Phalangida from Tropical America

Through the courtesy of the authorities of Chicago Natural History Museum we have been able to study the phalangid collections accumulated in the Museum’s Division of Insects. This group of arachnids, often known as harvestmen or "daddy longlegs," has been much neglected, and every considerable collection proves to be rich in new genera and species. We are especially indebted to Mr. William J. Gerhard, Curator of Insects, and Mr. Rupert L. Wenzel and Mr. Henry S. Dybas, Assistant Curators, for friendly aid. The material studied includes the collections of Ivan T. Sanderson from British Honduras and Mexico, deposited in Chicago Museum ; specimens collected in Mexico and Colombia by Henry S. Dybas; a small collection from Venezuela presented to the Museum by Padre Cornelio Vogl, of Caracas; and collections of phalangids made by Chief Curator Karl P. Schmidt in Honduras, Guatemala, and Peru. This paper records collections of phalangids from Yucatan for the first time. As was to be expected, the Yucatan forms are closely related to those of southern Mexico. The first record from Mexico of the subfamily Stygnommatinae (Phalangodidae) is of unusual interest. The discovery of the new genus and species Flaccus annulipes adds to our knowledge of the distribution of this subfamily.Two new members of the subfamily Phalangodinae (Phalangodidae), Pellobunus granulosa and Paramitraceras chichivaca, are described in this paper. Junicus gerhardi (Phalangodidae: Triacommatinae) adds to our information concerning the distribution of this relatively small subfamily.