Neanura deharvengi sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1EF90002-5E99-4451-9855-815658F5A9B0

Figs 1–2; Table 1

Diagnosis

Habitus typical of genus. Dorsal tubercles present and well developed. Body colour light bluish grey. Buccal cone short, labrum without ogival sclerifications. Dorsal cephalic chaetotaxy strongly reduced: chaetae A, C, O, E, Ocp, Dl5, Dl3, So2, So6 and L2–3 absent. Tubercles Di on Th. I absent. Abd. I–III without chaetae De3. Tubercle (Di+Di) of Abd. V with 2+2 chaetae, chaetae Di2 absent. Cryptopygy absent. Male ventral organ present.

Etymology

The new species is dedicated to our colleague and friend Louis Deharveng for his magnificent contribution to our knowledge of Collembola .

Material examined

Holotype

IRAN: adult ♀, on slide, Mazandarn Province, Behshahr Region, Abbas-Abad Forest, 36°40′ N, 53°32′ E, leaf litter and soil, 28 Mar. 2013, E. Yoosefi-Lafooraki leg. (DIBEC).

Paratypes

IRAN: adult ♂ and subadult ♂, on slides, same collection data as for holotype (DIBEC).

Other material

IRAN: juvenile, on slide, Mazandarn Province, Noor Region, Kadirsar village, 36°26′ N, 51°49′ E, leaf litter and soil, 1 Mar. 2013, E. Yoosefi-Lafooraki leg. (DIBEC).

Description

BODY. Length (without antennae): 0.58 to 0.80 mm (holotype: 0.8 mm). Body convex. Colour of body light bluish grey. 3+3 black eyes of medium size, in typical arrangement of genus (two anterior and one posterior).

CHAETAL MORPHOLOGY. Dorsal ordinary chaetae of three types: long macrochaetae (Ml), mesochaetae and microchaetae. Long macrochaetae relatively thick, slightly arc-like or straight, narrowly sheathed, feebly serrated, mostly apically rounded or rarely, mainly in lateral position, pointed (Figs 1A–B, 2C). Mesochaetae similar to ventral chaetae, thin, smooth and pointed. Microchaetae similar to mesochaetae but shorter. S–chaetae of tergites thin, smooth and short, notably shorter than nearby macrochaetae (Figs 1A–B, 2C, E–F).

ANTENNAE. Typical of genus.Ant. I–II with 7 or 11 ordinary chaetae, respectively.Ant. III with 5 S-chaetae (AOIII) and 18 ordinary chaetae: 5 d, 4 vi, 4 vc and 5 ve (Fig. 1F). Ant. IV dorsally with complete set of chaetae: 8 S, or, i, 12 mou and 3 brs (Fig. 1E). S–chaetae of Ant. IV of medium length, subequal and moderately thickened. Apical vesicle distinct, trilobed (Fig. 1C–D). Ant. IV ventrally with complete set of chaetae (3 brs, 2 iv; ap: 8 bs and 5 miA; ca: 2 bs and 3 miA; cm: 3 bs and 1 miA; cp: 8 miA and 1 brs).

MOUTHPARTS. Buccal cone relatively short, with labral sclerifications non-ogival. Labrum chaetotaxy: 2/2, 4 (Fig. 2A). Labium with four basal, three distal and four lateral chaetae, papillae x absent. Maxilla styliform, mandible thin and tridentate.

Table 1a. Chaetotaxy of Neanura deharvengi sp. nov.: cephalic chaetotaxy–dorsal side.

Table 1b. Chaetotaxy of Neanura deharvengi sp. nov.: postcephalic chaetotaxy.

DORSAL CHAETOTAXY AND TUBERCLES. Head with fused tubercles So and (L+1/2Dl) (Fig. 1A–B). Cephalic chaetae Dl2, Dl6 and L4 free. Th. II–III with free chaetae Di2, Di3 and De2. On Th. II–III, chaetae De3 and Dl3 absent. On Abd. I–III, line of chaetae De1–chaeta s nearly parallel to dorsomedian line. On Abd. I–III chaetae De2 free (Fig. 1A). Abd. V with 3 tubercles: (Di+Di) and 2 (De+Dl+L). On Abd. V chaetae Di2 absent. No cryptopygy, Abd. VI visible from above (Fig. 2F).

VENTRAL CHAETOTAXY. On head, groups Vea, Vem and Vep with 3 chaetae each; group Vi with 6 chaetae. On Abd. V, 2+2 chaetae Ag, chaetae Vl and L’ present. Male with thick and forked chaetae (“male ventral organ”) in groups Vei and Vec (Abd. IV), and in Fu (Abd. III; Fig. 2B, D).

LEGS. Claw without internal tooth. On tibiotarsi, chaeta M present and chaetae B4 and B5 relatively short and pointed.

Remarks

Neanura deharvengi sp. nov. is most similar to N. pallida Deharveng, 1979 and N. minuta Gisin, 1963, both of which are also characterized by the presence of chaetae L’ on Abd. V, the absence of chaetae Ocp on the head and tubercles Di on Th. I. Besides the unique characters of the new species, a reduction of cephalic chaetotaxy and a fusion of lateral tubercles on the head, these species can additionally be distinguished by the following features: coloration (whitish to pale bluish in N. deharvengi sp. nov. and N. pallida; dark bluish in N. minuta), chaetotaxy of head (chaetae A, C, E, Dl1, Dl3, So2, So6 and L2–3 absent in deharvengi sp. nov.; present in pallida and minuta), number of ordinary chaetae De on Th. II and III (2, 2, respectively, in deharvengi sp. nov.; 2, 3 in pallida; 3, 4 in minuta), number of ordinary chaetae De on Abd. I–III (2 in deharvengi sp. nov.; 3 in pallida and minuta), number of chaetae Di on Abd. V (2+ 2 in deharvengi sp. nov.; 3+ 3 in pallida and minuta) and number of tubercles on penultimate abdominal segment (3 in deharvengi sp. nov.; 4 in pallida and minuta).

The only other member of the genus besides N. deharvengi sp. nov. recorded to date from Iran is N. muscorum (Cox 1982; Yahyapour 2012). These species are significantly dissimilar and differ in a number of characters including, e.g., cephalic chaetae Ocp (absent in deharvengi sp. nov.; present in muscorum), tubercle Di on Th. I (absent in deharvengi sp. nov.; present in muscorum), the number of chaetae De on Th. II and III (2+s, 2+s, respectively, in deharvengi sp. nov.; 3+s, 4+s in muscorum), male ventral organ (present in deharvengi sp. nov.; absent in muscorum), chaetae L’ on Abd. IV (present in deharvengi sp. nov.; absent in muscorum), and the number of tubercles on Abd. V (3 in deharvengi sp. nov.; 4 in muscorum).