Stenochrus portoricensis Chamberlin, 1922

Hernandes, Fabio Akashi, Cokendolpher, James Craig & Pinho, Luiz Carlos, 2023, First record of invasive Stenochrus portoricensis Chamberlin, 1922 (Arachnida: Schizomida: Hubbardiidae) from the Southern region of Brazil, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 63, pp. 1-5 : 2

Stenochrus portoricensis Chamberlin, 1922 Figs. 1-2

Stenochrus portoricensis Chamberlin,1922:11-12 ; Reddell & Cokendolpher, 1995: 110-114.

Material examined: BRAZIL: Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Campus UFSC, 27°35′48″S, 48°30′51″W, 1♀, 2 nymphs, 18.VII.2022, L.C. Pinho col., from leaf litter and wood debris ( Fig. 1E ).

Diagnosis: The main distinguishing features of S.portoricensis include: propeltidium with anterior process bearing one pair of setae medially (longitudinally) aligned and two setal pairs ( Fig. 1B ); a short spur present on trochanter of pedipalps ( Fig. 1C ); flagellum short with 3 annuli; metapeltidium entire; spermathecae with two pairs of wrinkled lobes, the outer lobes shorter, and laterals about 4-5 times shorter than the median ones ( Fig. 1D ).

Figures

Figure 1. Stenochrus portoricensis Chamberlin,1922 (Schizomida:Hubbardiidae),female.(A) habitus,dorsal view.(B) dorsal view of prosoma (arrows point to setallocations).(C) pedipalpal spur on trochanter (arrow points to spur).(D) spermatheca,dorsal view,rotated so anterior is to left side);(E) habitat where the specimenswere collected from,Campus of the UFSC.

Figure 2.World distribution of Stenochrus portoricensis Chamberlin,1922 (Schizomida:Hubbardiidae).(red star = newrecord). (Reddell & Cokendolpher, 1995), and Brignolizomus Florianópolis is a popular touristic destination in woodwardi (Harvey, 1992) and B. walteri Harvey, 2000, Brazil, currently attracting thousands of visitors from from Queensland, Australia, at around 27°34′S (Harvey, various parts of the country and around the world each 2000). In the Americas, the southernmost record of a year. Furthermore, over the past 33 years, the city′s popschizomid previously published was a single female of ulation has doubled (DATASUS, 2023). It is possible that Stenochrus portoricensis from Ubatuba, São Paulo State, S. portoricensis was inadvertently introduced by the re- Brazil, at 23°26′S (Santos et al., 2008). Our record herein is cent population growth, in addition to the intense tourfrom slightly further south in the Americas at 27°35′48″S istic activity, which might have contributed to the casual in Brazil. transportation of this species. First described in the West Indies, Stenochrus portori- The specific location where these specimens were censis has been reported worldwide (Fig. 2), including collected used to function as a composting center for several localities in Europe, e.g., Canary Islands (Martín the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC).For many & Oromí, 1984; Oromí & Martín, 1992), Spain (Barranco years, this center collected organic waste from garden- et al., 2014), Czech Republic (Korenko et al., 2009), ing activities across the entire campus. Additionally, oth- Germany (Armas & Rehfeldt, 2015; Lauterbach et al., er factors like agricultural practices, the sale of ornamen- 2020), Slovakia (Christophoryová et al., 2013), England tal plants and soil materials, in addition with the parthe- (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1949), Switzerland (Krajcovicova nogenetic strategy of the species, might also have con- et al., 2021), and Poland (Zawierucha et al., 2013). Most tributed to the introduction of Stenochrus portoricensis of those records consisted of specimens collected from further south in the neotropics. greenhouses, suggesting that the specimens may have been transported along with soil or cultivated pot plants