Suthepiidae, Martens, 2020

Martens, Jochen, 2020, A mysterious dwarf: Suthepiidae nov. fam., a new harvestman family from mountains of northern Thailand (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores), Revue suisse de Zoologie 127 (2), pp. 381-391 : 382

Family Suthepiidae fam. nov.

Type genus: Suthepia gen. nov.

Included genera: Presently only one, the type genus.

Diagnosis: A family of the order Opiliones , suborder Laniatores , infraorder Grassatores with the following characters: Small species with less than two mm body length. Body surface of males and females rather smooth, without conspicuous tubercles, thorns or setae. Penis stout, distal half strongly enlarged laterally and dorso-ventrally, with complex hemolymph-pressuredriven system of sclerites and membranes, with an eversible prickly funnel in its interior, and with pairs of single setae plus pairs of groups of setae. Ovipositor short, with three pairs of long sub-apical setae on ventral side. Pedipalp in males and females smooth, without any apophyses carrying setae (i.e. not the raptorial type of laniatorean pedipalps); tarsus of males enlarged, bilaterally compressed, with scattered distal setae slightly longer than and as strong as tarsal claw.

Distribution: Presently only one species is known from mountains in northern Thailand.

Relationships: Suthepiidae is unique in possessing several presumably apomorphic characters of the male and female pedipalp (non-raptorial type of pedipalps) and in its male and female genital morphology (stout, distally markedly enlarged penis with a complex eversible system including a prickly funnel; ovipositor with three pairs of slender sub-apical setae only on ventral side). Currently no close relationships to any extant Southeast Asian laniatorean family is discernible (see Discussion).