Withius piger (Simon, 1878)

Mahnert, Volker, Sharaf, Mostafa & Aldawood, Abdulrahman S., 2014, Further records of pseudoscorpions (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones) from Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 3764 (3), pp. 387-393 : 392

Withius piger (Simon, 1878)

Material examined. Al Urdiyah Government, W. Qonouna, 12.v. 2011, 353 m, 19°25′45.7″N, 41°36′18.1″E: 2 ♂, 1 deutonymph . Al Bahah, Al Mukwah, Dhi Ayn Archeological Village , 11.v.2011, 20°12′39.7″N, 1°26′30.2E, 741 m: 6 ♂, 9 ♀, 2 tritonymphs + 24 specimens (adults and nymphs). Al Bahah, W. Turabah , Al Mandaq, 14.v.2011, 20°12′39.7″N, 41°17′17.6″E, 1793m: 1 ♂ (under a rock, next to an Acacia tree, in company with the ant Tetramorium caespitum ( Linnaeus , 1758)). Asir Province, W. Jallah , 16.v.2011, 20°08′04.1″ N, 41°20′34.4″ E: 2 ♂.

Remarks. The specimens listed above exhibit the major characters of this cosmopolitan synanthropic species, as defined by Heurtault (1971).

Mahnert (1980) described the new species Withius arabicus from this same area, Dorf Qaraah (Al Qar’a or Al Gar’a Abha, Asir Province, 2000 m, 18.24080°N, 42.48965°E; Wadi Marba (near the Abha-Jazan road, approximately 53 km from Jazan), Khamis-Mushyat, 17.9000°N, 42.3833°E, 2050m). The separation of these species is consistent: Withius arabicus has the distal position of trichobothrium est on the fixed chelal finger, smaller and also slightly more slender pedipalps. The number of setae in the sternal glandular patches in the males is variable in both species. Withius arabicus was not collected during this study.

Ecological observations. In Al Bahah, Withius piger was collected by sifting leaf litter under banana and Ficus trees. Several ant species were found coexisting with this species, including Tetramorium hirsutum Collingwood & van Harten, 2005; Tapinoma wilsoni Sharaf & Aldawood and Lepisiota obtusa (Emery, 1901) . This pseudoscorpion was also collected by sifting leaf litter under Ricinus communis L. ( Euphorbiaceae ). In Wadi Qonouna, it was collected from beneath a date palm tree, Phoenix dactylifera L. ( Arecaceae ), in loose sandy soil with a high moisture content and among roots of small Portulaca oleracea L. ( Portulacaceae ) plants. The specimens were in company with Monomorium kondratieffi Sharaf & Aldawood, 2013 and Monomorium exiguum Forel, 1894 . Other ant species occurring in the area included Monomorium destructor (Jerdon, 1851) , M. mayri Forel, 1902 , Tetramorium caldarium (Roger, 1857) , T. sericeiventre Emery , Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802) , Nylanderia jaegerskioeldi (Mayr, 1904) , Cardiocondyla sp., Pheidole sp. and Lepisiota sp.