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 ...

On the spider genus Spanioplanus (Araneae: Linyphiidae): three new species from Uruguay and Argentina

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On the spider genus Spanioplanus (Araneae: Linyphiidae): three new species from Uruguay and Argentina

ABSTRACT

Three new species of the genus Spanioplanus Millidge (Araneae: Linyphiidae) are described: Spanioplanus juru n. sp. (male and female) from riparian forests and psammophilus scrublands in Uruguay, Spanioplanus holmbergi n. sp. (male and female) and Spanioplanus olejniki n. sp. (female) from riparian forests and hilly systems in central-eastern Argentina. Photographs and illustrations of somatic and sexual characters of the species are provided. Furthermore, data of the natural history and a distribution map for these species are presented together with an updated diagnosis of the genus. These findings document a higher species number of this previously monotypic genus and expand its known distribution in South America.

CAJADE, M., CARRIÓN, N., HAGOPIÁN, D., ZAPATA, L., GRISMADO, C., & SIMÓ, M. . (2025). On the spider genus <em>Spanioplanus</em> (Araneae: Linyphiidae): three new species from Uruguay and Argentina. Revista De La Sociedad Entomológica Argentina, 84(3), e0302. Retrieved from https://www.biotaxa.org/RSEA/article/view/86932