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 ...

Precision Lost with Complexity: On an Extraordinary New Species of Pholcidae (Araneae, Smeringopinae) from Western DR Congo

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Precision Lost with Complexity: On an Extraordinary New Species of Pholcidae (Araneae, Smeringopinae) from Western DR Congo

Abstract

A remarkable new pholcid spider species is described from the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Smeringopina polychila sp. nov. The male is distinguished by a unique and previously undocumented structure, here termed the “parachila”, which has not been observed in any other spider to date. The description is complemented by high-quality illustrations, including detailed drawings, photographs, micro-CT scans, and 3D reconstructions of the genitalia and the newly discovered male structure. Remarkable intraspecific variations, both somatic and genitalic, in males are also highlighted and discussed. A phylogenetic analysis based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, 16S ribosomal RNA and histone H3 gene fragments is presented to tentatively place the new species into an existing phylogenetic framework. The results of the molecular analyses confirm that the new species belongs to the subfamily Smeringopinae and is nested within the genus Smeringopina Kraus, 1957.

Henrard, A., Jocqué, R., Smitz, N., & Grignet, V. (2025). Precision Lost with Complexity: On an Extraordinary New Species of Pholcidae (Araneae, Smeringopinae) from Western DR Congo. Taxonomy, 5(4), 57. https://doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy5040057