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 pseudoscorpion attached to a European plethodontid salamander and highlights a poorly documented interaction between cave salamanders and arachnids.
Colla, L., Lenci, S., Nobile, F. et al. A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?. acta ethol 29, 34 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-026-00509-y