''Sathrochthonius maoricus'' is a species of pseudoscorpion in the

Chthoniidae Chthoniidae is a family of pseudoscorpions within the superfamily Chthonioidea. The family contains more than 600 species in about 30 genera. Fossil species are known from Baltic, Dominican, and Burmese amber.Biology Catalog Chthoniidae now inc ...

family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It was described in 1976 by Austrian arachnologist

Max Beier Max Beier (6 April 1903 in Spittal an der Drau – 4 July 1979 in Vienna) was an Austrian arachnologist and entomologist. He studied zoology at the University of Vienna, and obtained his doctorate there in 1927. He took up a post at the Natural H ...

Description

The body length of males is 1.7-1.8 mm; that of females is 1.8-2.2 mm. The colour is dark brown.

Distribution and habitat

The species occurs in New Zealand. The type locality is

Pelorus Bridge Pelorus Bridge is a tiny locality in Marlborough, New Zealand where the Rai River meets Pelorus River. crosses the Pelorus River at Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve, which was used as one of the film locations for '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Sm ...

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, where the habitat is dense mixed forest.

Behaviour

The arachnids are terrestrial

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

References

Chthoniidae Endemic fauna of New Zealand Arachnids of New Zealand Animals described in 1976 Taxa named by Max Beier {{pseudoscorpion-stub