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 ...

An unusual new species of Burmesescorpiops Lourenço, 2016 from Cretaceous Burmese amber (Scorpiones: Palaeoeuscorpiidae: Archaeoscorpiopinae)

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An unusual new species of Burmesescorpiops Lourenço, 2016 from Cretaceous Burmese amber (Scorpiones: Palaeoeuscorpiidae: Archaeoscorpiopinae)

Abstract 

In this contribution a third new species of the rare genus Burmesescorpiops Lourenço, 2016 is described. The discovery of this new element belonging to the family Palaeoeuscorpiidae Lourenço, 2003 and to the subfamily Archaeoscorpiopinae Lourenço, 2015 brings further elements to support the validity of the genus Burmesescorpiops. This generic group remains however, poorly speciose. The remarkable degree of diversity in the Burmese amber-producing forests is once again highlighted.

Dan Z., Zawgyi K. & Lourenço W. R., 2025. – An unusual new species of Burmesescorpiops Lourenço, 2016 from Cretaceous Burmese amber (Scorpiones: Palaeoeuscorpiidae: Archaeoscorpiopinae). Faunitaxys, 13(20): 1 – 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.57800/faunitaxys-13(20)