Systematic revision of Dongmoa Roewer (Arachnida: Opiliones: Podoctidae), with reassignment of two Chinese species from Bonea and description of a new species from Vietnam

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  Systematic revision of Dongmoa Roewer (Arachnida: Opiliones: Podoctidae), with reassignment of two Chinese species from Bonea and description of a new species from Vietnam ABSTRACT A new species of the genus  Dongmoa  Roewer is described from Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, with its intricate external morphology examined using micro-CT scanning. Until now,  Dongmoa  included only two species, one from northern Vietnam and another from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Here, we provide a revised diagnosis of the genus, with detailed comparisons to the closely related genera  Bonea  and  Erecanana . In addition, two species from Hainan Island, China, previously assigned to  Bonea , are transferred to  Dongmoa , increasing the total number of recognised species in the genus to five. This study represents the first modern systematic treatment of  Dongmoa , substantially refining the traditional Roewerian framework and enabling a clearer delimit...

The Ongoing Expansion of the Medically Important Scorpions in Southern South America

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The Ongoing Expansion of the Medically Important Scorpions in Southern South America

Abstract

We revise the expansion of synanthropic medically important species of Scorpions of genus Tityus in southern South America: Tityus bahiensis (Perty 1833), Tityus carrilloi Ojanguren-Affilastro 2021, Tityus confluens Borelli 1899, Tityus costatus (Karsch, 1879), Tityus serrulatus Lutz & Mello, 1922, and Tityus trivittatus Kraepelin 1898, which due to their synanthropic capabilities we regard as invasive species. We also build species distribution models (SMDs) from bioclimatic variables using Maxent. We also included the human density variable in the model, because medically important species in the area are synanthropic, being more common in urban areas than in natural environments. We present their current suitable areas and the potential future distribution up to 2070. According to our analyses most species will expand in the close future, reaching countries without Scorpionism problems, such as Chile and Uruguay. We conclude that, besides synanthropic capabilities, parthenogenesis is the main factor favoring the expansion of some of these species. We also conclude that interactions between invasive Tityus species may hinder their expansion process due to potential competition or exclusion mechanisms.

Barrios-Montivero, A.E., Martínez, P.A. & Ojanguren-Affilastro, A.A. The Ongoing Expansion of the Medically Important Scorpions in Southern South America. EcoHealth (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-025-01722-0