Vestiferum Martens, 2006
The two species of Vestiferum have separate distribution areas along the Eastern Coast of the Black Sea. They are small, blackish, and adults are densely incrusted with soil particles, a feature rare in Nemastomatidae but common in Dicranolasmatidae and Trogulidae. Male genital morphology exhibits a stylus that is separated from the glans as a narrow tube (Martens 2006). Negative characters are the lack of specific dorsal armament or spines and the lack of male specific apophyses or glandular fields of the palps.
Taxonomy and Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships
Martens (2006) knowingly united the two species, which are distant in terms of male genital morphological, to avoid two separate monotypic genera. However, he mentioned that Vestiferum alatum may in fact be more closely related to the Turkish species of the likewise heterogeneous genus Pyza. Characters that may point to different generic lineages are penes with or without wing-like stabiliments and male cheliceral apophyses with a laminar pore field, in contrast to one concentrated into a slit-like pocket.
Ecology and Life History
Both species seem very rare and are known from few collections only. Recorded habitats consist of humid forest with rich structured soil layer at low altitudes between 400 to 800 m (Martens 2006).
References
Martens, J. 2006. Weberknechte aus dem Kaukasus (Arachnida, Opiliones, Nemastomatidae), Senckenbergiana biologica 86 (2):145-210.
Credits
Page created by Axel L. Schönhofer. Dave Carlson helped improve the English.
Taxonomy and Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships
Martens (2006) knowingly united the two species, which are distant in terms of male genital morphological, to avoid two separate monotypic genera. However, he mentioned that Vestiferum alatum may in fact be more closely related to the Turkish species of the likewise heterogeneous genus Pyza. Characters that may point to different generic lineages are penes with or without wing-like stabiliments and male cheliceral apophyses with a laminar pore field, in contrast to one concentrated into a slit-like pocket.
Ecology and Life History
Both species seem very rare and are known from few collections only. Recorded habitats consist of humid forest with rich structured soil layer at low altitudes between 400 to 800 m (Martens 2006).
References
Martens, J. 2006. Weberknechte aus dem Kaukasus (Arachnida, Opiliones, Nemastomatidae), Senckenbergiana biologica 86 (2):145-210.
Credits
Page created by Axel L. Schönhofer. Dave Carlson helped improve the English.
