| Pseudoscorpions Temporal range: Devonian to Recent
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|---|---|
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| Neobisium sylvaticum | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Pseudoscorpiones De Geer, 1778 |
| Superfamilies | |
Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions,[1] are small, scorpion-like arachnids belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones, also known as Pseudoscorpionida or Chelonethida.
Pseudoscorpions are generally beneficial to humans because they prey on clothes moth larvae, carpet beetle larvae, booklice, ants, mites, and small flies. They are common in many environments, but they are rarely noticed due to their small size. When people see pseudoscorpions, especially indoors, they often mistake them for ticks or small spiders. Pseudoscorpions often carry out phoresis, a form of commensalism in which one organism uses another for the purpose of transport.
- ^ Pocock, Reginald (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 233.