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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 39(9)

Identifying refugia for invertebrate conservation in biodiversity hotspots: examples from a new genus of dragon pseudoscorpions (Pseudotyrannochthoniidae: Karrichthonius)

Danilo Harms https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7437-6897 A B C * , Jane McRae D , Michael Curran E and Mark S. Harvey https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1482-0109 F G
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Section Arachnida and Myriapoda, Centre for Taxonomy and Morphology, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany.

B Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.

C Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9301, South Africa.

D Bennelongia Environmental Consultants, 5 Bishop Street, Jolimont, WA 6014, Australia.

E Rio Tinto Pty Ltd, 152–158 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.

F Collections and Research Centre, Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, WA 6106, Australia.

G School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

* Correspondence to: d.harms@leibniz-lib.de

Handling Editor: Ligia Benavides

Invertebrate Systematics 39, IS25028 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS25028
Submitted: 9 April 2025  Accepted: 31 July 2025  Published: 22 September 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing.

Abstract

Conservation management in ancient landscapes has shifted in recent years from the protection of single species to the broader management of areas of high biodiversity. One of the landscapes that has most benefited from this shift is the south-west of Western Australia, an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot and one of the oldest and most stable landscapes on Earth. Significant progress has been made in recent years to identify refugia in the south-west and prioritise them for invertebrate protection but more studies are still needed to assist practical conservation management. Here, we describe a new genus of pseudoscorpions from south-western Australia (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae: Karrichthonius gen. nov.) that has speciated extensively within mesic refugia. Karrichthonius is endemic to the High Rainfall Province of the biodiversity hotspot and features often-localised populations in spatially isolated mesic habitats. Through a combination of DNA barcoding, morphological features and spatial mapping, we infer 12 species: Karrichthonius giganteus (Beier, 1971) comb. nov., K. booraraensis, sp. nov., K. buzattoi, sp. nov., K. dalei, sp. nov., K. farquhari, sp. nov., K. heatherae, sp. nov., K. leniae, sp. nov., K. porongurupensis, sp. nov., K. pyungurupensis, sp. nov., K. rixi, sp. nov., K. talyuberlupensis, sp. nov. and K. toolbrunupensis, sp. nov. All species are short-range endemics and occur in landforms that are either known refugia for invertebrate conservation or inferred here as potential refugia to be recognised and analysed further. By mapping species distributions and providing species diagnoses, we contribute to an understanding of invertebrate biodiversity in the south-west, and strengthen the concepts that are underlying conservation management practices in biodiversity hotspots.

ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:EC51BFC7-0C8E-49D6-A704-DA59648B2325

Keywords: biodiversity hotspot, false scorpions, identification key, new species, refugia, short-range endemism, south-western Australia, taxonomy.

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