A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?

Posted by
  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 nine species of the genus Bowie (Araneae: Ctenidae) from China and Malaysia

Posted by

 


On nine species of the genus Bowie (Araneae: Ctenidae) from China and Malaysia

Abstract

Nine species of the genus Bowie Jäger, 2022 are recorded from China and Malaysia, including seven new species described here. Five species are reported from Yunnan, China: Bowie achang Shang, Zhang & Wang, sp. nov. (male, female), B. dai Shang, Zhang & Wang, sp. nov. (male, female), B. lahu Shang, Zhang & Wang, sp. nov. (male), B. nangunhe Yang, Zhang & Wang, sp. nov. (male, female) and B. wa Yang, Zhang & Wang, sp. nov. (male, female). Additionally, B. tujia Shang, Zhang & Wang, sp. nov. (male) is described from Guizhou, China, and B. weiweii Shang, Zhang & Wang, sp. nov. (male, female) from Sabah, Malaysia. The previously unknown sexes of B. lishuqiang Jäger, 2012 (male, from Chongqing, Sichuan and Guangxi of China) and B. mengla Yao & Li, 2022 (female, from Yunnan of China) are described here for the first time. Photos of habitus, copulatory organs and a distribution map for all species are provided.

Shang, J.-X., Tian, Y., Zhang, Z.-S., Wang, L.-Y. & Yang, Z.-Z. (2026) On nine species of the genus Bowie (Araneae: Ctenidae) from China and Malaysia. Zootaxa, 5760 (1), 57–74. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5760.1.2