Atemnidae Kishida, 1929

Family

The Atemnidae were created by Kishida (1929b) and Chamberlin (1931) for Atemnus, and augmented with additional genera by Beier (1932) and later workers. The Miratemninae were added by Beier (1932) for Miratemnus. The miratemnines were considered a separate family by Dumitresco and Orghidan (1970), but it was returned as a subfamily of Atemnidae by Harvey (1992) which was supported by Klausen (2005).

Composition

The Atemnidae are divided into two subfamilies, Atemninae and Miratemninae. The Atemninae contain 15 Recent genera, and a single genus, Progonatemnus, from Eocene Baltic Amber. The Miratemninae contain six genera. Many atemnid genera appear to be poorly defined and significant changes will be necessary to create a more workable classification (Klausen 2005).

Distribution

Atemnines are found in most regions of the world, whereas miratemnines are more restricted, being found in Africa, southern Europe, central Asia, North America and South America.

Important References

Klausen, F.E. (2005). The male genitalia of the family Atemnidae (Pseudoscorpiones). Journal of Arachnology 33: 641-662.

References

Pessigini Navás, 1925: 109. Atemnidae Kishida, 1929b: 124; Chamberlin, 1931a: 243-244; Beier, 1932b: 548; Beier, 1932e: 20; Beier, 1932g: 186; Roewer, 1937: 279; Hoff, 1956c: 4; Morikawa, 1960: 136; Beier, 1963b: 245; Murthy and Ananthakrishnan, 1977: 124; Muchmore, 1982a: 100; Harvey, 1985b: 128; Harvey, 1991a: 451; Harvey, 1992c: 1430-1431; Tooren, 2008: 435.