Pseudoscorpions of Israel: Annotated Checklist and Key, with New Records of Two Families (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones)

Abstract

The location of Israel at the junction of three continents leads to a unique fauna of both Palearctic and Afrotropical zoogeographic origins. Following systematic revisions over the past sixty years and the discovery of new species, the only available key to the pseudoscorpions of Israel has become outdated. We provide here an up-to-date checklist of the pseudoscorpion species of Israel including distribution maps, and the first illustrated identification key of the Israeli fauna based on morphological characters. Prior to our study, this fauna comprised twelve families, 26 genera and 52 morphospecies, including several “subspecies”. We increase this number and list 61 pseudoscorpion morphospecies that belong to 28 genera and fourteen families. Most species are Palearctic and Mediterranean, and only a few are Afrotropical. Two families new to Israel are reported here for the first time: Syarinidae and Cheiridiidae. Both families are cosmopolitan and have representatives in the Mediterranean region. The putative new species are presented here at a genus level and will be described separately elsewhere.