Species group · Arachnids

Pseudoscorpions

WAnimals has 2 species of pseudoscorpion, spread across 2 families (Cheliferidae, Chernetidae).

2 species
2 families
48 countries
Length
0.4 cm – 0.5 cm
Lifespan
4 years

Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 2.

All 2 species of pseudoscorpions on WAnimals

Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

2 Not Evaluated

No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.

See the global conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 48 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Did you know…

  • It is known as the book scorpion because it turns up between the pages of old volumes, where it hunts the mites that feed on the paper and the glue.

    From House False-scorpion

  • It travels long distances by gripping the legs of flies and other insects with its pincers, a form of hitchhiking called phoresy.

    From House False-scorpion

  • It produces silk, but not from the abdomen as spiders do — from glands in the pincers themselves — and weaves with it a retreat in which to moult and overwinter.

    From House False-scorpion

  • Pseudoscorpions perform a courtship dance in which the male deposits a packet of sperm on the ground and guides the female over it, holding her by the pincers.

    From Marram Grass Chelifer

  • Despite looking like a miniature scorpion, it has no tail and no sting at all: the venom, where it exists, is in the pincers.

    From Marram Grass Chelifer

  • Like all pseudoscorpions, it has a scorpion's pincers but no tail or sting, and is harmless to people.

    From Marram Grass Chelifer

Ecosystems

See every species group · Explore the species one by one