Trichopetalum dickbrucei, Shear, 2010

Shear, William A., 2010, 2385, Zootaxa 2385, pp. 1-62 : 25-26

Trichopetalum dickbrucei , new species

Figs. 26–29, Map 2

Types: All specimens VMNH. Male holotype and male and female paratypes from Highlands, Macon Co., North Carolina, collected 16 November 1961 by R. L. Hoffman. The following specimens may be considered paratypes: NORTH CAROLINA: Macon Co: Between Cashiers and Highlands on US64, 25 October 1969, W. A. Shear, males, females. Transylvania Co.: 1.5 mi N of Looking Glass Rock, 25 May 1958, L. Hubricht, male; Whitewater Falls , Pisgah National Forest , 13 March 1971, W. A. Shear, males. TENNESSEE: Sevier Co. : Newfound Gap, 5000’ asl, 25 May 1962, L. Hubricht, male .

Diagnosis: Most similar to T. lunatum , but differing in the deeply cleft apex of the angiocoxite; distinct from T. uncum in lacking a lateral branch of the angiocoxite, and from T. dux in the form of the colopocoxite. In T. montis the ventral tip of the angiocoxite is much wider than the dorsal; in dickbrucei they are subequal.

Etymology: The species epithet honors Richard Bruce, former Director of the Highlands Biological Station, Highlands, North Carolina, in recognition of my long and pleasant association with the Station, his many kindnesses during that period, and his continued friendship.

Male from Highlands, North Carolina: Length, 5.5 mm, width, 0.48 mm. Color white. 7 poorly pigmented, irregularly arranged ocelli on each side of head. Pregonopodal legpairs 3–7 enlarged, pair 6 the largest ( Fig. 29), pair 7 only slightly larger than typical postgonopodal legs. Gonopods ( Figs. 26, 27) with typical sternum and coxae, angiocoxites lack lateral branches, trichomes distinct, hairlike, angiocoxite tip shallowly or deeply cleft into two variably unequal parts. Colpocoxite closely similar to that of T. lunatum . Legpairs 10, 11 with coxal glands; telopodite of legpair 10 smaller than that of 11.

Female from Highlands, North Carolina: Length, 5.7 mm, width, 0.52 mm. Nonsexual characters as in male.

Disribution: See list of types, above, and Map 2. This species may be expected in the regions of GEOR- GIA and SOUTH CAROLINA immediately adjacent to the Highlands Plateau, and future collecting may possibly trace it farther north in North Carolina along the high peaks of the southern Blue Ridge. If, as speculated under that species, the true type locality of T. montis is Newfound Gap, montis and dickbrucei may be syntopic there. Trichopetalum uncum has been found in Pickens Co., South Carolina, not far from Highlands, North Carolina, and there may be some chance of sympatry between that species and dickbrucei .

Notes: While the tip of the angiocoxite is quite variable in T. dickbrucei (cf. Figs. 26, 27) it nowhere approaches the form seen in montis . The close correspondence in the form of the sclerotized colpocoxite beteen dickbrucei and lunatum is interesting and points to a close relationship between the two species; perhaps dickbrucei evolved from an isolated population of a common ancestor of the two, left behind at high altitudes when the Pleistocene glaciers retreated.

Interestingly, in the same vial as the dickbrucei holotype were two female specimens obviously belonging to the brannerioid milliped family Tingupidae , and consistant with membership in the genus Tingupa . The species of Tingupa nearest to the Southern Appalachians is Tingupa pallida Loomis , a troglobiont of caves in Illinois and Missouri. The presence of these specimens may be due to a curatorial error.