Podoctidae

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Podoctidae
Temporal range: Cenomanian–Recent
Undescribed Lomanius from the Philippines
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Suborder: Laniatores
Infraorder: Grassatores
Superfamily: Epedanoidea
Family: Podoctidae
Roewer, 1912
Genera

See text for list

Diversity
c. 60 genera, c. 130 species

Podoctidae is a family of the harvestman infraorder Grassatores with about 130 described species.[1]

Description[edit]

Body length ranges from 2.5 to 5 millimeters, with leg length ranging from three to almost thirty mm. While most species are brown to yellow, some are deep green. The legs may be ringed in black and yellow. The penis is uniquely built.[1]

Distribution[edit]

Most species occur in Southeast Asia, especially in New Guinea. Others are found in Melanesia, Micronesia, Japan, India and Sri Lanka, Madagascar, the Seychelles and Mauritius, and central Africa. Ibantila cubana was introduced in a botanical garden in Cuba. Although one Podoctidae was described from Brazil in 1938, it was later transferred to Triaenonychidae.[1] The oldest known member of the family is Burmalomanius from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber of Myanmar.[2]

Relationships[edit]

Although Podoctidae are currently included in Samooidea, and are surely Grassatores, there is no obvious relationship with any family.[1]

Name[edit]

The name of the type genus is derived from Ancient Greek podos "foot" and oktis "spine", referring to the ventral row of long spines in femur I.[1]

Genera[edit]

Erecananinae[edit]

Ibaloniinae[edit]

Podoctinae[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Kury, Adriano B. (2007): Podoctidae Roewer, 1912. In: Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 221ff
  2. ^ Bartel, Christian; Dunlop, Jason A.; Sharma, Prashant P.; Selden, Paul A.; Tarasov, Pavel E.; Ren, Dong; Shih, Chungkun (July 2022). "Four new Laniatorean harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber". Palaeoworld: S1871174X22000488. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2022.06.006. S2CID 250401481.

References[edit]

  • Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog: Podoctidae
  • Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-02343-9