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 ...

On the synanthropic occurrence of Falconina gracilis in Venezuela and the type locality of F. brignolii

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On the synanthropic occurrence of Falconina gracilis in Venezuela and the type locality of F. brignolii

Human activity facilitates the dispersal of spiders beyond their native ranges, often allowing populations to establish in synanthropic environments. Synanthropic spiders provide well-documented cases of arthropods adapting to human-modified habitats, with examples across multiple families (e.g. Dippenaar-Schoeman et al. 2023, Henrard 2023, Murcia-Moreno & Gálvez 2024), including corinnids such as Meriola arcifera (Simon, 1886), M. cetiformis (Strand, 1908) and Falconina gracilis (Keyserling, 1891), all confirmed as synanthropic and introduced species (Taucare-Ríos et al. 2013, Nieto-Ruiz & Maldonado-Carrizales 2024).

Villarreal M., O. & Brescovit, A. D. (2026). On the synanthropic occurrence of Falconina gracilis in Venezuela and the type locality of F. brignolii (Araneae: Corinnidae). Spixiana 48(2): 149-150.