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

Posted by
  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 ...

Unveiling high solifuge diversity: Review of the genus Pseudocleobis Pocock, 1900 (Ammotrechidae) in Chile with the description of nine new species

Posted by

 


Unveiling high solifuge diversity: Review of the genus Pseudocleobis Pocock, 1900 (Ammotrechidae) in Chile with the description of nine new species

Abstract

The Pseudocleobis from Chile are revised. Pseudocleobis morsicans (Gervais, 1849) and P. chilensis Roewer, 1934 are considered species inquerenda. Pseudocleobis andinus (Pocock, 1899) is removed from the Chilean fauna, and its previous records are considered misidentifications. Pseudocleobis alticola Pocock, 1900 is recorded from Chile for the first time. Nine new species are described, Pseudocleobis elongatus n. sp., P. atacamensis n. sp., P. puna n. sp., P. krausi n. sp., P. choros n. sp., P. lalackama n. sp., P. mumai n. sp., P. cekalovici n. sp. and P. escuadra n. sp. The species can be distinguished by the male chelicera morphology. We discuss the relationship of Chilean Pseudocleobis with other species of the genus, based on morphology. This work increases the number of known Chilean solifuge species by almost 70%, revealing the high degree of diversification of this group in Chile.

Iuri HA, Ojanguren-Affilastro AA, Maury EA, Alfaro FM, Camousseigt-Montolivo B, Pizarro-Araya J (2025) Unveiling high solifuge diversity: Review of the genus Pseudocleobis Pocock, 1900 (Ammotrechidae) in Chile with the description of nine new species. PLoS ONE 20(1): e0309776. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309776