Fumontana deprehendor

Taxobox
name = "Fumontana deprehendor"


image_caption = "F. deprehendor"
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Arachnida
ordo = Opiliones
subordo = Laniatores
superfamilia = Triaenonychioidea
familia = Triaenonychidae
genus = "Fumontana"
genus_authority = Shear, 1977
diversity_link = Fumontana
diversity = 1 species
species = "F. deprehendor"
binomial = "Fumontana deprehendor"
binomial_authority = Shear, 1977
range_

range_map_width = 250px

"Fumontana" is a genus of harvestman that occurs in the United States (North Carolina and Tennessee) with one described species, "F. deprehendor".

While members of the family Triaenochychidae are well represented in western North America, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Korea and Japan, "F. deprehendor" is the first species found in the eastern United States. [Shear 1977: 178] The Appalachian millipede genus "Choctella" shows a similar distribution, suggesting they both stem from the same Gondwanan fauna [Thomas & Hedin 2006: 22] .

It was first discovered in forest litter of Greenbrier Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. Another specimen was recorded near Robbinsville, Graham Co ., North Carolina, under a stone in a virgin cove hardwoods forest, 55km southeast of the first find [Shear 1978: ] . About 30 years later, 22 new populations were found in the region, including habitats in southwestern Virginia, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and northern Georgia. The majority was found in heights above 750 m, and they were most abundant in well decayed hemlock logs. [Thomas & Hedin 2006: 21f, 26]

Certain aspects of its anatomy (such as position and form of the eye tubercle, and the male genitalia) make it likely that it is most closely related to genera in other parts of the world, such as "Monomontia" in South Africa or "Hendea" in New Zealand. "F. deprehendor" is thus likey an ancient relict, suggesting a wide distribution of the family before the current distribution of continents. [Shear 1977: 181f]

Name

The genus name is derived from the Latin words for "smoke" and "mountain". The species name is Latin for "one who takes by surprise". [Shear 1977: 179]

Footnotes

References

*'s Biology Catalog: [http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/Acari/Family/Triaenonychidae.txt Triaenonychidae]
* (1977): "Fumontana deprehendor", n. gen., n. sp., the First Triaenonychid Opilionid from Eastern North America (Opiliones: Laniatores: Triaenonychidae). "Journal of Arachnology" "'3"(3): pp. 177-183. [http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v3_n3/JoA_v3_p177.pdf PDF]
* (1978): A new record for the rare opilionid "Fumontana deprehensor" (Opiliones, Triaenonychidae). "Journal of Arachnology" 6(1): 79. [http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v6_n1/JoA_v6_p79_A&B.pdf PDF]
* (2006): Natural history and distribution of the enigmatic southern Appalachian opilionid, Fumontana deprehendor Shear (Laniatores: Triaenonychidae), with an assessment of morphological variation. "Zootaxa" 1242: 21-36. [http://www.bio.sdsu.edu/pub/spiders/HedFiles/thomhed2006.pdf PDF]