Abstract
Pseudoscorpions were first reported in China when Balzan (1892) recorded Chelifer (Chelifer) pekinensis Balzan (since removed to the genus Withius Kew (Beier, 1932)) and Microcreagris gigas Balzan. Schawaller (1995) reviewed the state of knowledge of the pseudoscorpion fauna of China (excluding Taiwan) and cited 47 taxa. Song (1996) recorded five soil pseudoscorpions, with simple descriptions and illustrations, some of which have been transferred to other genera or synonymized. Since then, there have been few papers about the systematics of Chinese pseudoscorpions, except for the ten new cave-dwelling species described by Mahnert (2003) and Mahnert (2009). To date, 63 species and 7 subspecies have been reported in China (including Taiwan and Tibet) (Harvey, 2009, Mahnert, 2009). Obviously, this diversity pales in comparison to the nearly 3400 species known globally and must represent only a fraction of the true diversity considering the huge area of China. Therefore, further investigations of pseudoscorpion taxonomy from the vast and remote areas of China are badly needed.
References
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