Triaenonychidae

Soerensenella prehensor, photographed by Phil Bendle.

Belongs within: Laniatores.
Contains: Adaeini, Triaenonychini, Triaenobunini.

The Triaenonychidae are a family of harvestmen characterised by branched hind claws and found primarily on the southern continents (South America, Australasia and Africa). Kaolinonychus and the Nippononychinae from north-eastern Asian have also been assigned to this family, but their position here is open to doubt (Mendes & Kury 2008).

Characters (from Suzuki 1975): Anterior margin of scute usually with three projections flanking chelicerae. Eyes situated on median tubercle. Dorsum with five tergal areas bounded by transverse grooves or rows of tubercles and three free tergites. Ninth tergite fused to anal plate. Palpi robust, without slender, elongated segments. Spiracles exposed or hidden in a groove between coxa and sternite. Metatarsi of legs usually divided by a constriction into two sections, a proximal astragalus and a distal calcaneus. Claws of third and fourth legs with uniform or stout central prong bearing two to six or less lateral branches in adults and three, four or five pairs of lateral spines or branches in juveniles. Pseudonychium, aroleum or scapulae not present on claws of adults or juveniles. Males with musculature in penis which apparently articulates distal process.

Triaenonychidae [Triaenonychoidae]
    |  i. s.: Breviacantha Kauri 1954 K54
    |           `--*B. gisleni Kauri 1954 K54
    |         Odontonuncia Hickman 1958 K04
    |--Kaolinonychus Suzuki 1975 S75 [Kaolinonychinae MK08]
    |    `--*K. coreanus (Suzuki 1966) [=Peltonychia coreana] S75
    |         |--K. c. coreanus S75
    |         `--K. c. longipes (Suzuki 1966) [=Peltonychia coreana longipes] S75
    |--Nippononychinae MK08
    |    |--Nippononychus Suzuki 1975 S75
    |    |    `--*N. japonicus (Miyosi 1957) [=Peltonychia japonica] S75
    |    |--Izunonychus Suzuki 1975 S75
    |    |    `--*I. ohruii Suzuki 1975 S75
    |    `--Metanippononychus Suzuki 1975 S75
    |         |--*M. tomishimai Suzuki 1975 S75
    |         |    |--M. t. tomishimai S75
    |         |    `--M. t. awanus Suzuki 1975 S75
    |         |--M. daisenensis Suzuki 1975 S75
    |         |--M. iriei Suzuki 1975 S75
    |         |    |--M. i. iriei S75
    |         |    `--M. i. yakuensis Suzuki 1975 S75
    |         `--M. iyanus Suzuki 1975 S75
    |--Soerensenellinae [Soerensellinae] F54
    |    |--Karamea Forster 1954 F54
    |    |    |--*K. lobata Forster 1954 F54
    |    |    |    |--K. l. lobata NS00
    |    |    |    |--K. l. aurea Forster 1954 NS00
    |    |    |    `--K. l. australis Forster 1954 NS00 [=K. l. australia (l. c.) F54]
    |    |    |--K. trailli (Hogg 1920) [=Monoxyomma trailli] F54
    |    |    |--K. tricerata Forster 1954 NS00
    |    |    `--K. tuthilli Forster 1954 NS00
    |    `--Soerensenella Pocock 1903 [incl. Akaroa Roewer 1931] F54
    |         |--*S. prehensor Pocock 1903 P03, F54 [=Soerensella (l. c.) prehensor R23]
    |         |    |--S. p. prehensor NS00
    |         |    |--S. p. nitida Forster 1954 F54
    |         |    `--S. p. obesa Forster 1954 NS00
    |         |--S. bicornis Pocock 1903 F54 [=Soerensella (l. c.) bicornis R23; incl. *Akaroa formosa Roewer 1931 F54]
    |         |    |--S. b. bicornis F54
    |         |    |--S. b. parva Forster 1954 F54
    |         |    `--S. b. waikanae Forster 1954 F54
    |         `--S. rotara Phillipps & Grimmett 1932 F54
    `--Triaenonychinae MK08
         |  i. s.: Picunchenops Maury 1988 K03
         |           `--*P. spelaeus Maury 1988 K03
         |         Conoculus Forster 1949 F49
         |           `--*C. asperus Forster 1949 F49
         |         Roewerania Lawrence 1934 S92
         |           |--*R. lignicola Lawrence 1934 S92
         |           |--R. guduana Kauri 1961 L02
         |           |--R. montana Kauri 1961 L02
         |           `--R. spinosa Lawrence 1938 L02
         |         Yulella Lawrence 1939 K04
         |           `--*Y. natalensis (Lawrence 1937) [=Roewerania natalensis] S92
         |         Millomontia Lawrence 1959 K04
         |           |--*M. brevispina Lawrence 1959 S92
         |           `--M. vadoni Lawrence 1959 S92
         |         Millotonyx Lawrence 1959 K04
         |           `--*M. tenuipes Lawrence 1959 S92
         |         Paulianyx Lawrence 1959 K04
         |           |--*P. brevipes Lawrence 1959 S92
         |           `--P. ferruginea Lawrence 1959 S92
         |         Ankaratrix Lawrence 1959 S92
         |           |--*A. illota Lawrence 1959 S92
         |           `--A. cancrops Lawrence 1959 S92
         |         Decarynella Fage 1945 S92
         |           `--*D. gracilipes Fage 1945 S92
         |         Ivohibea Lawrence 1959 S92
         |           `--*I. cavernicola Lawrence 1959 S92
         |         Planimontia Kauri 1961 S92
         |           `--*P. goodnightorum Kauri 1961 [=P. goodnighti] S92
         |--Fumontana Shear 1977 GV09, K03
         |    `--*F. deprehendor Shear 1977 [=F. deprehensor (l. c.)] K03
         `--+--Adaeini GV09
            `--+--Triaenonychini GV09
               `--+--Triaenobunini GV09
                  `--Graemontia Lawrence 1931 K06
                       |--*G. bifidens Lawrence 1931 K06
                       |--G. bicornigera Lawrence 1963 K06
                       |--G. decorata Lawrence 1938 K06
                       |--G. dentichelis Lawrence 1931 K06
                       |--G. erecta Kauri 1961 K06
                       |--G. natalensis Lawrence 1937 K06
                       `--G. viridiceps Kury 2006 K06

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[F49] Forster, R. R. 1949. Australian Opiliones. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 16: 59-89.

[F54] Forster, R. R. 1954. The New Zealand harvestmen (sub-order Laniatores). Canterbury Museum Bulletin 2: 1-329.

[GV09] Giribet, G., L. Vogt, A. Pérez González, P. Sharma & A. B. Kury. 2009. A multilocus approach to harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones) phylogeny with emphasis on biogeography and the systematics of Laniatores. Cladistics 25: 1-30.

[K54] Kauri, H. 1954. Report from Professor T. Gislén’s expedition to Australia in 1951-1952. 9. Harvest-spiders from S. W. Australia. Lunds Universitets Ärsskrift. N. F. Avd. 2. 50 (11): 1-10.

[K03] Kury, A. B. 2003. Annotated catalogue of the Laniatores of the New World (Arachnida, Opiliones). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología, volumen especial monográfico 1: 1-337.

[K04] Kury, A. B. 2004. A new genus of Triaenonychidae from South Africa (Opiliones, Laniatores). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 9: 205-210.

[K06] Kury, A. B. 2006. A new species of Graemontia Lawrence, 1931, from the Western Cape, South Africa, with notes on the relationships of the genus (Opiliones: Laniatores: Triaenonychidae). African Zoology 41 (1): 45-50.

[L02] Lotz, L. N. 2002. The Opiliones (Arachnida) of the Free State Province, South Africa. Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein 18 (8): 161-187.

[MK08] Mendes, A. C., & A. B. Kury. 2008. Intercontinental Triaenonychidae – the case of Ceratomontia (Opiliones, Insidiatores). Journal of Arachnology 36 (2): 273-279.

[NS00] Nicholls, D. C., P. J. Sirvid, S. D. Pollard & M. Walker. 2000. A list of arachnid primary types held in Canterbury Museum. Records of the Canterbury Museum 14: 37-48.

[P03] Pocock, R. I. 1903. Fifteen new species and two new genera of tropical and southern Opiliones. Annals & Magazine of Natural History series 7, xi: 433-450.

[R23] Roewer, C.-F. 1923. Die Weberknechte der Erde: Systematische Bearbeitung der bisher bekannnten Opiliones. Gustav Fischer: Jena.

[S92] Staręga, W. 1992. An annotated check-list of Afrotropical harvestmen, excluding the Phalangiidae (Opiliones). Annals of the Natal Museum 33 (2): 271-336.

[S75] Suzuki, S. 1975. The harvestmen of family Triaenonychidae in Japan and Korea (Travunoidea, Opiliones, Arachnida). Journal of Science of the Hiroshima University, Series B, Division 1, 26: 65-101.