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Denver Museum of Nature & Science researchers discovered of a new species of cave-dwelling pseudoscorpion near the Flatirons in City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks. David Steinmann, a research associate with the Zoology Department at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, found the new pseudoscorpion along with his wife Debbie and son Nathan. The newly discovered species, Larca boulderica named after Boulder, marks the sixth cave-adapted species of the Larca genus from caves in North America.
In 2008, the Steinmann family went looking for invertebrates in a small cave west of Boulder when David saw an unusual-looking pseudoscorpion clinging to the bottom of a jagged stone. Steinmann sent the specimens to Mark Harvey, a pseudoscorpion expert at the Western Australian Museum, and Harvey determined that the tiny animals represent a new species. Harvey and Steinmann described and named Larca boulderica in a paper recently published in ZooKeys. The specimen used in the species description will now be deposited in the arachnology collection at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
“Dave Steinmann’s discovery of new species of pseudoscorpions from Colorado’s cave systems demonstrates how much we still have to discover about this planet’s biodiversity,” said Paula Cushing, senior curator of invertebrate zoology at the Museum. “Dave’s work in these challenging and unique habitats is critical in such discoveries.”
About the size of a sesame seed with crab-like pincers, Larca boulderica survives in dry and dusty habitats such as packrat middens. Boulder is the only place in the world they are known to live. Pseudoscorpions have been around for millions of years, including when Tyrannosaurus rex roamed the planet.
“Pseudoscorpions are fascinating creatures. They look like tiny scorpions without a stinger. Few people encounter them, and even fewer find them in caves,” said Frank Krell, senior curator of entomology at the Museum. “David Steinmann has found many tiny creatures in Colorado caves that nobody has found before. The city of Boulder is now immortalized in the name of this new species.”
Research article:
Harvey MS, Steinmann DB (2024) A new troglomorphic species of Larca (Pseudoscorpiones, Larcidae) from Colorado. ZooKeys 1198: 279-294. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1198.120353
Press release originally published by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Republished with permission.