Feaellidae Ellingsen, 1906

Judson, Mark L. I., 2017, A new subfamily of Feaellidae (Arachnida, Chelonethi, Feaelloidea) from Southeast Asia, Zootaxa 4258 (1), pp. 1-33 : 3-4

Family Feaellidae Ellingsen, 1906

Diagnosis of total-group [Protofeaella + Feaellinae + Cybellinae]. Feaelloidea with 2–6 projections on anterior margin of carapace. Tergite I strongly modified, distal part shelved, allowing it to pass under posterior margin of carapace. Palps ‘raptorial’: femur strongly expanded, chela reduced in size, palm particularly small. Movable chelal finger usually with a group or row of strongly differentiated chemosensory setae; trichobothria t and sb situated on ventral face. Chelal teeth dispersed onto paraxial face of fingers. Palp coxa strongly elongated. Coxa IV with broad, thin posterior extension.

Diagnosis of crown-group [Feaellinae + Cybellinae]. Feaellidae with a tuberculate basal tooth on each of the chelal fingers. Sternite III mostly smooth, apart from posteromedian and lateral parts, which are reticulate and bear setae; lateral ends with superficial appearance of spiracular plates, but not separate from rest of sternite. Median maxillary lyrifissure in posterior position, situated on clivus of palp coxa. Intercoxal canal well developed, covered by margins of coxae.

Remarks. Harvey (1992) diagnosed Feaellidae by the following derived states: palps with a raptorial form; median maxillary lyrifissure absent; rallum with a single blade; anterior margin of carapace with 2 or more medial lobes; carapace and tergite I with an unusual articulation joint; and spiracles fused to sternites IV and V. As discussed below, the median maxillary lyrifissure is in fact present in all Feaellidae . The number of blades in the rallum can no longer be used to separate Feaellidae from Pseudogarypidae because two blades are usually present in Cybellinae n. subfam. The spiracles of Feaellidae , like those of Pseudogarypidae , open between sternites III and IV. The impression that they have moved is due to associated anterolateral modifications on sternites IV and V, particularly the strong internal apodemes.

The diagnosis of the crown-group includes characters for which states are unknown for Protofeaella and hence might instead apply to the total-group.