Megabunus diadema
| Megabunus diadema | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Opiliones |
| Family: | Phalangiidae |
| Genus: | Megabunus |
| Species: | M. diadema
|
| Binomial name | |
| Megabunus diadema (Fabricius, 1779)
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Megabunus diadema is a species of harvestman in the family Phalangiidae.[1] It is distributed in Western Europe, where it has been found in Iceland, Faroe Islands, Western Norway, Great Britain, Western France, Belgium and Northern Spain.[2]
It is commonly found among moss and lichens, and has a cryptic coloration that blends with this habitat, rendering it almost invisible when it is not moving.[3] Its second pair of legs is as long as 35 mm.[4] Its prominent pair of eyes is equipped with a spiny "crown".
M. diadema was shown to feed on chironomid flies.[5]
The gregarines Actinocephalus megabuni and Doliospora repelini (Eugregarinorida), and the mite Leptus beroni were found to parasitize on this species.[6]
During a study of woodland in Scotland, they were found to be most active during March, June to July and December; in montane regions of Wales they only occurred in August, while they were found all year round in English woodland, with a peak from May to August.[7]
The mainly parthenogenetic[2] M. diadema lays three batches of eggs per year, with about 30 eggs per batch that are deposited among leaf litter or on the soil.[8] The larvae, like many in the suborder Eupnoi, have an egg tooth.[9]
Males have 28 chromosomes.[10]
Footnotes
- ^ a b Catalogue of Life
- ^ a b Stol 2005
- ^ Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 375
- ^ Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 494
- ^ Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 312
- ^ Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 342,344
- ^ Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 289
- ^ Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 431
- ^ Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 464
- ^ Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 268
References
- "Megabunus diadema (Fabricius, 1779)". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- Stol, Ingvar (2005). "Ecology and body size of the parthenogenetic Megabunus diadema (Fabricius, 1779) (Opiliones: Phalangiidae) at Karmøy, Western Norway". Fauna Norvegica. 25: 39–44. doi:10.5324/fn.v25i0.5938.
- Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen – The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-02343-9
External links
- John Partridge: Drawing of M. diadema