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 ...

Three new species of the segmented spider genus Songthela (Araneae: Mesothelae: Liphistiidae) from Guizhou, China

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Three new species of the segmented spider genus Songthela (Araneae: Mesothelae: Liphistiidae) from Guizhou, China

Abstract

Three new species of the primitively segmented spider genus Songthela Ono, 2000 are described from Guizhou, China: S. chunguang sp. nov. (♂♀), S. congjiang sp. nov. (♂♀), and S. jinxing sp. nov. (♂♀). All three species are assigned to the multidentata-group based on morphology of the male palps and female genitalia. Detailed diagnoses, descriptions, photographs and a distribution map are provided. Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of the holotypes are also presented to facilitate future identification and molecular studies.

Yuan, J., Zhang, Y. & Xu, X. (2026) Three new species of the segmented spider genus Songthela (Araneae: Mesothelae: Liphistiidae) from Guizhou, China. Zootaxa, 5792 (1), 157–166. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5792.1.8