Polyphyly of C addoidea, reinstatement of the family A cropsopilionidae in D yspnoi, and a revised classification system of P alpatores ( A rachnida, O piliones)

Among the least studied harvestmen are the members of the family C addidae sensu Shear, 1975, a group of O piliones with massive eyes and the putative sister group of the remaining E upnoi. Caddids were originally described as two families, C addidae and A cropsopilionidae, but these are currently treated as subfamilies of C addidae. These minute arachnids are rarely collected and present some interesting biogeographical patterns, including a disjunct distribution between East Asia and eastern North A merica, and some of the few cases of trans‐ P acific genera in southern hemisphere O piliones. We therefore obtained samples from most of the landmasses inhabited by C addidae and undertook a phylogenetic study using nuclear and mitochondrial genes for as many samples as possible. Our results, based on a broad taxonomic sampling, surprisingly showed polyphyly of C addidae, with the genus C addo forming the sister group of the remaining E upnoi, whereas the southern hemisphere genera, many of which were originally placed in A cropsopilionidae, within D yspnoi, formed the sister clade of the remaining D yspnoi. In addition, the more recently described genus H esperopilio , from Western A ustralia and C hile, was unrelated to either C addidae or A cropsopilionidae, despite having the supposedly diagnostic large ocularium, and instead appeared deeply nested within the E upnoi superfamily P halangioidea. Our results are robust to analytical treatment and to homology scheme (dynamic vs. static notions of homology), resulting in a new phylogenetic proposal for E upnoi and D yspnoi. Ancestral state reconstruction suggests that the ancestral Palpatores was probably a tiny harvestman with an enlarged ocularium and glandular palpal setae in its enlarged and armed palps. We take the following taxonomic actions: A cropsopilionidae is removed from synonymy under C addidae and its family status and membership in D yspnoi are restored. Hesperopilio Shear, 1996 is removed from Caddoidea/Caddidae and transferred to Phalangioidea, but it is not assigned to any family.