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 ...

Revealing the identity of Josa chazaliae (Simon, 1897) (Araneae: Anyphaenidae): new species and the highest altitude record for a spider in South America

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Revealing the identity of Josa chazaliae (Simon, 1897) (Araneae: Anyphaenidae): new species and the highest altitude record for a spider in South America

Abstract

We examined the type series of Josa chazaliae (Simon, 1897) from Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, composed of three females of two different species. Herein, we propose a lectotype for Josa chazaliae, redescribe the female, and describe the male of this species for the first time. A new species, Josa samaria sp. nov., is proposed based on a female paralectotype of Josa chazaliae. Three additional species, all based on both sexes are described: Josa nadineae sp. nov., Josa berlandi sp. nov., and Josa olimpica sp. nov. All species studied in this work occur in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountain system in the world. We compared our geographical data with the records of spiders available in GBIF, the MACN-Ar database along with unpublished records for the described Josa species. The results indicate that the presence of Josa olimpica at altitudes of at least 5500 masl represents the highest record for a spider in South America, and apparently the highest record for any spider in the Western Hemisphere.

Martínez, L., Kochalka, J. A., Cabra-García, J. & Ramírez, M. J. (2025). Revealing the identity of Josa chazaliae (Simon, 1897) (Araneae: Anyphaenidae): new species and the highest altitude record for a spider in South America. Zootaxa 5566(2): 201-242. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5566.2.1