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 wasp family Pompilidae (Hymenoptera: Aculeata: Pompiloidea) in Uzbekistan: annotated checklist with first faunal records

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By Christina Butler from Georgia, United States - Ceropales maculata, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95892530

The spider wasp family Pompilidae (Hymenoptera: Aculeata: Pompiloidea) in Uzbekistan: annotated checklist with first faunal records

This paper presents, for the first time, a review of the fauna of spider wasps (Pompilidae) of Uzbekistan. The review includes 132 species and 1 subspecies, 4 species undetermined to species level (sp.), belonging to 28 genera, 8 tribes, and 3 subfamilies recorded within the territory of Uzbekistan. The data are based on published literature and materials collected during 1909-1978, which are preserved in the Entomological Collection of the State Museum of Nature of Uzbekistan. Among these, 9 species are recorded for the first time for the fauna of Uzbekistan, namely: Cryptocheilus (Cryptocheilus) alternatus caspius Gussakovskij, 1952; Priocnemis (Priocnemis) minuta (Vander Linden, 1827); Priocnemis (Umbripennis) gypsochtona Gussakovskij, 1930; Tachyagetes (Tachyagetes) excellens (Haupt,1930); Arachnospila (Ammosphex) trivialis (Dahlbom, 1843); Arachnospila (Arachnospila) binaeva Haupt, 1930; Arachnospila (Arachnospila) rufa (Haupt, 1927); Paracyphononyx pavlovskyi Gussakovskij, 1952; Arachnotheutes rufithorax (Costa, 1882). 

Lebedeva, N. I., Akhmedov, A. G., Mirzaeva, G. S., Musaev, D. M., Nazarov, S. N., Azamov, M. S., Abdullaeva, M. I., Kholmirzayeva, A. A., & Hudoyberdieva, M. O. (2026). The spider wasp family Pompilidae (Hymenoptera: Aculeata: Pompiloidea) in Uzbekistan: annotated checklist with first faunal records. Acta Biologica Sibirica, 12, 59–84. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18310226