Samoidae is a family of the harvestman infraorder Grassatores with about fifty described species.[1]

Samoidae
Temporal range: Neogene–present
Samoidae
Scientific classification
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Samoidae

Sørensen, 1886
Species

See text for list

Diversity
c. 26 genera, c. 50 species

Description edit

The body length of members of this family ranges from about two to almost six millimeters. They are dull light brown to yellow or green yellow with darker mottling, and sometimes dark brown.[1]

Distribution edit

Samoidae from Polynesia, Melanesia, Australia, Mexico, the West Indies and Venezuela are all remarkably similar, while the species from Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles and Indonesia do at least in part not belong to this family.[1]

Relationships edit

The relationship with other families in the Samooidea is not yet understood.[1]

Name edit

The name of the type genus is derived from the type locality Samoa.[1]

Species edit

  • Orsa V. Silhavy, 1979
  • Samoa Sørensen, in L. Koch 1886

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Pérez Gonzales, Abel & Kury, Adriano B. (2007): Samoidae. Sørensen, 1886. In: Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 224ff

References edit

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