Hypogastrura crassaegranulata ( Stach, 1949 )

Skarżyñski, Dariusz, 2006, A taxonomic revision of Hypogastrura crassaegranulata (Stach, 1949) (Collembola, Hypogastruridae), Zootaxa 1109, pp. 27-37 : 29-35

Hypogastrura crassaegranulata ( Stach, 1949) sensu nov. Figs 1–8

Neogastrura crassaegranulata crassaegranulata: Stach 1949: 84 Neogastrura crassaegranulata dobsinensis Stach, 1949 syn. nov.

Type material. Lectotype male on slide (formerly in alcohol) by present designation, Tatra Mountains (Polish Carpathians), Ðwinica mountain (2301 m a. s. l.), in short dense moss growing in the crakes of granite blocks, 3. VIII. 1909, leg. and det. J. Stach ( ISEAC); 3 paralectotypes in alcohol, same data as above.

Stach (1949) described H. c. crassaegranulata on the basis of six specimens collected in two localities in the Tatra Mts, but he did not designate the holotype. Consequently five specimens from the first mentioned locality (see Stach 1949) are syntypes. Since the syntype accurately examined by Stach is lost (Weiner in lit.) one of remaining four collected and determined by Stach and generally consistent with the original description was designated as the lectotype.

Diagnosis. H. crassaegranulata sensu nov. together with H. franconiana stat. nov., H. hohi Babenko, 1994 (Caucasus) , H. microspina Babenko, 1994 (Siberia) and H. ghirkani Babenko, 1994 ( Azerbaijan) fully conform to the crassegranulata group sensu Babenko et al. (1994). They are characterised by coarse skin granulation, thick and short ant. IV sensilla, labrum with papillae, broad basal empodial lamella, 1, 1, 1 clavate tibiotarsal hairs, more than 4 + 4 VT setae, quadridentate retinaculum and dens with 7 setae, fine granules and without ventro­apical swelling. Morphological differences between species mentioned above are presented in Tab. 2 .

Redescription. Body length 1–1.6 mm. Antennae, dorsal part of the body and legs from grey to black, ventral part of the body usually slightly paler. Granulation coarse, 3–6 granules between setae p1 on abd. V ( Figs 2 & 4 ).

Dorsal chaetotaxy of th. II–III and abd. III–VI as in Figs 1 & 2 . Chaetotaxy of head typical of the genus. Setae short and smooth. Body sensilla (s) fine and smooth 2–3 times longer than ordinary setae. Th. I with 2 + 2 setae. Th. II with 3 + 3 ordinary m setae (m2, m4, m6’, m6 absent), th. III with 2 + 2 (m2, m3, m4, m6’, m6 absent). Setae p3 and p7 on abd. IV and p2 on abd. V absent. Chaetotaxy rather variable. Subcoxae I, II, III with 1, 3–4, 3–4 setae respectively. Microsensillum on th. II present.

Ant. IV with simple apical vesicle, subapical organite, microsensillum, 6–9 short, thick sensilla of variable size and shape ( Fig. 5 ). AOIII with two long (lateral) and two short (internal) curved sensilla ( Fig. 5 ). Microsensillum on ant. III present. Ant. I with 8 setae.

Ocelli 8 + 8. Postantennal organ typical of the genus, clearly smaller than neighbour ocelli ( Fig. 3 ). Accessory boss invisible. Labrum with 5, 5, 4 setae and 4 prelabrals. Head of maxilla of the tullbergi type. Outer lobe with 2 sublobal hairs. Labium of the tullbergi type.

Tibiotarsi I, II, III with 19, 19, 18 setae respectively. 1, 1, 1 A1 clavate setae present. Claws with inner tooth. Empodial appendage with broad basal lamella and apical filament reaching middle of inner unguis ( Fig. 6 ).

VT with 5–7 + 5–7 setae ( Fig. 7 ). Retinaculum with 4 + 4 teeth.

Furca well developed. Dens with fine granules and 7 setae. Mucro narrow with low lamellae (inner usually lower than outer) ( Fig. 8 ). Ratio: dens/mucro=2.5–3.5. Anal spines short, situated on low basal papillae ( Figs 2 & 4 ).

Distribution. Tatra Mountains (Polish Carpathians) and Slovenski Raj (Slovak Carpathians).

Ecological preferences. This species inhabits mosses growing on the rocks (calcareous mainly) in cold and humid places: shaded steep slopes in the subalpine and alpine zones, glacial cirques and entrances to caves and deep ravines in lower altitudes.

Discussion. According to Stach (1949) H. c. crassaegranulata differs from H. c. dobsinensis in number of thick ant. IV sensilla, shape of mucro, claws and empodium ( Tab. 1 ). Analysis of available material showed that real morphological differentiation is low. H. c. crassaegranulata has 6–9 thick ant. IV sensilla, 5–7 VT setae and 3–6 granules between setae p1 on abd. V, while H. c. dobsinensis has respectively 7–8 thick ant. IV sensilla, 5 VT setae and 4–6 granules between setae p1 on abd. V. Consequently there are no morphological characters distinguishing these species and H. c. dobsinensis is hereby placed in synonymy with H. crassaegranulata sensu nov.

Hypogastrura franconiana ( Stach, 1949) stat. nov. Figs 9–16

Neogastrura crassaegranulata franconiana: Stach 1949: 84

Hypogastrura crassaegranulata burgundiana Gisin, 1960 syn. nov. Hypogastrura crassaegranulata estaranhensis Cassagnau, 1959 syn. nov.

Type material. Lectotype male on slide (formerly in alcohol) by present designation, Bavaria, Germany, cave Holzknechtsloch near Sackdilling, leg. Spoeker, det. J. Stach (ISE AC); paralectotype female on slide (formerly in alcohol), same data as above.

Stach (1949) described H. c. franconiana on the basis of five specimens collected in Bavaria, but he did not designate the holotype. Since three syntypes accurately examined by Stach are lost (Weiner in lit.) one of remaining two determined by Stach and generally consistent with the original description was designated as the lectotype.

Diagnosis. H. franconiana stat. nov. together with H. crassaegranulata sensu nov., H. hohi Babenko, 1994 , H. microspina Babenko, 1994 and H. ghirkani Babenko, 1994 fit the definition of the crassegranulata group sensu Babenko et al. (1994) (see diagnosis H. crassaegranulata sensu nov.). Morphological differences between species mentioned above are presented in Tab. 2 .

Redescription. Body length 1–1.6 mm. Antennae, dorsal part of the body and legs grey or black, ventral part of the body slightly paler. Granulation coarse, usually 3–5 granules between setae p1 on abd. V ( Figs 10 & 12 ).

Dorsal chaetotaxy of th. II–III and abd. III–VI as in Figs 9 & 10 . Chaetotaxy of head typical of the genus. Setae short and smooth. Body sensilla (s) fine and smooth about twice as long as ordinary setae. Th. I with 3 + 3 setae. Th. II with 6 + 6 ordinary m setae (m 2, m4, m6’ present), th. III with 5 + 5 (m2, m3, m6’ present). Setae p3 and p7 on abd. IV present, setae p2 on abd. V present or absent. Chaetotaxy rather variable. Subcoxae I, II, III with 1, 3–4, 3–4 setae respectively. Microsensillum on th. II present.

Ant. IV with simple apical vesicle, subapical organite, microsensillum, 6–9 short, thick sensilla of variable size and shape ( Fig. 13 ). AOIII with two long (lateral) and two short (internal) curved sensilla ( Fig. 13 ). Microsensillum on ant. III present. Ant. I with 8 setae.

Ocelli 8 + 8. Postantennal organ typical of the genus, slightly smaller than neighbour ocellus. Accessory boss present ( Fig. 11 ). Labrum with 5, 5, 4 setae and 4 prelabrals. Head of maxilla of the tullbergi type. Outer lobe with 2 sublobal hairs. Labium of the tullbergi type.

Tibiotarsi I, II, III with 19, 19, 18 setae respectively. 1, 1, 1 A1 clavate setae present. Claws with inner tooth. Empodial appendage with broad basal lamella and apical filament reaching middle of inner unguis ( Fig. 14 ).

VT with 5–6 + 5–6 setae ( Fig. 15 ). Retinaculum with 4 + 4 teeth.

Furca well developed. Dens with fine granules and 7 setae. Mucro narrow with low lamellae (inner usually lower than outer) ( Fig. 16 ). Ratio: dens/mucro=2.5–3.5.

Anal spines large, slightly curved, situated on high basal papillae ( Figs 10 & 12 ).

Distribution. Bavaria ( Germany), Côte d’Or, Saone­et­Loire and Pyrenees ( France).

Ecological preferences. As for H. crassaegranulata sensu nov.

Discussion. Morphological differentiation of H. c. franconiana , H. c. estaranhensis and H. c. burgundiana was found to be low after examination of available material. H. c. franconiana has 7–9 thick ant. IV sensilla (2–3 according to Stach 1949), 5 VT setae and 3–5 granules between setae p1 on abd. V, whereas H. c. burgundiana and H. c. estaranhensis have 6–7 thick ant. IV sensilla, 5–6 VT setae and 3–4 granules between setae p1 on abd. V. Moreover this last subspecies is usually devoid of setae p2 on abd. V. This low level of morphological differentiation was considered to be due to populational variability. As a consequence H. c. estaranhensis and H. c. burgundiana are synonymized with H. franconiana stat. nov..

A single Caucasian specimen of “ H. crassaegranulata ” from the Stach’s collection (Domagor mountain, 3600 m a. s. l., short moss sparely growing on the peak, 31. VII. 1936, leg. R. Wojtusiak, ISEAC) has only weakly visible coarse skin granulation, thick ant. IV sensilla and fully complete chaetotaxy. To consider it as H. franconiana stat. nov. seems to be risky at this moment because at least two “forms” morphologically similar to H. franconiana stat. nov. occur in the Caucasus (see Babenko et al. 1994). The taxonomic status of the H. crassaegranulata complex sensu Babenko et al. (1994) should be resolved by further studies.

Stach (1949) suggested a possible synonymy of H. c. franconiana with Achorutes schaefferi Carl, 1901 (= A. affinis Schäffer, 1900 ). One of the two saved specimens of this last species from the Schäffer’s collection was examined and determined as H. purpurescens (Lubbock, 1867) . It has long and thin ant. IV sensilla, chaetotaxy as in Babenko et al. (1994: 114, Fig. 46, 1), 2, 3, 2 tenent hairs (however only A1 clavate) in arrangement as in Fjellberg (1998: 35, Figs 15 A­C) and tridentate retinaculum. In this context synonymy of H. franconiana stat. nov. with A. schaefferi and a synonymy of A. schäfferi with H. sahlbergi (Reuter, 1895) suggested by Gisin (1949, 1960b) seem to be doubtful. A probable synonymy of A. schaefferi with H. purpurescens is also uncertain because we do not know if juveniles originated from the type series were examined. The identity of A. schaefferi should be resolved by further studies.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. H. crassaegranulata s. nov.: 1, chaetotaxy of th. II – III; 2, chaetotaxy of abd. III – VI; 3, postantennal organ and adjacent ocelli; 4, anal spine; 5, chaetotaxy of ant. III – IV; 6, claw II; 7, VT chaetotaxy; 8, dens and mucro. Abbreviations in text.

FIGURES 9 – 16. H. franconiana stat. nov.: 9, chaetotaxy of th. II – III; 10, chaetotaxy of abd. III – VI; 11, postantennal organ and adjacent ocelli; 12, anal spine; 13, chaetotaxy of ant. III – IV; 14, claw II; 15, VT chaetotaxy; 16, dens and mucro. Abbreviations in text.

Tables

TABLE 2. Morphological differences between H. crassaegranulata s. nov., H. franconiana stat. nov., H. hohi, H. microspina and H. ghirkani. Data on three last species after Babenko et al. (1994).

Character	H.crassaegranulata	H. franconiana	H. hohi	H. microspina	H. ghirkani
No of thick ant. IV sensilla	6–9	6–9	7	6	8–10
Size of AOIII lateral sensilla	short	short	short	long	short
Shape of maxillary lamella 1	narrow at the tip	narrow at the tip	broadened at the tip	narrow at the tip	broadened at the tip
No of VT setae	5–7	5–6	5	5	5
Anal spines	short on low papillae	large on high papillae	minute on low papillae	minute on low papillae	large on high papillae
No of setae on th. I	2 + 2	3 + 3	3 + 3	3 + 3	3 + 3
m2 th. II	­	+	­	+	+
m4 th. II	­	+	+	+/­	+
m6’ th. II–III	­	+	­	­	­
m6 th. II–III	­	­	+	­	+
m2 th. III	­	+	­	­	+
p3 abd. IV	­	+	+	+	+
p7 abd. IV	­	+	+	+	+
p2 abd. V	­	+/­	­	+	+

TABLE 1. Morphological differences between H. crassaegranulata subspecies (data after Stach 1949, Cassagnau 1959, Gisin 1960, Nosek 1962).

Subspecies	No of ant. IV sensilla	Ant. IV sensilla	Anal spines	Dens/mucro
H. c. crassaegranulata	2–3	short and thick	short on low papillae	3.5–3.9
H. c. dobsinensis	7	short and thick	short on low papillae	3.3
H. c. franconiana	2–3	short and thick	large on high papillae	3
H. c. estaranhensis	2–3 (?)	short and thick	large on high papillae (?)	3 (?)
H. c. burgundiana	6	short and thick	large on high papillae	3.5
H. c. carpatica	5	long and thin	large on high papillae	2.5