Apocheiridium ferum (Simon, 1879) (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones, Cheiridiidae), a newly recorded genus and species of pseudoscorpion for Hungary

Abstract

The genus Apocheiridium Chamberlin, 1924 is reported from Hungary for the first time. Adults of Apocheiridium ferum (Simon, 1879) were collected under the bark of a Platanus Linné, 1753 tree in Pápa, Veszprém County. Simultaneously, the second known European cheiridiid species, Cheiridium museorum (Leach, 1817), was found under the same bark. The differences between these two species are discussed. With the new record of A. ferum, 54 species and 21 genera are now known for the Hungarian fauna of Pseudoscorpiones.

Small body size of pseudoscorpions and a distinct architecture of the ovary: A step to miniaturization?

“…C. museorum is synanthropic, cosmopolitan, and widely distributed in Europe (Weygoldt, 1969), which com monly inhabits barns and sparrow nests. A. ferum lives mainly under the bark of trees (Christophoryová & Červená, 2020;Christophoryová et al, 2011;Weygoldt, 1969). C. museorum and A. ferum are one of the smallest European pseudoscorpions.…”

“…Their body length ranges from 1.1 to 1.4 mm (Benedict, 1978;Christophoryová & Červená, 2020;Weygoldt, 1969). Our re sults demonstrate that the ovary of studied cheiridiids displays a significant structural difference associated predominantly with a distinct position of the germarium.…”

New data on pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) in north-east Slovakia

“…This species is considered to be the smallest European pseudoscorpion ( Jędrzejowska et al 2021). Cheiridium museorum is a synanthropic and cosmopolitan species commonly inhabiting synanthropic habitats (Christophoryová 2010, Christophoryová & Červená 2020, Christophoryová et al 2011a, 2017a. In Slovakia, the species was found in bird nests and in wood-mould in a tree hollow (Červená et al 2020b).…”