A review of the genus Tyrannochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones: Chthoniidae) from Guangxi, China, with the description of eleven new species
Abstract
Eleven new species of Tyrannochthonius from Guangxi Province in southern China are described, including detailed diagnosis and illustrations: T. baiseensis sp. nov. from Dayan Cave (Lingyun County), T. fenghuangensis sp. nov. from Unnamed Cave 3 (Bama Yao Autonomous County), T. laqiuensis sp. nov. from Laqiu Cave (Donglan County), T. longulimembrum sp. nov. from Guangyang Cave (Tiandong County), T. miridentatus sp. nov. from Xi’an Cave (Fengshan County), T. shenlongensis sp. nov. from Shenlong Cave (Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County), T. xianguensis sp. nov. from Xiangu Cave (Yizhou District), T. xiannvyanensis sp. nov. from Xiannvyan Cave (Yizhou District), T. xiaoi sp. nov. from Unnamed Cave 1 (Xing’an County), T. yilingyanensis sp. nov. from Yilingyan Cave (Wuming District) and T. yui sp. nov. from Unnamed Cave 2 (Yufeng District). An identification key to all known species of Tyrannochthonius from China is also provided.
References
Beier M. 1951. Die Pseudoscorpione Indochinas. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, nouvelle série 1: 47–123.
Chamberlin J.C. 1931. The arachnid order Chelonethida. Stanford University Publications, University Series, Biological Sciences 7 (1): 1–284.
Chamberlin J.C. 1962. New and little-known false scorpions, principally from caves, belonging to the families Chthoniidae and Neobisiidae (Arachnida, Chelonethida). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 123: 303–352.
Edward K.L. & Harvey M.S. 2008. Short-range endemism in hypogean environments: the pseudoscorpion genera Tyrannochthonius and Lagynochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones: Chthoniidae) in the semiarid zone of Western Australia. Invertebrate Systematics 22: 259–293. https://doi.org/10.1071/IS07025
Gao Z.Z., Wynne J.J. & Zhang F. 2018. Two new species of cave-adapted pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae, Chthoniidae) from Guangxi, China. Journal of Arachnology 46: 345–354. https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-17-063.1
Gao Z.Z., Zhang F. & Chen H.M. 2020. Two new cave-dwelling species of Tyrannochthonius Chamberlin 1929 (Pseudoscorpiones: Chthoniidae) from the Guizhou karst, China. Zootaxa 4853 (4): 572–580. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4853.4.6
Harms D., Nentwig W., Gloor D. & Harvey M.S. 2022. Introducing the World Arachnida Catalog: the new research environment for (almost all) arachnid orders. The Journal of Arachnology 50 (1): 113–117. https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-21-063
Harrison S.E., Guzik M.T., Harvey M.S. & Austin A.D. 2014. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Western Australian troglobitic chthoniid pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones: Chthoniidae) points to multiple independent subterranean clades. Invertebrate Systematics 28 (4): 386–400. https://doi.org/10.1071/IS14005
Harvey M.S. 1992. The phylogeny and classification of the Pseudoscorpionida (Chelicerata: Arachnida). Invertebrate Taxonomy 6: 1373–1435. https://doi.org/10.1071/IT9921373
Hou Y.M., Gao Z.Z. & Zhang F. 2022a. Two new species of cave-adapted pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from Yunnan, China. ZooKeys 1097: 65–83. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1097.82527
Hou Y.M., Gao Z.Z. & Zhang F. 2022b. Diversity of cave-dwelling pseudoscorpions from eastern Yunnan in China, with the description of eleven new species of the genus Lagynochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae). Zootaxa 5198 (1): 1–65. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5198.1.1
Hou Y.M., Feng Z.G. & Zhang F. 2023a. Three new species of cave-adapted pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from eastern Yunnan, China. ZooKeys 1153: 73–95. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1153.99537
Hou Y.M., Feng Z.G. & Zhang F. 2023b. Diversity of cave-dwelling pseudoscorpions from Guizhou in China, with the description of twenty-four new species of the genus Tyrannochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae). Zootaxa 5262: 1–158. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5262.1.1
Johnson J., Loria S.F., Joseph M.M. & Harms D. 2022. Biogeographical and diversification analyses of Indian pseudoscorpions reveal the Western Ghats as museums of ancient biodiversity. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 175: 107495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107495
Judson M.L.I. 2007. A new and endangered species of the pseudoscorpion genus Lagynochthonius from a cave in Vietnam, with notes on chelal morphology and the composition of the Tyrannochthoniini (Arachnida, Chelonethi, Chthoniidae). Zootaxa 1627 (1): 53–68. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1627.1.4
Klaus S., Mendoza J.C., Liew J.H., Plath M., Meier R. & Yeo D.C. 2013. Rapid evolution of troglomorphic characters suggests selection rather than neutral mutation as a driver of eye reduction in cave crabs. Biology Letters 9 (2): e0121098. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.1098
Li S., Deng H.J., Li L.B., Huang J., Tang Y., Zou Y.Z. & Liu Z.X. 2025. Two new species of the millipede genus Epanerchodus Attems, 1901 from Wuling Mountains, Hunan Province, China (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Polydesmidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 101 (4): 1845–1856. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.161070
Li Y.C. 2022. Five new troglobitic species of Tyrannochthonius (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from the Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan Provinces, China. ZooKeys 1131: 173–195. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1131.91235
Lin J.Q. 2001. The distributed area and the features analysis of karst and non karst landscape in Guizhou. Journal of Guizhou Educational College 04: 43–46. https://doi.org/10.13391/j.cnki.issn
Luo X.Z., Gabelaia M., Faille A., Beutel R., Ribera I. & Wipfler B. 2023. New insights into the evolution of the surface antennal sensory equipment in free-living and cave-dwelling beetles (Leiodidae: Leptodirini). Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny 81: 1089–1102. https://doi.org/10.3897/asp.81.e98166
Mahnert V. 2009. New species of pseudoscorpions (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones: Chthoniidae, Chernetidae) from caves in China. Revue suisse de Zoologie 116: 185–201. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.79492
Meng F.W., Braasch I., Phillips J.B., Lin X.W., Titus T., Zhang C.G. & Postlethwait J.H. 2013. Evolution of the eye transcriptome under constant darkness in Sinocyclocheilus cavefish. Molecular Biology and Evolution 30 (7): 1527–1543. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst079
Muchmore W.B. 1984. Pseudoscorpions from Florida and the Caribbean area. 13. New species of Tyrannochthonius and Paraliochthonius from the Bahamas, with discussion of the genera (Chthoniidae). The Florida Entomologist 67: 119–126. https://doi.org/10.2307/3494110
Muchmore W.B. 1991. Pseudoscorpions from Florida and the Caribbean area. 14. New species of Tyrannochthonius and Lagynochthonius from caves in Jamaica, with discussion of the genera (Chthoniidae). The Florida Entomologist 74: 110–121. https://doi.org/10.2307/3495247
Muchmore W.B. & Chamberlin J.C. 1995. The genus Tyrannochthonius in the eastern United States (Pseudoscorpionida: Chthoniidae). Part 1. The historical taxa. Insecta Mundi 9: 249–257.
Rétaux S. & Casane D. 2013. Evolution of eye development in the darkness of caves: adaptation, drift, or both? EvoDevo 4 (1): 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/2041-9139-4-26
Song D.X. 1996. On five species of soil pseudoscorpions from China. Acta Arachnologica Sinica 5: 75–80. [In Chinese.]
Sun J.Z., Guo X.B. & Zhang F. 2024. A review of the genus Lagynochthonius Beier, 1951 (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from China. Megataxa 12 (2): 177–250. https://doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.12.2.1
Sun J.Z., Guo X.B. & Zhang F. 2025. Three new cave-dwelling species of Tyrannochthonius Chamberlin, 1929 (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae) from Guangxi, China. Subterranean Biology 51: 115–133. https://doi.org/10.3897/ subtbiol.51.146465
Weygoldt P. 1969. The Biology of Pseudoscorpions. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
World Pseudoscorpiones Catalog. 2026. World Pseudoscorpiones Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Available from: https://wac.nmbe.ch/order/pseudoscorpiones/3 [accessed 6. Apr. 2026].
Yu S. 2003. Distribution status and characteristics of rocky desertification in China [J]. Central South Forest Inventory and Planning 22 (2): 53–55. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1003-6075.2003.02.017
Copyright (c) 2026 Jianzhou Sun, Xiangbo Guo, Feng Zhang

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons Copyright Notices
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are NOT PERMITTED to post their submitted work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) prior to publication, as it may lead to nomenclatural issues.
