Abstract
The taxonomic diversity of the Opiliones fauna of Canada is reviewed and summarised. At present, 36 native and seven non-native species have been documented in Canada using traditional morphological taxonomy, although more than 20 species may remain undiscovered based on species diversity in the adjacent United States and evidence from DNA barcoding. Consequently, the native fauna is yet to be fully explored and the number, distribution and ecological effects of non-native species remain unclear. Until the 1960s, work on the Canadian Opiliones fauna was largely conducted by researchers based outside the country. From that time on, several Canadian workers became active. However, these taxonomists have now retired and no one has assumed their role. Thus, there is a need to invigorate taxonomic research on the harvestmen of Canada and for the production of easy-to-use identification tools for use by non-taxonomists.
Highlights
The Opiliones, or harvestmen, encompass over 6600 described species and about 50 families worldwide (Kury 2013), with 42 species representing eight families currently known from Canada (Table 1)
Harvestmen are among the most common and visible groups of poorly-studied arthropod, interest in their biology was recently invigorated by the book Harvestmen: The Biology of Opiliones (Pinto-da-Rocha et al 2007)
For over a century (1860 to 1966), all first national records in Canada were established by non-Canadian workers, most from the USA (Banks 1902, 1916, Crosbycus dasycnemus (Crosby) 1907, Davis 1934, Crosby and Zorsch 1935, Bishop 1949), with the remainder based in Europe (Britain: Walker 1860; Germany: Roewer 1910, 1957; Switzerland: Schenkel 1951; Finland: Hackman 1956)
Summary
Academic editor: D. Langor | Received 7 February 2018 | Accepted 6 May 2018 | Published 24 January 2019 http://zoobank.org/873E9176-64B7-4D10-B6B4-4E4F75E4078C Citation: Shultz JW (2019) Opiliones of Canada. In: Langor DW, Sheffield CS (Eds) The Biota of Canada – A Biodiversity Assessment. Part 1: The Terrestrial Arthropods. ZooKeys 819: 57–65. https://doi.org/10.3897/ zookeys.819.24327
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