Stygnommatidae is a small neotropical family of the harvestman infraorder Grassatores

Grassatores

Grassatores is the most diverse infraorder of the Laniatores. It includes over 3,500 species distributed mainly in the World Tropics...

 with about thirty described species.

Description

Stygnommatidae range from three to six millimeters in body length. Some species have chelicerae that effectively double their length. The pedipalp

Pedipalp

Pedipalps , are the second pair of appendages of the prosoma in the subphylum Chelicerata. They are traditionally thought to be homologous with mandibles in Crustacea and insects, although more recent studies Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi), are the second pair of appendages of the...

s are strong, enlarged and armed. The legs are relatively short. These harvestmen dwell in litter, with some species found in caves

Speleology

Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form and change over time...

.

Distribution

Members of this family are found in the neotropics from Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Some species are found in southern Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and others in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 and Malaysia, but it is not sure that these belong into this family.

Relationships

The monophyly

Monophyly

In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...

 of this family is disputed. Its closest relatives within the Samooidea are Samoidae

Samoidae

Samoidae is a family of the harvestman infraorder Grassatores with about fifty described species.-Description:The body length of members of this family ranges from about two to almost six millimeters...

, Biantidae

Biantidae

Biantidae is a family of the harvestman infraorder Grassatores with about 130 described species.-Description:Biantidae are between 1.5 and 5.5 millimeters long, with legs ranging from three to 25 mm and enlarged, armed pedipalps...

 and Podoctidae

Podoctidae

Podoctidae is a family of the harvestman infraorder Grassatores with about 130 described species.-Description: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...

.

Name

The name of the type genus is combined from the genus name Stygnus and Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 omma "eye", referring to the eyes that are separated like in Stygnus.

Species

• Stygnomimus Roewer, 1927
• Stygnomimus conopygus (Roewer, 1927)
• Stygnomimus malayensis (Suzuki, 1970)

• Stygnomma Roewer, 1912
• Stygnomma annulipes (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1947) — Mexico
  Mexico
  The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
  
  
• Stygnomma belizense Goodnight & Goodnight, 1977 — Belize
  Belize
  Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
  
  
• Stygnomma bispinatum Goodnight & Goodnight, 1953 — Mexico
• Stygnomma delicatulum Rambla, 1976 — Ecuador
  Ecuador
  Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
  
  
• Stygnomma fiskei Rambla, 1969 — Jamaica
  Jamaica
  Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
  
  
• Stygnomma fuhrmanni Roewer, 1912 — Colombia
  Colombia
  Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
  
  , Costa Rica
  Costa Rica
  Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
  
  , Panama
  Panama
  Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
  
  , Venezuela
  Venezuela
  Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
  
  
• Stygnomma furvum M. A. González-Sponga, 1987 — Venezuela
• Stygnomma gracilitibiae M. A. González-Sponga, 1987 — Venezuela
• Stygnomma granulosa (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1947) — Belize
• Stygnomma joannae Rambla, 1976 — Ecuador
• Stygnomma larense M. A. González-Sponga, 1987 — Venezuela
• Stygnomma leleupi Rambla, 1976 — Ecuador
• Stygnomma maya Goodnight & Goodnight, 1951 — Mexico
• Stygnomma monagasiensis H. E. M. Soares & S. Avram, 1981 — Venezuela
• Stygnomma ornatum M. A. González-Sponga, 1987 — Venezuela
• Stygnomma pecki Goodnight & Goodnight, 1977 — Belize
• Stygnomma planum Goodnight & Goodnight, 1953 — Mexico
• Stygnomma purpureum M. A. González-Sponga, 1987 — Venezuela
• Stygnomma solisitiens M. A. González-Sponga, 1987 — Venezuela
• Stygnomma spiniferum (Packard, 1888)

• Stygnomma spiniferum spiniferum (Packard, 1888) — Florida
  Florida
  Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
  
  , Jamaica
• Stygnomma spiniferum bolivari (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1945) — Cuba
  Cuba
  The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
  
  
• Stygnomma spiniferum tancahensis Goodnight & Goodnight, 1951 — Mexico, Belize
  • Stygnomma spinipalpis Goodnight & Goodnight, 1953 — Mexico
  • Stygnomma spinulatum (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1942) — Puerto Rico
    Puerto Rico
    Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
    
    
  • Stygnomma teapense Goodnight & Goodnight, 1951 — Mexico
  • Stygnomma toledensis Goodnight & Goodnight, 1977 — Belize
  • Stygnomma truxillensis M. A. González-Sponga, 1987 — Venezuela
  • Stygnomma tuberculata Goodnight & Goodnight, 1973 — Mexico