The Stygnidae are a family of neotropical harvestmen within the suborder Laniatores.

Name

The name of the type genus is derived from Ancient Greek stygnos "diabolic being".

Description

Body length ranges from about one to six millimeters. The color ranges from light brown to reddish. Some Heterostygninae have white patches, stripes or spots on the dorsal scutum.

Distribution

The Heterostygninae are found in the Lesser Antilles, Nomoclastinae are endemic to Colombia, and the Stygninae live from north of the Tropic of Capricorn (central South America). Most species live in the Amazonian rainforest. However, half the species have only been collected once, so distribution of species is poorly known.

Relationships

The Stygnidae are sister to Cosmetidae and Gonyleptidae, and belong to the same group inside Gonyleptoidea as these and Cranaidae and Manaosbiidae. The Stygnidae are monophyletic.

Genera

See the List of Stygnidae species for a list of currently described species. Heterostygninae Roewer, 1913 Stygninae Simon, 1879 Incertae sedis: --- Else see Nomoclastinae Roewer, 1943 including Nomoclastes Sørensen, 1932 => Nomoclastidae

Footnotes