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 ...

Troglorhopalurus araras (Scorpiones: Buthidae) a new subterranean scorpion from Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil

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Troglorhopalurus araras (Scorpiones: Buthidae) a new subterranean scorpion from Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil

ABSTRACT

We describe Troglorhopalurus araras sp. n. based only on females, as a new obligatory and exclusively subterranean scorpion occurring in three caves from Ituaçu, State of Bahia, Brazil. The caves of Ituaçu belong to an isolated portion of the Una geomorphological group. Troglorhopalurus araras is the third known species of Troglorhopalurus and differs from its congeners by size, carination mainly in chela hand and metasoma, teeth of pecten, shape of telson spine, and colour. This new species enhances the diversity of cave-dwelling species in Brazilian caves, as well as the knowledge of cave scorpions. Troglorhopalurus araras must be considered threatened due to its restricted endemism at caves in the Chapada Diamantina.

Gallão, J. E., & Ribeiro, D. B. (2026). Troglorhopalurus araras (Scorpiones: Buthidae) a new subterranean scorpion from Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil. Journal of Natural History, 60(9–12), 557–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2026.2618697