Leptocheiridium pfeiferae, Mahnert & Schmidl, 2011

Mahnert, Volker & Schmidl, Jürgen, 2011, First record of the subfamily Pycnocheiridiinae from South America, with the description of Leptocheiridium pfeiferae gen. n., sp. n. (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Cheiridiidae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 118 (4), pp. 659-666 : 661-665

Leptocheiridium pfeiferae sp. n. Figs 1-10

HOLOTYPE: MHNG, without registration number; Ƌ; Ecuador, Prov. Zamora, env. Estación Científica San Francisco ( ECSF), 2000m asl, cloud forest, on tree bark by bark spraying; 31.VIII.2009, lg. T. Pfeifer (tree # EL6B05).

PARATYPES: MHNG, without registration number; 1♀ 1 deutonymph; same locality and method, 29.VIII.2009; lg . T. Pfeifer (tree # EQ5B07).

REMARK: The three specimens were collected on two different trees several hundred metres apart. Tree EL6B05 had a dimension at breast height (dbh = diameter at 130 cm height) of 26 cm, a medium coverage of climbing plants, a dense cover of epiphytes (mosses, lichens, algae), and a medium rough bark. Tree EQ5B07 had a dbh of 23 cm, differing from the previous tree by a very smooth bark. Both trees had an intact, unbroken bark.

FIGS 1-7

Leptocheiridium pfeiferae gen. n., sp. n., holotype. (1) Carapace, with granules enlarged. (2) Left chelicera?,with rallum and galea of? and / (paratype) enlarged. (3) Left pedipalp. (4) Tricho - bothrial pattern. (5) Tergal seta, enlarged. (6) Left leg I. (7) Right leg IV.Scale unit 0.1 mm.

FIGS 8-10

Leptocheiridium pfeiferae gen. n., sp. n. (8) Sternites II/III of male. (9) Sternites II/III of female, with cribrate plates. (10) Trichobothrial pattern of deutonymph.

DESCRIPTION OF ADULTS: Pedipalps, and carapace brown, tergites yellowish brown, legs including coxae reddish brown. Carapace (Fig. 1) subtriangular,broader than long (length/breadth = 0.9), with two transverse furrows, median furrow broad and laterally distad directed, granular, the subbasal one distinct only laterally; two distinct eyes with flat lenses; anterior margin straight, without epistome; coarsely granular; with 42-46 strongly clavate, leaf-like setae (4 along anterior,7-9 along posterior margin). All tergites visible dorsally, I-X divided, coarsely granular, setae leaf-like (Fig. 5), chaetotaxy of half-tergites: 5-6/6/6/5-6/6/5-6/5-6/4-5/5/3-4, on IV-X one seta anterolaterally placed, tergite XI with 6setae (no tactile setae). Manducatory process scaly,with 2marginal setae; pedipalpal coxa coarsely granular,with 8-9 clavate setae, 0-2 smooth setae and one distal tactile seta, coxa Iwith 6-8 setae (2 slightly clavate), II with 8-13 smooth setae, III with 15-20, IV with 32-35 smooth setae; genital operculum of? with 28 long setae (Fig. 8), 2/2 short entrance setae, genital organs similar to that of other cheiridiid species (e. g. Dumitresco & Orghidan, 1981; Judson, 1992); genital operculum of / (Fig. 9) with 15 marginal and discal setae, medial cribrate plate apparently divided into one big and one small part, lateral cribrate plates small (Fig. 9); sternites IV-X divided, the anterior ones scaly, the posterior ones ctenoid-scaly sculptured, some lyrifissures present in front of and between setae, XI undivided, ctenoid-scaly; setae on anterior sternites smooth, acute, on posterior ones slightly clavate (except lateral setae and those of XI), chaetotaxy of half-sternites: 6-8, 0 suprastigmal setae/7-9+1 suprastigmal seta/8-9/7-8/6-7/5-7/5-6/4, lateral seta on V-X short. Anal cone situated between tergite and sternite XI, with 2 smooth dorsal and 2 (3 in holotype) ventral setae. Pleural membrane shortly granular-striate.

Chelicera (Fig. 2) with 5 long acute setae, b distinctly shorter than sb, es as long as sb; fixed finger with 3 retrorse teeth and 2-3 subapical granula, lamina exterior thin; movable finger of Ƌ with a few thin, thorn-like projections on lateral side, one also at base of galea, with a tooth-like subapical lobe, subgaleal seta reaching clearly beyond tip of galea in Ƌ, reaching almost to tip of galea in ♀, galea of Ƌ short (Fig. 2) and rounded, with 2 tiny rounded apical tubercles, galea of ♀ long, with 6 short subapical/apical rami; serrula exterior with 12 lamellae; rallum (Fig. 2) with 3 setae, anterior margin of distal one with 2-3 denticles.

Pedipalp (Fig. 3) coarsely granular, vestitural setae leaf-like, chelal finger with fine curved setae; trochanter with small dorsal hump, 2.0-2.1 times longer than broad; femur distally slightly broadened, with a distinct pedicel, 4.3 times longer than broad; patella 3.3 times longer than broad; hand parallel-sided, with pedicel 2.7 times (Ƌ) or 2.3 times (♀) longer than broad and 1.6 times (Ƌ) or 1.5 times (♀) longer than finger; chela with pedicel 4.4 times (Ƌ) or 3.9 times (♀), without pedicel 4.2 times (Ƌ) or 3.6 times (♀) longer than broad; teeth of chelal fingers acute, slightly retrorse (in distal third), then becoming flattened and rounded in basal part, fixed finger with 33 (Ƌ) or 29 (♀) teeth, movable finger with 27 (Ƌ) or 21 (♀) teeth; long venom duct present in both fingers, nodus ramosus situated in middle of finger; 10 trichobothria (Fig. 4), all 8 on fixed finger situated in basal half, 2 on movable finger situated in basal third (b and t, following Harvey, 1990); sensillum distal to b.

Leg I (Fig. 6): femur and patella articulated, femur 1.6 times (Ƌ) or 1.4 times (♀) longer than patella, femur 2.4-2.5 times longer than deep, patella 1.6 times, tibia 2.3-2.6 times, tarsus 4.3-4.4 times longer than deep, tarsus 1.4-1.5 times longer than tibia; leg IV (Fig. 7): femur much shorter than patella, distinct suture nearly vertical, femur+patella 4.4-4.6 times longer than deep, tibia 4.9 (Ƌ) or 4.5 (♀) times, tarsus 5.2 (Ƌ) or 5.6 (♀) times longer than deep, no tactile setae present; undivided arolia shorter than smooth claws.

MEASUREMENTS (in mm) Ƌ (♀): Total length 1.4; carapace length/breadth 0.43/0.49 (0.44/0.51); pedipalp length/breadth: trochanter 0.23/0.11 (0.24/0.12), femur 0.44/0.10 (0.47/0.11), patella 0.40/0.12 (0.44/0.13), hand with pedicel 0.36/0.13 (0.37/0.12), length of pedicel 0.03, finger length 0.22 (0.24), chela length with pedicel 0.58 (0.62); leg I length/depth: femur 0.19/0.08 (0.19/0.08), patella 0.12/0.08 (0.14/0.08), tibia 0.16/0.05 (0.16/0.07), tarsus 0.22/0.05 (0.23/0.05); leg IV length/depth: femur+patella 0.40/0.09 (0.39/0.09), tibia 0.31/0.06 (0.32/0.07), tarsus 0.28/0.05 (0.31/0.06).

DESCRIPTION OF DEUTONYMPH: Carapace 0.80 times broader than long, coarsely granular, medial transverse furrow distinct, only lateral depressions of subbasal

FIGS 11-12

Photographs of tree EL6B05 (locality of holotype) (11) and of tree EQ5B07 (locality of paratypes) (12).

furrow distinct, metazone unsclerotized; 2 flattened eyes; 25 leaf-like setae, 4 along anterior and 6 along posterior margin; tergites divided, smooth, half-tergites with 3leaf-like marginal setae, tergite XI with 4setae; manducatory process with 2setae, pedipalpal coxa with 5leaf-like setae, coxa I/II with 3, III with 5, IV with 7smooth acute setae, half-sternites mostly with 3acute setae, sternite XI with 4setae. Chelicera with 5setae on hand, galea with 4apical/subapical rami, serrula exterior with 10(?) lamellae. Pedipalp: femur 3.5 times longer than broad (0.26 mm / 0.07 mm); patella 2.9 times longer than broad (0.24/0.08); hand with pedicel 2.2 times (0.23/0.11) longer than broad and 1.36 times longer than hand with pedicel, finger length 0.17 mm; chela with pedicel 3.8 times, without pedicel 3.6 times longer than broad; fixed finger with 23, movable finger with 21 teeth. Six trichobothria on fixed finger (3 anti- and 3 paraxial ones), movable finger with one trichobthrium (Fig. 10).

ETYMOLOGY:This species is dedicated to Miss Tina Pfeifer (Fürth) for collecting and processing the pseudoscorpions in the 2009 sampling campaign. She invested much time for taxonomic pre-sorting and photographic documentation of this collection in the course of her “Zulassungsarbeit” at the University of Erlangen- Nuremberg.