The poorly-known amblypygid fauna (Arachnida, Amblypygi) of Honduras, Central America: an overview

Abstract

A significant study of the amblypygid fauna of Honduras is lacking. Historically, species were misidentified and data on distribution, natural history and conservation status of the known species are lacking or insufficient. In this contribution, an overview on the amblypygids of Honduras, including taxonomy, distribution, natural history and comments on their conservation are provided. In a review of the literature of the Honduran amblypygids, we examined 21 works, including books, unpublished thesis, articles, the World Amblypygi Catalogue (2023), as well as the website Arácnidos de Centroamérica and the citizen-science websites Alamy, iNaturalist and Flicks. Only the family Phrynidae, with the genera Paraphrynus Moreno, 1940 and Phrynus Lamarck, 1801, is known to occur in Honduras. A total of seven species have been recorded, but only four [Paraphrynus laevifrons (Pocock, 1894), Phrynus palenque Armas, 1996, Ph. similis Armas, Víquez & Trujillo, 2017 and Ph. whitei Gervais, 1842] have been positively identified. No endemic species are known, but available data suggest that some undescribed new species may be restricted to Honduras. In order to understand the amblypygids of Honduras, sampling within the country must be conducted and revisionary studies will be needed. This paper examines our current knowledge of the fauna.