Triaenonychidae

The Triaenonychidae are a family of harvestmen with about 120 genera and more than 440 described species.

Description

Most Triaenonychidae are from three to five millimeters long, although some species from South Africa can be only 1 millimetre (0.039 in) long. Some species in the subfamily Adaeinae are almost 10 mm (0.39 in) long. Legs are almost always short, measuring 4–12 mm (0.16–0.47 in). The armed pedipalps are large, and much stronger than the legs.^[1]

Distribution

Triaenonychidae are found in North and South America, Japan and Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and Madagascar.^[1]

Relationships

The Triaenonychidae should probably split into at least two families. The genera from the Australian region are considered Triaenonychidae sensu stricto, and may include the strange Synthetonychiidae; the northern species should be grouped with Travuniidae.^[1]

Name

The name of the type genus Triaenonyx is combined from Ancient Greek τρίαινα (triaina, "trident, fish spear") and ὄνυξ (onyx, "claw").^[1]

Genera

The following genera are included in the family:^[2]

References