Four new species of cave-adapted pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones, Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) from Guizhou, China

Abstract

Four new troglomorphic pseudotyrannochthoniid pseudoscorpion species collected from karst caves in Guizhou Province are described with detailed diagnoses and illustrations: Allochthonius bainiensissp. nov. from Liangfeng Cave (Xishui County), Allochthonius pandussp. nov. from Daozuo Cave (Xishui County), Allochthonius xinqiaoensissp. nov. from Sanjie Cave (Fenggang County), and Spelaeochthonius wulibeiensissp. nov. from Wulibei Cave (Weining County). Spelaeochthonius wulibeiensissp. nov. represents the first record of the genus in China. The diagnostic features of these four new cave-adapted (troglomorphic) species are presented and discussed, as well as compared with closely related species. The data on their distribution, habitat and ecology of the species are also given.

A new species of the genus Centrochthonius Beier, 1931 (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) from Kyrgyzstan

“…At the same time, the distribution of a particular species can be limited not only to large mountain systems, but also to individual high-mountain valleys, mountain ranges, caves or karst massifs, etc., as this has been found in numerous insect taxa [Kryzhanovsky, 1965;Faille et al, 2015;Weng et al, 2020]. This is partly confirmed by recent genetic and morphological studies on other pseudotyrannochthoniid pseudoscorpions [Harms, 2013[Harms, , 2018Harms, Harvey, 2013;Harms et al, 2019;Viana, Ferreira, 2021;Prado et al, 2022;You et al, 2022;Gao et al, 2023;Li, 2023]. Thus, the genus Centrochthonius is rather a relict with a possible refugium in the mountains of Central Asia.…”

Three new species of dragon pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones, Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) from China

“…palpal femur 5.19 (♂), 5.13-5.61 (♀) × vs 4.33-4.73 (♂), 4.79-4.92 (♀) × longer than broad, length 1.09 (♂), 1.18-1.29 (♀) mm vs 0.52-0.57 (♂), 0.64-0.67 (♀) mm; chela length 1.59-1.60 (♂), 1.76-1.84 (♀) mm vs 0.80-0.84 (♂), 0.98-1.01 (♀) mm). It differs from the other blind species in China (A. bainiensis Gao, Hou & Zhang, 2023, A. pandus Gao, Hou & Zhang, 2023, and A. xinqiaoensis Gao, Hou & Zhang, 2023 in having more numerous carapaceal setae (♀) (the latter three with only 14 setae) and the presence of a pair of hirsute pedipalps. It also differs from all blind congeners from Japan (A. yoshizawai Viana & Ferreira, 2021, A. ishikawai Morikawa, 1954, and its subspecies) in having more cheliceral setae (♂) (10 or 11 vs at most seven) and more numerous fixed chelal finger teeth (♂) (26-29 vs at most 17).…”

“…Spelaeochthonius huanglaoensis sp. nov. is most similar to S. wulibeiensis Gao, Hou & Zhang, 2023, but differs from it in having shorter pedipalps (e.g. chela 7.94 (♂), 6.14 (♀) × vs 6.21-6.22 (♂), 5.68 (♀) × longer than broad, length 1.43 (♂), 1.72 (♀) mm vs 1.68-1.74 (♂), 1.76 (♀) mm), 1 additional cheliceral seta (seven vs six), and more numerous fixed chelal finger teeth (29 vs 22-24).…”

Tectonically driven climate change and the spread of temperate biomes: Insights from dragon pseudoscorpions (Pseudotyrannochthoniidae), a globally distributed arachnid lineage

“…The taxonomy of pseudotyrannochthoniids is still in flux but six genera are presently recognized (Figure 1; WPC, 2024): Afrochthonius Beier, 1930 (seven described species) is found in montane forests of southern Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka; Allochthonius Chamberlin, 1929 (26 extant species) is diverse in eastern Asia (China, Korea and Japan); Centrochthonius Beier, 1931 (five extant species) occurs in Central Asia; Selachochthonius Chamberlin, 1929 (four species) is found in caves and forests across southern Africa; Pseudotyrannochthonius Beier, 1930 (18 species) has representatives in Australia, Chile and North America (Harms & Harvey, 2013); and Spelaeochthonius Morikawa, 1954 (11 species) is exclusive to caves in eastern Asia (Gao et al., 2023; You et al., 2022). Two fossil species (in Centrochthonius and Allochthonius ) have recently been described from Eocene ambers of Central Europe (Schwarze et al., 2022)—again reflecting a warm temperate forest environment (Sadowski et al., 2017), however, the family is no longer present in Europe today.…”