Two new species of Pseudotyrannochthoniidae, including the first species of Pseudotyrannochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones) from China

Abstract

Two new pseudoscorpion species, Pseudotyrannochthonius cheni sp. n. and Allochthonius (A.) fanjingshan sp. n. (family Pseudotyrannochthoniidae Beier, 1932) are described and illustrated. P. cheni sp. n. represents the first record of this genus from China and is also the first epigean (surface) species to be recorded from eastern Asia because all other species (from Korea and Japan) occur in subterranean habitats. A. (A.) fanjingshan sp. n. is the eighth species in this genus from China and reflects a wider distribution of the genus in this country. Detailed diagnosis, descriptions and illustrations are presented together with distribution maps and some habitat information.

Three new species of pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) from caves in Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces, China

“…6). The genus Allochthonius is present in China, with all currently known species being soil-dwelling Gao & Zhang 2013;Zhang & Zhang 2014;Gao et al 2016). Only one species (A. brevitus , from Liupan Mountain in Ningxia, completely lacked eyes, while the others all had four more developed eyes.…”

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

“…Up to now, the genus Allochthonius contains a total of 30 species (nine species from China), and of these 30 species, only nine species have no eyes. Of these nine blind species, only A. brevitus Hu & Zhang, 2012 comes from China and it is an epigean species, while the other eight species were found in caves in Japan (Morikawa 1956;Zhang 2011, 2012;Zhang and Zhang 2014;Gao et al 2016;Schwarze et al 2021;Viana and Ferreira 2021;WPC 2022).…”

“…Of these nine blind species, only A. brevitus Hu & Zhang, 2012 comes from China and it is an epigean species, while the other eight species were found in caves in Japan ( Morikawa 1956 ; Hu and Zhang 2011 , 2012 ; Zhang and Zhang 2014 ; Gao et al 2016 ; Schwarze et al 2021 ; Viana and Ferreira 2021 ; WPC 2022 ).…”

A new troglobitic species of Allochthonius (subgenus Urochthonius) (Pseudoscorpiones, Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) from Japan

“…In East Asia, the pseudoscorpion family Pseudotyrannochthoniidae Beier, 1932 is represented by two genera, Allochthonius Chamberlin, 1929 andPseudotyrannochthonius Beier, 1930 (Harvey 2013). The genus Allochthonius is further divided into two subgenera: Allochthonius Morikawa, 1954, composed of 16 species (Hu and Zhang 2012;Gao and Zhang 2013;Harvey 2013;Zhang and Zhang 2014;Gao et al 2016), and Urochthonius Morikawa, 1954, with three species (Hu and Zhang 2012;Harvey 2013). The subgenus Allochthonius is characterized by four-eyed, mostly surface-living species, whereas anophthalmic or two-eyed, mostly cave-dwelling species, are allocated to the subgenus Urochthonius (Morikawa, 1960).…”