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 ...

The spider collection (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Manchester Museum: people, history, and a type catalogue

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The spider collection (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Manchester Museum: people, history, and a type catalogue

Abstract 

This paper is devoted to the history of the spider collections held at the Manchester Museum, UK. By the end of 2024, the Manchester Museum had accumulated over 172,000 spider specimens belonging to 4255 identified and around 1130 (21%) undetermined species. The history of the Museum’s spider collections is narrated in the form of short essays focusing on specific araneologists who have donated significant (over 1000 specimens) spider collections. Smaller acquisitions of tens/hundreds of specimens (130 in total) are dealt with in a separate section. A complete catalogue of the type specimens of Araneae in the Manchester Museum (to the end of 2024) is also provided. A total of 179 spider species (746 specimens) are represented by type specimens, of which 71 species are represented by holotypes.

Logunov, Dmitri. (2025). The spider collection (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Manchester Museum: people, history, and a type catalogue. Arachnology. 20. 173-227. via ResearchGate