Menthidae Chamberlin, 1930

Family

Thenmus aigialites from Australia (Image: M. Harvey)

The Menthidae were first recognized by Chamberlin (1930) who included the genus Menthus from south-western U.S.A. and Mexico. Additional genera were added from western South America (Beier, 1962), the Middle East (Beier, 1963), Australia (Harvey and Muchmore, 1990) and Suqutra (Mahnert, 2007). The family was revised by Harvey and Muchmore (1990).

Composition

The Menthidae contains five genera, Menthus, Oligomenthus, Paramenthus, Pseudomenthus and Thenmus, and just 12 species.

Distribution

The family is sporadically distributed in xeric habitats around the world. Menthus occurs in south-western U.S.A. and Mexico, Oligomenthus in Chile and Argentina, Paramenthus in the Middle East and Suqutra, Pseudomenthus in Suqutra, and Thenmus in northern Australia.

Distribution Count
Argentina 1
Australia 2
Chile 1
Israel 1
Mexico 3
United States 1
Yemen 3

Pseudoscorpiones de Geer 1778

Order

Iocheirata Harvey 1992

Suborder

Garypoidea Simon 1879

Superfamily

Important References

Harvey, M.S. and Muchmore, W.B. (1990). The systematics of the family Menthidae (Pseudoscorpionida). Invertebrate Taxonomy 3: 941-964.

Mahnert, V. (2007). Pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) of the Socotra Archipelago, Yemen. Fauna of Arabia 23: 271-307.

References

Menthidae Chamberlin, 1930: 585; Chamberlin, 1931a: 222; Beier, 1932a: 177; Beier, 1932g: fig. 184; Roewer, 1937: 258-259; Vitali-di Castri, 1969a: 501; Muchmore, 1982a: 99; Harvey and Muchmore, 1990: 942-944; Harvey, 1991a: 261; Harvey, 1992c: 1422; Harvey, 1996a: 259.

Genus