Gerald Legg
Arachnology 18 (3), 189-195, (3 December 2019) https://doi.org/10.13156/arac.2019.18.3.189
KEYWORDS: atlas, Britain, Ireland, neoteny, synopsis
Over the past 30 years the British pseudoscorpion fauna and our understanding of it has grown. Three new species have been discovered, two of which, Larca lata Hansen, 1884 and Microbisium brevifemoratum (Ellingsen, 1903) have viable populations, whilst a third, Americhernes oblongus (Say, 1821), is a casual introduction. A further species, Chthonius (Chthonius) halberti (Kew, 1816) was rediscovered in 2016. An atlas was published in 1980 and a revised Linnean Society Synopsis in 1998. The rise of computers facilitated the digitization of records from 1992 onwards, and enabled the publication of distribution records online through the author's web site, chelifer.com, and the NBN Atlas. The interest in pseudoscorpions has subsequently blossomed and given rise to a Facebook page and a number of identification courses. All this interest will hopefully further our understanding of the British pseudoscorpion fauna.