The Monoscutidae are a family of harvestmen with 32 known species that all occur in or near Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

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Species range in body length from two to three millimeters (Monoscutinae) and three to ten mm (Megalopsalidinae). The chelicerae

Chelicerae

The chelicerae are mouthparts of the Chelicerata, an arthropod subphylum that includes arachnids, Merostomata , and Pycnogonida . Chelicerae are pointed appendages which are used to grasp food, and are found in place of the chewing mandibles most other arthropods have...

 are enormously enlarged in males of the subfamily Megalopsalidinae. Most species are colored in shades of browns to black. Megalopsalis inconstans is jet black with bright orange patches on the carapace; Acihasta salebrosa is tan and brown with many white and gold specks over the dorsum.

The Monoscutidae are closely related to the Neopilionidae

Neopilionidae

The Neopilionidae are a family of harvestmen with 15 known species.It has a clearly Gondwanan distribution, with species found in Australia, South Africa and South America, and probably represent relicts of that time....

, which also occur in the Southern hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

.

Species

• Megalopsalidinae Forster, 1949

• Megalopsalis Roewer, 1923

• Megalopsalis serritarsus (Sørensen, 1886) (New South Wales; type species
  Type species
  In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
  
  )
• Megalopsalis chiltoni (Hogg, 1910) (New Zealand)

• Megalopsalis chiltoni (Hogg, 1910)
• Megalopsalis nigra Forster, 1944 (New Zealand)

• Megalopsalis distincta (Forster, 1964) (New Zealand - Auckland Island
  Auckland Island
  Auckland Island is the main island of the Auckland Islands, an uninhabited archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean belonging to New Zealand. It is inscribed in the together with the other subantarctic New Zealand islands in the region as follows: 877-004 Auckland Isls, New Zealand S50.29 E165.52...
  
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• Megalopsalis fabulosa (Phillips & Grimmett, 1932) (New Zealand)
• Megalopsalis grayi (Hogg, 1920) (New Zealand)
• Megalopsalis grimmetti Forster, 1944 (New Zealand)
• Megalopsalis hoggi (Pocock, 1902) (Victoria)
• Megalopsalis inconstans Forster, 1944 (New Zealand)
• Megalopsalis marplesi Forster, 1944 (New Zealand)
• Megalopsalis triascuta Forster, 1944 (New Zealand)
• Megalopsalis tumida Forster, 1944 (New Zealand)
• Megalopsalis turneri Marples, 1944 (New Zealand)
• Megalopsalis wattsi (Hogg, 1920) (New Zealand)

• Pantopsalis Simon, 1879

• Pantopsalis listeri (White, 1849) (New Zealand; type species)
• Pantopsalis albipalpis Pocock, 1903 (New Zealand)

Synonym

Synonym

Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...

s: Pantopsalis nigripalpis Pocock, 1902

    Pantopsalis nigripalpis spiculosa Pocock, 1902

    Pantopsalis jenningsi Pocock, 1903

• Pantopsalis cheliferoides (Colenso, 1882) (New Zealand)
• Pantopsalis coronata Pocock, 1903 (New Zealand)

Synonym: Pantopsalis trippi Pocock, 1903

• Pantopsalis johnsi Forster, 1964 (New Zealand - Auckland Island)

Synonym: Pantopsalis mila Forster, 1964

• Pantopsalis luna (Forster, 1944) (New Zealand)
• Pantopsalis phocator Taylor, 2004 (New Zealand)
• Pantopsalis pococki Hogg, 1920 (New Zealand)
• Pantopsalis rennelli Forster, 1964 (New Zealand - Campbell Island
  Campbell Island, New Zealand
  Campbell Island is a remote, subantarctic island of New Zealand and the main island of the Campbell Island group. It covers of the group's , and is surrounded by numerous stacks, rocks and islets like Dent Island, Folly Island , Isle de Jeanette Marie, and Jacquemart Island, the latter being the...
  
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• Pantopsalis snaresensis Forster, 1964 (New Zealand - Snares Island

• Spinicrus Forster, 1949

• Spinicrus tasmanicum (Hogg, 1910) (Tasmania; type species)
• Spinicrus camelus Forster, 1949 (New South Wales)
• Spinicrus continentalis (Roewer, 1923) (Queensland)
• Spinicrus minimum Kauri, 1954 (Western Australia)
• Spinicrus nigricans Hickman, 1957 (Tasmania)
• Spinicrus porongorupense Kauri, 1954 (Western Australia)
• Spinicrus stewarti Forster, 1949 (Victoria)
• Spinicrus thrypticum Hickman, 1957 (Tasmania)

• Monoscutinae Forster, 1948

• Acihasta Forster, 1948

• Acihasta salebrosa Forster, 1948 (New Zealand - Three Kings Islands
  Three Kings Islands
  The Three Kings Islands or Manawa Islands are a group of 13 islands about northwest of Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand, where the South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea converge. They measure about 4.86 km² in area...
  
  )

• Monoscutum Forster, 1948

• Monoscutum titirangiensis Forster, 1948 (New Zealand)

• Templar Taylor, 2008

• Templar incongruens Taylor, 2008 (New Zealand)