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 ...

First catalog of Salticidae (Arachnidae, Araneae) from French Guiana, with the description of one new species

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First catalog of Salticidae (Arachnidae, Araneae) from French Guiana, with the description of one new species

A work of bibliographic synthesis and identification of collected material made possible to complete the knowledge concerning one of the best studied spider families of the neotropical region from a systematic point of view, namely the Salticidae Blackwall, 1841. This catalog lists the presence of 122 species as well as 68 morphospecies, belonging to 36 genera, making a total of 190 potential species. After argument based on the observation of type species or individuals, exchanges with data producers or even verification of data in the bibliography, the following species, 19 in number, are deleted from the list of Salticidae of French Guyana: Amycus ectipus (Simon, 1900), Amycus pertyi Simon, 1900, Anasaitis canosa (Walckenaer, 1837), Chira simoni (Galiano, 1961), Chirothecia crassipes (Taczanowski, 1878), Colonus germaini (Simon, 1900), Corythalia tropica (Mello-Leitão, 1939), Hypaeus miles Simon, 1900, Lyssomanes amazonicus G. W. Peckham, E. G. Peckham & Wheeler, 1889, Lyssomanes elegans (Cambridge, 1900), Lyssomanes parallelus (Peckham & Wheeler, 1889), Matinta fasciata (Mello-Leitão, 1940), Noegus bidens (Simon, 1900), Noegus petrusewiczi Caporiacco, 1947, Psecas bubo (Taczanowski, 1871), Sarinda atrata (Taczanowski, 1871), Scopocira melanops (Taczanowski, 1871), Rudra wagae (Taczanowski, 1871) and Viciria chabanaudi Fage, 1923. The mention of a species in Vedel et al. (2013), not recognized by the World Spider Catalog (2023), is also deleted: Salticus fulvatus (Fabricius, 1896). The following new synonymy is established: Amycus flavolineatus C. L. Koch, 1846 is a junior synonym of Colonus sylvanus (Hentz, 1846), n. syn. Amycus amrishi Makhan, 2006 and Neonella heliophanina (Taczanowski, 1871) are considered as nomina dubia. Pseudopartona ornata Caporiacco, 1954, type species of the genus Pseudopartona Caporiacco, 1954 , belongs to the genus Sassacus Sassacus G. W. Peckham & E. G. Peckham, 1895, which results in Pseudopartona being synonymised with Sassacus, and the following new combination Sassacus ornatus (Caporiacco, 1954) n. comb. Finally, 25 species are newly cited, including one newly described species: Eustiromastix agatheae Courtial & Picard n. sp. (male).

COURTIAL C., PICARD L. & PÉTILLON J. 2025. — Premier catalogue des Salticidae (Arachnidae, Araneae) de Guyane et description d’une nouvelle espèce. Zoosystema 48 (4): 75-120. https://doi.org/10.5252/zoosystema2026v48a4. http://zoosystema.com/48/4