Abstract

JUDSON, Mark L.I.. Pseudoscorpions (Arachnida, Chelonethi) in Mexican amber, with a list of extant species associated with mangrove and Hymenaea trees in Chiapas. Bol. Soc. Geol. Mex [online]. 2016, vol.68, n.1, pp.57-79. ISSN 1405-3322.

Eight pseudoscorpions in amber from Chiapas State, Mexico, are described. These include the first fossil records of the tribe Tyrannochthoniini (Chthoniidae). Paraliochthonius miomaya n. sp. is described from an adult male and a protonymph in separate pieces of amber from Simojovel. The protonymph is the first to be recorded for a species of ParaliochthoniusBeier, 1956 and shows that this stage is free-living and non-regressive in this genus. The presence of a Paraliochthonius species in Simojovel amber adds support to the hypothesis that at least part of this amber is derived from a mangrove environment, since the extant epigean species of this genus are restricted to littoral habitats. An unnamed species of TyrannochthoniusChamberlin, 1929 is described from an adult female in amber from Rio Salado, near Totolapa, Chiapas. Nymphal pseudoscorpions in amber from Simojovel are tentatively assigned to the extant genera LustrochernesBeier, 1932 (Chernetidae) and ParatemnoidesHarvey, 1991 (Atemnidae), and an unidentified genus of Cheliferini (Cheliferidae). The genus MayachernesRiquelme, Piedra-Jiménez and Córdova-Tabares, 2014, which was erected for the first species of pseudoscorpion to be named from Mexican amber, is synonymized with ByrsochernesBeier, 1959, resulting in the new combination Byrsochernes maatiatus (Riquelme, Piedra-Jiménez and Córdova-Tabares, 2014).

A list is given of extant pseudoscorpions collected close to mangroves at La Cadena and from Hymenaea courbaril trees at Coquitos (Biosphere Reserve La Encrucijada), both in Chiapas State. These include the first Mexican records of the species Americhernes oblongus (Say, 1821) and the genus DolichowithiusChamberlin, 1931. Paratemnoides elongatus (Banks, 1895) and Trinidatemnus separatusvan den Tooren, 2008 are synonymized with P. nidificator (Balzan, 1888) (new subjective synonymies). Trinidatemnusvan den Tooren, 2008 therefore becomes a junior synonym of ParatemnoidesHarvey, 1991 (new subjective synonymy). The first record of P. nidificator from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe is given.

Keywords : pseudoscorpions; amber; mangroves; Mexico; Chiapas; Miocene.