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 ...

Revision of the genus Pireneitega in France and in the Pyrenees with the description of P. occitanica sp. nov. (Araneae, Agelenidae)

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Revision of the genus Pireneitega in France and in the Pyrenees with the description of P. occitanica sp. nov. (Araneae, Agelenidae)

Summary

The genus Pireneitega (Kishida, 1955) is revised in France and in the Pyrenees, following the discovery of a new species in Occitanie (ex régions Midi-Pyrénées et Languedoc-Roussillon). Pireneitega occitanica sp. nov. is described, previously confused with P. pyrenaea (Simon, 1870) in the Pyrénées-Orientales, and with P. segestriformis in Ariège, where these species coexist. As part of this revision, the synonymies proposed by Simon (1937) are confirmed and two others are corrected : Amaurobius roscidus C.L. Koch, 1836 = Coelotes terrestris (Wider, 1834) and Clubiona ferox nigra Wlackenaer, 1837 = P. segestriformis Dufour, 1820. To achieve this, the type materiel was studied and some lectotypes et neotypes are designated. Type localities and their associated approximations are also discussed. An identification key to the three Pyrenean species is given. The distribution of these 3 species and of Coelotes terrestris in the Pyrenees are mapped.

Déjean, Sylvain & Danflous, Samuel. (2024). Révision du genre Pireneitega en France et dans les Pyrénées et description de P. occitanica sp. nov. (Araneae, Agelenidae). 11. 28-51.