Kingdom Animalia Suborder Dyspnoi Phylum Arthropoda Order Harvestmen | Class Arachnida Superfamily Nemastomatoidea Rank Genus | |
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Family Dicranolasmatidae
Simon, 1879 Similar Trogulidae, Harvestmen, Nemastomatidae, Ischyropsalididae, Sironidae | ||
The Dicranolasmatidae are a family of harvestmen with 18 described species in a single genus.
Contents
Description
Species of Dicranolasma range in body length from three to 6.4 mm. Most parts of the body are encrusted with soil particles. The anterior region features a large headlike "hood" with the eyes in center, which consists of two curved processes. The chelicerae and pedipalps are both hidden under the hood in adults and about half as long as the body. The legs are short. Immature forms are quite different from adults. The immature form of D. opilionoides was even described as a different genus (Amopaum). The hood develops only gradually, so in young Dicranolasma the relatively longer pedipalps are carried outside the hood.
Distribution
Dicranolasmatidae occur mainly in the Mediterranean region northward to the southern Alps, the Carpathians, eastward to the Caucasus and Iraq, the Levant and southward to western North Africa.
Relationships
The Dicranolasmatidae are closely related to the Trogulidae and Nemastomatidae, with Trogulus probably sister to Dicranolasma.
The genus consists of five species groups:
Name
The genus name Dicranolasma is a combination of Ancient Greek dikranos "two-headed" and elasma "plate", referring to the hood.