6-635: See text Assamiidae are a family of harvestmen with more than 400 described species. It is the third most diverse family of the suborder Laniatores . The family name is derived from the Indian province Assam , where the type species of the type genus ( Assamia westermanni ) was collected. These harvestmen range in body length from two to eight millimeters. The length of their legs ranges from four to forty millimeters, though they are usually long. Assamiidae are usually reddish brown to yellow with black mottling and reticulation. Some species have white drawings on
12-757: A list of currently described species with the traditional groupings into subfamilies, see the List of Assamiidae species . The Assamidae are possibly the sister group to the Gonyleptoidea . The spiny funnel on the penis is very similar to those of Stygnopsidae from Mexico . Mello-Leitão erected the Trionyxellidae for four subfamilies of Assamiidae in 1949, but this was ignored by later authors. Laniatores Travunioidea Triaenonychoidea Assamioidea Epedanoidea Phalangodoidea Samooidea Sandokanoidea Zalmoxoidea Gonyleptoidea Laniatores
18-579: Is short and unsegmented (derived character state shared with the Dyspnoi). The penis is complex, with many sclerites . Some of the sclerites are movable, with a single penial muscle present. For the most part, the penis is without muscles, instead working by hemolymph pressure. Definitions and limits of superfamilies are still in a state of flux. The largest by far is the Gonyleptoidea, with over 2,000 described species. Distribution of subunits of Laniatores
24-456: Is the largest suborder of the arachnid order Opiliones with over 4,200 described species worldwide. The majority of the species are highly dependent on humid environments and usually correlated with tropical and temperate forest habitats. Laniatores are typically (relatively) short-legged, hard-plated, spiny Opiliones, common under logs and stones, in leaf litter and in caves . They often have spiny pedipalps and paired or branched claws on
30-824: The dorsal scutum. Assamiidae only occur in the Old World , and are completely absent from Madagascar and Europe , with most species found in Africa and southern Asia . Although they are also not found on the Pacific islands, the subfamily Dampetrinae has radiated in Australia , New Guinea , and somewhat in Indonesia . A list of included species is here Although Roewer established numerous subfamilies for this group, most of these are unsupported. There are at least five great groups, whose boundaries do not coincide with these subfamilies. For
36-461: The third and fourth pairs of legs. The largest family is Gonyleptidae Sundevall, 1833 , endemic of the Neotropics , with over 800 valid species and showing many cases of maternal and paternal care. The dorsal scutum consists of a single piece, with the carapace or peltidium entirely fused with abdominal scutum. The pedipalpus is usually robust and armed with strong spines. The ovipositor
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