Remarkable micro-endemism and high congeneric richness: eight new cave-restricted species of Pseudochthonius Balzan, 1892 (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from the Brazilian semi-arid

  Remarkable micro-endemism and high congeneric richness: eight new cave-restricted species of Pseudochthonius Balzan, 1892 (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from the Brazilian semi-arid Abstract Eight new species of pseudoscorpions belonging to the genus Pseudochthonius Balzan, 1892 are described from the semi-arid region of Brazil. Comprehensive morphological descriptions, diagnostic characters, detailed illustrations, and ecological remarks of the habitats are provided for Pseudochthonius celestialis sp. nov., P. caritas sp. nov., P. patientia sp. nov., P. temperantia sp. nov., P. diligentia sp. nov., P. castitas sp. nov., P. humilitas sp. nov., and P. benignitas sp. nov. In addition, we present a brief discussion of the potential factors underlying the remarkable congeneric species richness observed in this geographically restricted region, as well as the principal threats faced by these species. These findings underscore the importance of conserving caves in order to pr...

The Journal of Arachnology VOL. 53 · NO. 3 | December 2025

 


The Journal of Arachnology VOL. 53 · NO. 3 | December 2025

New Articles from The Journal of Arachnology

Jeffrey A. Harvey; Francesco Gerosa; Rieta Gols; Wilco C.E.P. Verberk;

The Journal of Arachnology. 53 (3), (2 January 2026). doi:10.1636/JoA-S-24-013

Parasitism of Leucauge tessellata (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) by a koinobiont polysphinctine wasp of the Acrodactyla genus-subgroup (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

Brian T. Sabanal; Yong-Chao Su;

The Journal of Arachnology. 53 (3), (2 January 2026). doi:10.1636/JoA-S-24-028

First description of suspected biofluorescent patterns in Mesoamerican tailless whip spiders (Amblypygi: Phrynidae)

Trevor L. Proctor; Ashley N. Chase; Nathan J. Robinson;

The Journal of Arachnology. 53 (3), (2 January 2026). doi:10.1636/JoA-S-24-033

The gecko's last dance: Aegaeobuthus gibbosus (Brullé, 1832) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) prey on Mediodactylus kotschyi (Steindacher, 1870) (Squamata: Gekkonidae) in Greece

Freideriki Karavatsou; Apostolos Christopoulos; Aris Deimezis-Tsikoutas; Evdokia Beleri; Panayiotis Pafilis;

The Journal of Arachnology. 53 (3), (2 January 2026). doi:10.1636/JoA-S-24-034

Utilization of sheet web architecture of Mughiphantes mughi (Fickert, 1875) by the highly specialized Darwin wasp, Acrodactyla degener (Haliday, 1838) (Hymenoptera; Ichneumonidae)

Jakub Sýkora; Filip Solar; Martina Dorková; Stanislav Korenko;

The Journal of Arachnology. 53 (3), (2 January 2026). doi:10.1636/JoA-S-25-008