Endonura levantica, Smolis, Adrian, Deharveng, Louis & Kaprus’, Ighor J., 2011

Smolis, Adrian, Deharveng, Louis & Kaprus’, Ighor J., 2011, Studies on the non-European Endonura Cassagnau, 1979 (Collembola, Neanuridae, Neanurinae), Zootaxa 3004, pp. 45-56 : 46-48

Endonura levantica sp. nov.

Figs 1 –10 , Tab. 1

Type material. Holotype: adult female on slide: Israel: Nahal Keziv, Quercus calliprinos forest, litter, N slope, 16.ii.1999, leg. T. Pavliček, ZIWU. Paratype: juvenile on slide, same data as holotype, MNHL.

Etymology. The species name refers to the historic name of the Near East.

Diagnosis. Habitus typical of the genus Endonura . Dorsal tubercles present and well developed, except tubercles Di on th. I. 2 +2 dark-pigmented eyes. Buccal cone rather short. Head with chaetae A, B, C, D and E. Chaeta O present or absent. Tubercles Dl and (L+So) on head with 6 and 8 chaetae respectively. Tubercles De on th. II and III with 3 and 4 chaetae respectively. Tubercles L on abd. III and IV with 3 and 5–6 chaetae respectively. Abd. IV and V with 8 and 3 tubercles respectively. Claw without inner tooth. Tibiotarsi with chaetae B4 and B5 short.

Description. Habitus typical of the genus. Body length (without antennae): holotype 0.84 mm, paratype (first instar) 0.77 mm. Colour of the body white. 2+2 medium dark-pigmented eyes ( Fig. 1 ).

Types of dorsal ordinary chaetae. Macrochaetae Ml relatively long, strongly thickened, almost cylindrical, arclike or straight, narrowly sheathed, feebly serrated, apically rounded or rarely pointed (mostly in lateral part of body) ( Figs 1, 5, 8–10 ); macrochaetae Mc and Mcc thickened, straight and blunt; mesochaetae and microchaetae short, thin, feebly serrated and pointed.

Head. Buccal cone short. Labrum rounded, with ventral sclerifications as in Fig. 4 . Labrum chaetotaxy 0?/2, 4, prelabral chaetae not seen. Labium with four basal, three distal and four lateral chaetae, papillae x absent. Maxilla styliform ( Fig. 3 ), mandible thin tridentate ( Fig. 2 ). Chaetotaxy of antennae as in Tab. 2 c and in Fig. 6 . Apical vesicle distinct, trilobed. S–chaetae of ant.IV of medium length and moderately thickened, S3 thinner than others ( Fig. 6 ). Chaetotaxy of head as in Tab. 1 a, b, and Fig. 1 . Tubercles Cl and Af separate ( Fig. 1 ). Chaeta O present or absent. Chaetae D and E free. Tubercle Dl with 6 chaetae, chaeta Dl3 present ( Fig. 1 ). Tubercle (L+So) with 8 chaetae, chaetae So3 and L3 absent ( Fig. 1 ). Elementary tubercle BE absent. Chaeta A shorter than B.

Thorax, abdomen, legs. Body s-chaeta thin and smooth, distinctly shorter than nearby macrochaetae ( Figs 5, 8 ). Chaetotaxy of th. and abd. as in Tab. 1 d and in Figs 5, 7–10 . Tubercles Di on th.I not differentiated. Chaetae De3 on th. III and abd. I–III as minute microchaetae. Chaetae De2 on th. II–III and De3 on th. III connected with tubercle De. Chaetae De3 on abd. I–III connected with tubercle De ( Fig. 8 ). The line of chaetae De1–chaeta s perpendicular to the dorsomedian line on abd. I–IV. Tubercle L on abd. III and IV with 3 and 5–6 chaetae respectively ( Fig. 5 ). Furca rudimentary with 7–8 microchaetae ( Fig. 7 ).Tubercles Di on abd. V fused, with chaetae Di2 as Mc and Di3 as very small mi ( Fig. 9 ). Chaetae L' and Vl on abd. V present. No cryptopygy. Chaetotaxy of legs as in Tab. 1 d. Tibiotarsi with chaetae B4 and B5 short. Claw without inner tooth.

Discussion. In general appearance (shape of dorsal chaetae, chaetotaxy of central area of head and dorsal side of thorax and abdomen), E. levantica resembles two Spanish species, namely E. gladiolifer ( Cassagnau, 1954) and E. alavensis ( Pozo & Simón, 1981) . Differences beetwen E. levantica and the outlined taxa include the number of chaetae on head tubercle (L+So) (in levantica 8, in gladiolifer 10, in alavensis 8–9), number of chaetae L on abd.

III (in levantica 3, in gladiolifer and alavensis 4), number of chaetae L on abd. IV (in levantica 5–6, in gladiolifer and alavensis 7), number of ordinary chaetae on tubercle (De+Dl+L) of abd. V (in levantica 5, in gladiolifer and alavensis 6–7), number of microchetae on furca rudimentary (in levantica 8, in gladiolifer 2–4, in alavensis 6) and the lenght ratio of chaetae Di1:Di2:Di3 of abd. V (in levantica 44:11:2, in gladiolifer 18:10:2, in alavensis 37:10: 3–7, Jordana et al. 1997).

a) Cephalic chaetotaxy––dorsal side

Tubercle Number of chaetae Types of chaetae Names of chaetae Cl 4 Ml F

Mc G

Af 10 or 11 Ml A

Mc B, (O) Mcc C, D, E Oc 3 Ml Ocm, Ocp mi Oca Di 2 Ml Di1 Mc Di2 De 2 Ml De1 Mc De2 Dl 6 Ml Dl1, Dl5 Mc Dl3, Dl 4 mi Dl2, Dl6 (L+So) 8 Ml L1, L4, So1 Mc L2 me So3–6

b) Cephalic chaetotaxy––ventral side

Group Number of chaetae Vi 6 Vea 4 Vem 3 Vep 4 labium 11, 0x

c) Chaetotaxy of antennae

Segment, Group Number of chaetae Segment, Group Number of chaetae

I 7 IV Adult I instar d) Postcephalic chaetotaxy

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 10. Endonura levantica sp. nov.: 1, head, dorsal and lateral chaetotaxy; 2, mandible; 3, maxilla; 4, ventral sclerifications of labrum; 5, habitus and dorsal chaetotaxy; 6, dorsal chaetotaxy of ant. III – IV; 7, furca rudimentary; 8, tubercle De of abd. III; 9, tubercle (Di + Di) of abd. V; 10, chaeta Di 1 of abd. V.