iPseudoscorpions
Lasiochernes cretonatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Arachnida Order: Pseudoscorpionida Haeckel, 1866
Superfamilies
Chthonioidea Neobisioidea Garypoidea Cheiridioidea Feaelloidea Cheliferoidea Pseudoscorpion This is a photo of the species Lasiochernes cretonatus, found and photographed by Hans Henderickx in Souré cave, Crete, March 1997. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera Subregnum Eumetazoa Placozoa Orthonectida Rhombozoa Radiata (unranked) Ctenophora Cnidaria Bilateria (unranked) Acoelomorpha Myxozoa Superphylum Deuterostomia Chordata Hemichordata Echinodermata Chaetognatha Xenoturbellida Superphylum Ecdysozoa Kinorhyncha Loricifera Priapulida Nematoda Nematomorpha Onychophora Tardigrada Arthropoda Superphylum Platyzoa Platyhelminthes Gastrotricha Rotifera Acanthocephala Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Cycliophora Superphylum Lophotrochozoa Sipuncula Nemertea Phoronida Ectoprocta Bryozoa... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Orders The arachnids, are a class (Arachnida) of joint-legged invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. ... Ernst Haeckel. ...

A pseudoscorpion, (also known as a false scorpion or book scorpion), is an arachnid belonging to the order Pseudoscorpionida, also known as Pseudoscorpiones or Chelonethida. Orders The arachnids, are a class (Arachnida) of joint-legged invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. ...

Physical characteristics

Pseudoscorpions are small arthropods with a flat, pear-shaped body and pincers that resemble those of scorpions. They range from 2 to 8 mm (¹⁄₁₂ to ⅓ inch) in length.^[1] Superfamilies Pseudochactoidea Buthoidea Chaeriloidea Chactoidea Iuroidea Scorpionoidea See classification for families. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ...

The abdomen, known as the opisthosoma, is made up of twelve segments, each guarded by plate-like tergites above and sternites below. The abdomen is short and rounded at the rear, rather than extending into a segmented tail and stinger like true scorpions. The color of the body can be yellowish-tan to dark-brown, with the paired claws often a contrasting color. They may have two, four or no eyes.^[2] The opisthosoma is the posterior portion of the arachnids body behind the prosoma. ... A tergum (pl. ...

A pseudoscorpion has eight legs with five to seven segments — the number of fused segments is used to distinguish families and genera. They have two very long palpal chelae (pedipalps or pincers) which strongly resemble the pincers found on a scorpion. Male European garden spider with swollen pedipalps Pedipalps are a pair of feelers on the front end of a spiders prosoma (aka cephalothorax), which can be thought of as its head. ...

The pedipalps generally consist of an immobile "hand" and "finger", with a separate movable finger controlled by an adductor muscle. A venom gland and duct are usually located in the mobile finger; the poison is used to capture and immobilize the pseudoscorpion's prey. During digestion, pseudoscorpions pour a mildly corrosive fluid over the prey, then ingest the liquefied remains. ... It has been suggested that Snake poison be merged into this article or section. ...

Pseudoscorpions spin silk from a gland in their jaws to make disk-shaped cocoons for mating, molting, or waiting out cold weather. Another trait they share with their closest relatives, the spiders, is breathing through spiracles. Most spiders have one pair of spiracles, and one of book lungs, but pseudoscorpions only have a single pair of spiracles. For other senses of this word, see silk (disambiguation). ... The tough brown cocoon of an Emperor Gum Moth. ... Diversity 111 families, 40,000 species Suborders Mesothelae Mygalomorphae Araneomorphae  See table of families Closeup image of a Wolf Spider Wikispecies has information related to: Spiders Spiders are predatory invertebrate animals with two body segments, eight legs, no chewing mouth parts and no wings. ... Spiracles are small openings on the surface of animals that usually lead to respiratory systems. ...

Geographical distribution

There are more than 2,000 species of pseudoscorpions recorded, with more being discovered on a regular basis. They range worldwide, even in temperate to cold regions like Michigan and above timberline in Wyoming's Rocky Mountains in the United States, but have their most dense and diverse populations in the tropics and subtropics. Chelifer cancroides is the species most commonly found in homes. Other species have been found under tree bark, in leaf and pine litter, in soil, in tree hollows, under stones, in caves, at the seashore in the intertidal zone, and within fractured rocks.^[1] This article is about the U.S. State. ... The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ...

Evolution

Until recently, the oldest pseudoscorpion fossils known were only 35 million years old, but some have now been found dating back over ten times as far, 380 million years, to the Devonian period, near the time when the first land-animal fossils appear. This is not surprising, however, since they are more closely related to spiders than real scorpions, and yet of course could not have branched off from spiders before the latter lost any pinchers their ancestors may have had. Since spiders gained their modern traits in the early Devonian, it's entirely possible that pseudoscorpions were actually around long before even the 380 million year old fossil. An ammonite fossil Eocene fossil fish of the genus Knightia Petrified wood fossil formed through permineralization. ... Disambiguation: Devonian is sometimes used to refer to the Southwestern Brythonic language, and the people of the county of Devon are sometimes referred to as Devonians The Devonian is a geologic period of the Paleozoic era. ... Diversity 111 families, 40,000 species Suborders Mesothelae Mygalomorphae Araneomorphae  See table of families Closeup image of a Wolf Spider Wikispecies has information related to: Spiders Spiders are predatory invertebrate animals with two body segments, eight legs, no chewing mouth parts and no wings. ... Superfamilies Pseudochactoidea Buthoidea Chaeriloidea Chactoidea Iuroidea Scorpionoidea See classification for families. ...

A book scorpion could get lost in a book.

This is also supported by the advanced nature of that oldest fossil; it has all of the traits of a modern pseudoscorpion, rather than being some kind of primitive transitional stage on its way to developing the features of this group. This is also not-unusual, as many of the very first land-arthropod fossils show advanced terrestrial features, giving the impression that they had been on land a long time, but simply not preserved as fossils up to that time. Part of this would be a result of geological activity; the suitable land areas have mostly become seabeds, or been subsumed entirely into the mantle by continental drift. Indeed, fossils from the very earliest land animals are extremely rare already, for those very reasons; going back slightly farther, mere chance could result in few or no fossils surviving. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (808x616, 306 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Pseudoscorpion ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (808x616, 306 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Pseudoscorpion ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Continental drift, first proposed as a theory by Alfred Wegener in 1912, is the movement of the Earths continents relative to each other. ...

Growth

During the elaborate mating dance, the male of some pseudoscorpion species pulls a female over a spermatophore previously laid upon a surface.^[3] In other species, the male also pushes the sperm into the female genitals using the forelegs.^[4] A spermatophore is a capsule or mass created by males of various invertebrate species, containing spermatozoa and transferred in entirety to the female during sex. ...

The female carries the fertilized eggs in a brood pouch attached to her abdomen, and the young ride on the mother for a short time after they hatch.^[1] Up to two dozen young are hatched in a single brood; there may be more than one brood per year. The young go through three molts over the course of several years before reaching adulthood. Adult pseudoscorpions live 2 to 3 years. They are active in the warm months of the year, overwintering in silken coccoons when the weather grows cold. The abdomen is a part of the body. ... Zerg Brood brood comb: the area in a beehive where the queen lays eggs and new bees are raised This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Ecdysis is the molting of the cuticula in arthropods and related groups (Ecdysozoa). ...

Pseudoscorpions are generally beneficial to humans since they prey on clothes moth larvae, carpet beetle larvae, booklice, ants, mites, and small flies. They are small and inoffensive, and are rarely seen due to their size. They usually enter the home by "riding along" with larger insects (known as phoresy), or are brought in with firewood. They are often observed in bathrooms or laundry rooms, since they seek humidity. They may sometimes be found feeding on mites under the wing covers of certain beetles. A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly. ... Suborders Adephaga Archostemata Myxophaga Polyphaga See subgroups of the order Coleoptera Wikispecies has information related to: Coleoptera Beetles are the most diverse group of insects. ... Suborders Trogiomorpha (5 families) Troctomorpha (8 families) Psocomorpha (22 families) Psocoptera are an order of insects that are commonly known as booklice or barklice. ... Subfamilies Aenictinae Aenictogitoninae Aneuretinae Apomyrminae Cerapachyinae Dolichoderinae Dorylinae Ecitoninae Formicinae Leptanillinae Leptanilloidinae Myrmeciinae Myrmicinae Nothomyrmeciinae Ponerinae Proceratiinae Pseudomyrmecinae Ants are social insects that belong to the same order as the wasps and bees. ... Families Tetranychidae - Spider mites Eriophyidae - Gall mites Sarcoptidae - Sarcoptic Mange mites The mites and ticks, order Acarina or Acari, belong to the Arachnida and are among the most diverse and successful of all the invertebrate groups, although some way behind the insects. ... Suborders Nematocera (includes Eudiptera) Brachycera Diptera (di - two, ptera - wings), or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. ...

Classification

This classification is based on that of Muchmore (1982).^[2]

• Superfamily Chthonioidea
• Superfamily Neobisioidea
• Superfamily Cheiridioidea
• Superfamily Garypoidea
• Superfamily Feaelloidea
• Superfamily Cheliferoidea

References

It has been suggested that University Park, Pennsylvania be merged into this article or section. ... Duke University is a private coeducational research university located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. The school, which officially became Duke University in 1924, traces its institutional roots to 1838. ... Beaufort (pronounced BO-furt / IPA: ) is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. ...

Further reading

• Chamberlin, J. C. The Arachnid Order Chelonethida. Stanford University Publications in Biological Science. 7(1): 1-284. 1931.
• Coddington, J. A., Larcher, S. F., Cokendolpher, J. C. The Systematic Status of Arachnida, Exclusive of Acari, in North America North of Mexico. In "Systematics of the North American Insects and Arachnids: Status and Needs." National Biological Survey. No 3. Ksoztatrab, M. and Schaefer, C. W. Editors. Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Virginia Plytechnic Instidute and State University. 1990.
• Gabbutt, P. D., "Validity of Life History Analyses of Pseudoscorpions". Journal of Natural History. 4: 1-15. 1970.
• Harvey, M. S., Catalogue of the Pseudoscorpionida. (edited by V . Mahnert). Manchester University Press, Manchester. 1991.
• Hoff, C. C. "List of the Pseudoscorpions of North America North of Mexico". American Museum Novitates. No 1875. 1958.
• Muchmore, W. B. Pseudoscorpionida. In "Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms." Vol. 2. Parker, S. P. 1982.
• Weygoldt, P. The Biology of Pseudoscorpions. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. 1969.