Beierochelifer quadrimaculatus (Tömösváry, 1882) Novák, 2024

Novák, János, 2024, An updated checklist for the pseudoscorpion fauna of Hungary (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones), Zootaxa 5433 (1), pp. 51-95 : 86

Beierochelifer quadrimaculatus (Tömösváry, 1882) comb nov.

Chelifer quadrimaculatus Tömösváry, 1882a: 196–198 ; Tömösváry 1882b: 227–228; Daday 1918: 2.

Rhacochelifer quadrimaculatus : Beier 1932b: 264–265; Beier 1963a: 296; Szalay 1968: 67; Harvey 1991: 530; Christophoryová et al. 2011b: 37; Harvey 2013; Novák & Dányi 2018: 319; Krajčovičová et al. 2017: 40; Červená et al. 2020a: 226.

Rhacochelifer corcyrensis : Krajčovičová et al. 2017: 40.

Remarks: This species Rhacochelifer quadrimaculatus was described by Tömösváry (1882b) from Homonna, which is now located in Slovakia. As this town was part of the Hungarian Kingdom at that time, most of the subsequent literature has listed R. quadrimaculatus as a member of the Hungarian pseudoscorpion fauna ( Beier 1932b, 1963a; Harvey 1991, 2013). However, it was not listed for Hungary in the latest world catalogue (WPC 2023). The type specimen is lost ( Novák & Dányi 2018), and no subsequent data regarding the species has been published. Krajčovičová et al. (2017) suggested that R. quadrimaculatus might represent specimens of the East-Mediterranean R. corcyrensis (Beier, 1930) , referring to the similarity of the male leg I tarsi of the two taxa. Depending on the accuracy of Tömösváry’s illustration, the dorso-distal projection of the male tarsus of the first walking leg is more pronounced in R. quadrimaculatus , and contributes to a more concave shape to the distal end of the tarsus than in R. corcyrensis . However, the process depicted on Fig. 4 of Tömösváry’s original description shows similarities with that of Beierochelifer peloponnesiacus (Beier, 1929) . Nevertheless, the asymmetry in the claws which characterizes the genus Beierochelifer was not mentioned or illustrated in Tömösváry’s description. The shape of the pedipalpal femur depicted by Tömösváry (1882b, fig. 6) is more similar to B. peloponnesiacus than to R. corcyrensis , as the femur widens broadly after the pedicel, and not gradually. Tömösváry (1882b) did not include morphometric data of the type specimen, but Beier (1932b) reported that the palpal femur of R. quadrimaculatus is 3–3.1 times longer than broad, while this value is 2.2–2.6 in B. peloponnesiacus ( Beier 1932b) . We do not know whether Beier had the opportunity to measure the type specimen itself, or calculated this data from Tömösváry’s original figures. However, anatomical figures of pseudoscorpion species from the 19th century were less accurate than modern pseudoscorpion line drawings, and therefore might lead to inaccurate estimates of morphometric data. The weight of evidence that C. quadrimaculatus is identical with B. peloponnesiacus is supported by the recent report of B. peloponnesiacus from Slovakia (Krajčovičová et al. 2017). On the contrary, there are no published records of R. corcyrensis from Slovakia or any neighbouring countries. Therefore, the synonymy of C. quadrimaculatus with R. corcyrensis is refuted, and C. quadrimaculatus is regarded as a senior synonym of B. peloponnesiacus , thus forming the new combination Beierochelifer quadrimaculatus (Tömösváry, 1882) comb. nov.