The Neopilionidae are a family of harvestmen.

It has a clearly Gondwanan distribution, with species found in Australia, South Africa and South America; they probably represent relicts of that time.

The family members range in size from the small Americovibone lancafrancoae (0.9 mm) to over 4 mm in the Enantiobuninae.

Some species of Enantiobuninae have blue pigmentation, which is rather unusual in harvestmen.

The former family "Monoscutidae" has recently been subsumed within the subfamily Enantiobuninae.

Name

The family name is a contraction of Ancient Greek neo "new" and Latin Opilio, a genus of harvestman.

Subdivisions

According to the Catalogue of Life, Neopilionidae includes 3 subfamilies, which contain a total of 27 genera and 81 species.

  • Ballarrinae Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 Americovibone Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 Arrallaba Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 Ballarra Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 Plesioballarra Hunt & Cokendolpher, 1991 Vibone Kauri, 1961
  • Enantiobuninae Mello-Leitão, 1931 (incl. Monoscutidae) Accensus Taylor, 2025 Acihasta Forster, 1948 Australiscutum Taylor, 2009 Forsteropsalis Taylor, 2011 Maikukunui Taylor, 2025 Mangatangi Taylor, 2013 Megalopsalis Roewer, 1923 Monoscutum Forster, 1948 Neopantopsalis Taylor & Hunt, 2009 Pakaka Taylor, 2025 Pantopsalis Simon, 1879 Puwere Taylor, 2025 Shelob Taylor, 2025 Spinicrurellum Taylor, 2025 Templar Taylor, 2008 Tercentenarium Taylor, 2011 Thrasychiroides Soares & Soares, 1947 Thrasychirus Simon, 1884 Triascutum Taylor, 2025 Ungoliant Taylor, 2025

Footnotes

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