

pseudoscorpions 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 ...

in the

Chernetidae Chernetidae is a family of pseudoscorpions, first described by Anton Menge in 1855. Genera , the ''World Pseudoscorpiones Catalog'' accepts the following 119 genera: * '' Acanthicochernes'' Beier, 1964 * '' Acuminochernes'' Hoff, 1949 * '' Ade ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Australia's

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

. It was described in 2007 by Australian

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

Mark Harvey Mark Harvey (born 11 June 1965) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played over 200 games during fourteen seasons with the Essendon Football Club, winning three premierships, and was senior coach of Fremantle from 2007 t ...

and Erich Volschenk. The generic epithet comes from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''satrapa'' ('provincial governor') with reference to the pseudoscorpion being the only known species of the genus on the island.

Species

The genus contains the sole species ''Satrapanus grayi'', which was described by Austrian arachnologist

Max Beier Max Beier (6 April 1903 in Spittal an der Drau – 4 July 1979 in Vienna) was an Austrian arachnologist and entomologist. He studied zoology at the University of Vienna, and obtained his doctorate there in 1927. He took up a post at the Natural H ...

in 1976.

Description

Body lengths of males are 1.68–2.03 mm; those of females 1.91–2.78 mm. The colour is mainly dark reddish-brown.

Distribution and habitat

The species is known only from Lord Howe Island, where it inhabits

plant litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

and other ground habitats.

Behaviour

The pseudoscorpions are

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

predators Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

References

Chernetidae Pseudoscorpion genera Monotypic arachnid genera Pseudoscorpions of Australia Arthropods of New South Wales Fauna of Lord Howe Island Taxa described in 2007 Taxa named by Mark Harvey Taxa named by Erich Volschenk Taxa described in 1975 Taxa named by Max Beier {{pseudoscorpion-stub