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 ...

Reproductive phenology of an opilionid species maturing in early summer, Himalphalangium spinulatum, showing evidence of protogyny (Opiliones: Eupnoi: Phalangiidae)

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Reproductive phenology of an opilionid species maturing in early summer, Himalphalangium spinulatum, showing evidence of protogyny (Opiliones: Eupnoi: Phalangiidae)

Abstract

The reproductive phenology of Himalphalangium spinulatum (Roewer, 1911) (Eupnoi: Phalangiidae), which overwinter as juveniles and mature in early summer, was surveyed at a riparian forest on the Sendai River, Tottori City, Honshu, Japan. Females became adults about 3–4 days earlier than males. The body weight of females and males and the number of mature eggs retained in females were highest at the age about a week after the final molting, suggesting a shorter time is needed to commence mating and oviposition in this species. This might be the reason for the shorter time lag in maturation between females and males in this species compared to other species of protogynous harvestmen.

Nobuo Tsurusaki, Minako Kawaguchi, Yamato Funakura, Toru Matsumoto "Reproductive phenology of an opilionid species maturing in early summer, Himalphalangium spinulatum, showing evidence of protogyny (Opiliones: Eupnoi: Phalangiidae)," The Journal of Arachnology, 53(1), 13-19, (19 May 2025)