Trogulidae is a family of harvestmen comprising 65 extant species (plus 1 extinct) in five genera. Members of this species have short legs and live in soil. They have dirt attached to their bodies, to escape predators. Their body length ranges from 2 to 22 mm. In most genera, the body is somewhat flattened and leathery. Adults have a small hood which hides their short chelicerae and pedipalps.

Distribution

Members of this family occur in western and southern Europe, up to western North Africa and the Levant, the Caucasus and northern Iran. Trogulus tricarinatus, a predator of terrestrial snails, has been introduced to eastern North America.

Name

The derivation of the name of the type genus, Trogulus, is not fully understood. The describer Latreille wrote that he named it because it looks like a monkshood. Perrier (1929) however derived the name from the Ancient Greek trogein "gnawing", because of the rough, "gnawed-upon" appearance.

Species

The known genera and species in Trogulidae as of 2023 are: See also extinct: Plus see unknown: