A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?

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  A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation? Abstract Pseudoscorpions are well known for phoretic associations with arthropods, but interactions with amphibians are rarely documented. Here we report a pseudoscorpion attached to the left palpebral region of an adult male Italian cave salamander, Speleomantes italicus , observed during a visual survey in a karst cave in Tuscany, Italy. The pseudoscorpion, assigned on the basis of visible morphology and locality to Chthonius cf. elongatus , was grasping a minute cutaneous fold on the lower margin of the left upper eyelid with one chela while the salamander moved slowly over the rock surface. No handling was performed and the initial contact between the two animals was not observed. The event therefore cannot be interpreted unambiguously, but may represent opportunistic phoresy or defensive attachment following a failed predation attempt. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of a ...

New occurrences of the Mediterranean black widow Latrodectus tredecimguttatus (Rossi, 1790) in Peninsular Spain with first records for five provinces (Araneae, Theridiidae)

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New occurrences of the Mediterranean black widow Latrodectus tredecimguttatus (Rossi, 1790) in Peninsular Spain with first records for five provinces (Araneae, Theridiidae)

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New occurrence records of the Mediterranean black widow Latrodectus tredecimguttatus (Rossi, 1790) are quoted for Peninsular Spain. The first records for the provinces of Girona, Cáceres, Castellón, Granada, and Huelva are given. 

Ceccolini, Filippo. (2024). New occurrences of the Mediterranean black widow Latrodectus tredecimguttatus (Rossi, 1790) in Peninsular Spain with first records for five provinces (Araneae, Theridiidae). Bolleti de la Societat d'Historia Natural de les Balears. 67. 157-164.