Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57

Phoretic chernetids from Slovakia and Austria 67 Discussion The most common way for phoront and host to make contact is the fact that they occupy the same habitat and have the same activity and breeding season ( Jones 1970, 1978, Poinar et al. 1998). Lamprochernes nodosus and P . scorpioides are frequently found in compost heaps and most of the dipterans are regular visitors to this habitat type ( Jones 1978, Christophoryová et al. 2017). Jones (1978) mentioned that gravid pseudoscorpi- on females are more often phoretic than males or nymphs. These observations correspond with the presence of phoretic females in the present study. One of the reasons why phoresy is much more frequent in chernetid and cheliferid species (as compared to neobisiid or chthoniid species) is that some spe- cies are found in less stable habitats such as compost heaps or bird nests. In these habitat types, they have more possibility to attach themselves to mobile phoronts belonging to Insec- ta or Arachnida. Furthermore, Cheliferidae and in particular Chernetidae have evolved to be phoretic expert species that have developed morphologies adapted to this behaviour, i.e. additional chelal teeth in Chernetidae. Pseudoscorpions use phoresy for dispersion from less stable habitats towards more stable ones (Beier 1948, Jones 1978, Carl 1994). In Central Europe, phoretic associations were recorded mainly in chernetid species, such as P . scorpioides , D . panze- ri , D . cyrneus , L . nodosus and Anthrenochernes stellae Lohman- der, 1939 (e.g. von Helversen 1966, Drogla & Lippold 2004, Ssymank & Muster 2010, Christophoryová et al. 2017, 2018, Karpiński et al. 2017). Phoresy of the genus Pselaphochernes Beier, 1932 was most recently documented from the Iberi- an Peninsula (e.g. Ricarte et al. 2016, Mederos & Zaragoza 2017, Ruiz de la Cuesta Santiago & Zaragoza 2017, Zara- goza & Ruiz de la Cuesta Santiago 2017). Only few records exist from Central Europe: von Helversen (1966) recorded three females of P . scorpioides phoretic on Musca Linnaeus, 1758. Drogla & Lippold (2004) found one adult of P . scorpi- oides phoretic on an unspecified dipteran species. Three cases of phoresy between P . scorpioides and dipteran species in the present study are documented for the first time in both of the studied countries. One case of phoresy in the genus Chernes Menge, 1855 in Europe was mentioned by Poinar et al. (1998), in which Chernes cimicoides (Fabricius, 1793) was phoretic on Dolicho- mitus mesocentrus (Gravenhorst, 1829) (as Ephialtes m. ). In Central Europe, phoresy records of Chernes species are rare. Opatova & Šťáhlavský (2018) suggest phoretic dispersal for C. hahnii but confirmed phoresy records of this species were missing in their paper. During the present study, three new cases of phoresy by C . hahnii were documented from Austria. The phoretic association between C . hahnii and Panorpa com- munis from Austria in the present paper represents the second known case. The first worldwide known phoresy between a pseudoscorpion and the common scorpionfly (Mecoptera) was presented by Christophoryová et al. (2017) from the Czech Republic. One female of D . panzeri was attached to the second leg of P . communis (Christophoryová et al. 2017). Phoresy on Syrphidae is known from L. nodosus on different host species and from Pselaphochernes lacertosus (L. Koch, 1873) ( Jones 1978, Ricarte et al. 2016), but phoretic associa- tion between C . hahnii and a host from Syrphidae represents the first such case in Austria in this study. No published data are yet available for a phoretic relationship between a pseu- doscorpion and a cuckoo wasp (Chrysididae). Therefore, the phoresy of C. hahnii on an individual of the Chrysis ignita group is treated as a first record for this host’s family. Pseudoscorpion phoresy on ichneumonid hosts is only documented by a few records ( Jones 1978, Legg 2015, Ruiz de la Cuesta Santiago & Zaragoza 2017). Legg (2015) recor- ded D . cyrneus on Ephialtes manifestor (Linnaeus, 1758) from Britain. In the present paper, a phoretic association between D . cyrneus and Rhyssa persuasoria is recorded for the first time in Austria. The most frequently recorded phoresy in Central Europe is between L . nodosus and dipteran species, which has been demonstrated in many publications (e.g. Beier 1948, Ressl 1983, Mašáň & Krištofík 1992, Drogla & Lippold 2004, Christophoryová et al. 2018). Poinar et al. (1998) mentioned phoresy of L . nodosus on five species of Opiliones, one species of Coleoptera and 28 species of Diptera. In Slovakia, L. no- Fig. 3: Dendrochernes cyrneus attached to the antenna of Rhyssa persuasoria from Austria (Photo: G. Kunz)