Maltese Palpigrade

Taxobox
name = Maltese Palpigrade


image_width = 250px
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Arachnida
ordo = Palpigrada/Palpigradi
familia = Koeniidae
genus = "Eukonenia"
species = "E. christiani"
binomial = "Eukonenia christiani"

The Maltese Palpigrade (known as "Il-Palpigrad ta' Malta" in Maltese), endemic to the Maltese Islands, comes from the Order "Palpigrada" or "Palpigradi", a rather primitive order of arachnids. There are 80 species of palpigrade worldwide (see the article Palpigradi). They are small and eyeless with a long tail-like structure Wildlife of the Maltese Islands, BirdLife Malta and Nature Trust, 1995] .

Discovery

The Maltese Palpigrade was first discovered in 1988 when a specimen was found in a cave at Girgenti (Malta) . Since then, no news of another specimen has been heard of making the Maltese Palpigrade a very rare species.

General features

The Maltese Palpigrade is 1.2mm long , and is depicted in "Wildlife of the Maltese Islands" (BirdLife Malta and Nature Trust, 1995) as having a light brown colouring.

ee also

*Palpigradi
*Endemic Maltese wildlife
*Endemism

References