Faunistic records of pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) from South East Poland

Abstract: Pseudoscorpions deposited in the zoological collections of the Museum of Natural History, University of Wroclaw, Poland were studied. Specimens were sifted from leaf litter in forests in the Carpathians, South East Poland, at altitudes from 340 to 640 m a.s.l. 511 specimens of 10 taxa and three families were identified. The most numerous family was Neobisiidae (472 specimens, six taxa), the families Chthoniidae (31 specimens, three species) and Chernetidae (8 specimens, one species) were less abundant. General comments are given on finds and distribution of each taxon. Of the species recorded, two were of exclusively Carpathian distribution: Mundochthonius carpaticus Rafalski, 1948 and Neobisium polonicum Rafalski, 1936. From a faunistic point of view, the finding of Chthonius ischnocheles (Hermann, 1804), quite a rare species for Poland, is of interest.

Key words: Carpathians, Central Europe, distribution, faunistics, leaf litter, pseudoscorpion