Zoological Collections

      INPA's zoological collections are respositories of biological material that are not only home to species, but also to information about the populations of each species, climatic, edaphic data and so on.

      Their purpose is to help understand life on the planet and provide information relevant to public health, agriculture, industry, etc.

      With the help of the PPBio, it has been possible to collect many of the species of organisms that are deposited in INPA's zoological collections.

      Amblypygi

      These species of Arachnids are rare, with few known species. They are harmless but have a somewhat frightening appearance because of their long spiny pedipalps.

      Opiliones

      This is the fourth largest order of Arachnida, with approximately 6500 described species. It is divided into four suborders: Cyphophtalmi, Dyspinoi, Eupnoi and Laniatores (Kury, 2015). They are nocturnal animals, harmless and are very abundant, but little is known about them by the general public (Bonaldo et al., 2009). They are usually found, under logs, in bromeliads, in leaf litter, logs and caves (Kury, 2011).

      Pseudoscorpiones

     The Pseudoscorpions are one of the oldest lineages of terrestrial organisms, with records dating back to the Devonian, about 410 million years ago (Shear et al., 1989; Shear, 1991). They are currently represented by 3385 species, 439 genera and 25 families (Harvey, 2007, 2008). They are small invertebrates, ranging from 0.5 to 5mm and rarely exceed 7 mm in length (Ruppert et al., 2005; Murienne, et al., 2008).

      Ricinulei

      It is a small order of arachnids (sometimes referred to as Podogona) with few species distributed in the New and Old World. They have a hood shaped structure , the “cucullus ”, covering the chelicera.

      Ricinulei are small inhabitants of leaf litter and forest soil (Addis et al., 1989). The group was once considered quite rare, but the application of appropriate techniques for their capture has enabled many new species to be discovered and described in recent years. Conversely, many species have been described based on a few geographically restricted exemplary locations.

       Scorpiones

      This is the fifth largest arachnid order, with about 1,500 described species. The scorpions are easily recognizable with a body divided into two parts: cephalothorax and abdomen. Scorpions have a worldwide distribution, but are most common in tropical and subtropical regions.

• Amblypygi

• Opiliones

• Palpigradi

• Pseudoscorpiones

• Ricinulei

• Schizomida

• Scorpiones

• Solifugae

• Thelyphonida

Text: Willians Porto

Photos: Sidclay Dias