Coletinia dalmatica Molero-Baltanás, Fišer, Bach de Roca & Gaju-Ricart, 2022

Molero-Baltanás, Rafael, Gaju-Ricart, Miquel, Fišer, Žiga, Bach de Roca, Carmen & Mendes, Luís F., 2022, Three new species of European Coletinia Wygodzinsky (Zygentoma, Nicoletiidae), with additional records and an updated identification key, European Journal of Taxonomy 798 (1), pp. 127-161 : 131-138

Coletinia dalmatica Molero-Baltanás, Fišer, Bach de Roca & Gaju-Ricart sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4D966B42-C6F4-4E80-AF36-059A1B8355B9

Figs 2–5

Diagnosis

Insect with cylindrical shape, light yellowish turning to brownish in the abdomen, about 10 mm long. Antennae of males symmetrical, with apophyses widened in its subapical region but lacking processes or lamellae; the apical cone bears a glandular seta. Tibiae with 2 dorsal and 4 ventral spines, lacking lateral spine. Urotergite X of the male with 8+6 sensory pegs, 5 of them inserted in the posterolateral lobes. Posterior margin of the urotergite X of the female slightly concave. Disc of the urotergite with 9 thin setae in males and 13 in females. Hind margin of the urosternite VIII of male and of the subgenital plate of female straight. Cerci of males with a series of 4–5 short acute spines. Ovipositor with more than 24 divisions.

Coletinia dalmatica Molero-Baltanás, Fišer, Bach de Roca & Gaju-Ricart sp. nov. has unique pedicellar apophyses in males. It is relatively close to C. maggi , so it could be included in the ‘ maggi ’ group of species, since the apophyses of the males of this new species are symmetrical and lack lamellae or sclerotized processes. However, these apophyses are not subcylindrical but clearly widened in the subapical part and abruptly narrowed in the apex. Other characters such as the shape of the urosternite VIII in males also suggest the close relationship of this new species to C. maggi (at least, to the Italian forms of this taxon). Considering characters of females, the subgenital plate has a straight or truncated posterior margin, while in C. maggi this sclerite is convex posteriorly. The subgenital plate of C. dalmatica is more similar to that of C. jeanneli ( Silvestri, 1938) from France, but the disc of the tenth urotergite is apparently devoid of setae in the French species (with about 13 setae in the new Croatian species) and the number of divisions of the ovipositor in C. jeanneli is 23, if we trust the illustration of Silvestri (higher in C. dalmatica , since 24 divisions are observed in the preserved part). Moreover, compared with Iberian species, the Croatian species lacks lateral spines on the metatibiae.

Etymology

The specific name refers to Dalmatia, the region along the eastern Adriatic coast where this species has been collected.

Material examined

Holotype CROATIA • ♂; Biograd na Moru , Pakoštane , Vrana, Banđenova jama; 43°55′41″ N, 15°34′45″ E; 30 Apr. 2016; Ž. Fišer leg.; MNCN _ Ent 283558 , mounted on slide.

Paratypes CROATIA • 2 ♂♂; same collection data as for holotype; UCO Ref. Z2640, preserved in ethanol • 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype; MNCN _ Ent 283559 , mounted on slide .

Description

MEASUREMENTS. Body length: 9.4 mm in the holotype and 10.3 mm in the female paratype. Body width: 1.6 mm in the holotype and 1.8 in the female paratype. Antennae broken; maximum length preserved: 5.5 mm.

BODY. Pale yellowish; the abdomen yellowish brown, darkening in the posterior part. Head with abundant thin and short setae. Macrochaetae inserted in the lateral parts, around the ‘ocular’ (where the tegument is slightly more sclerotized) and near the anterior angles of the frons. Two pairs of macrosetae are inserted in the lateral margins of the frons, 1 pair above them and another pair on the clypeus, near the posterior angles of the frons (see Fig. 2A–B ). Antennal scapus bearing 3 macrochaetae in its distal half and 3 apical additional shorter macrochaetae near the limit with the pedicel. Pedicels symmetric, those of the male with a developed apophysis with subcylindrical shape in their base, slightly widened in their apical part but narrowing sharply in its apex forming a cone where a glandular seta is inserted on an apical fovea ( Fig. 2C–D ). This apex reaches the fifth annulus of the flagellum. The basal part of the apophysis has only sparse small setae, but in the widened subapical area there are two bifid macrochaetae. Four additional longer macrochaetae are inserted in the pedicel. This division of the antenna in the female is simple, with 5 long macrochaetae, almost twice as long as the width of the pedicel.

MANDIBLES ( Fig. 3A ). With two outer small macrochaetae. Galea with two apical cones, lacinia with 4–5 processes and 10–12 setae. Last article of the maxillary palp about 3.9–4.9 times longer than wide, 1.25–1.35 times longer than the penultimate and as long as the antepenultimate ( Fig. 3B ). Labial palp

typical, with several basiconic sensilla (at least 9, 5 of them in the outer side) in the basal half of the last article, apart from the 6 usual papillae ( Fig. 3C ).

PRONOTUM ( Fig. 3D ). Covered with setae that are about 1/5–1/12 times longer than the notum, their margins with a row of acute setae of different length, interspersed with some macrochaetae that are inserted a short distance from the margin. Most of these macrochaetae are lost; the longest preserved are almost half the length of the pronotum. Setae of the mesonotum and metanotum of similar proportions, absent (as it is usual) on the anterior margin.

LEGS. The ratio length/width of the tibiae is: 3.8–4 for protibiae ( Fig. 3E ), 3.7–4.7 for mesotibiae and 4.8–6 for metatibiae. Metatibiae ( Fig. 3F ) about 1.6 times longer than protibiae. All tibiae show 2 dorsal spines (a medial one and a distal one, except in one protibia of the holotype where both are inserted distally) and 4 ventral ones (2 subdistal and 2 subbasal). Ventral spines as long as the diameter of the respective tibia or slightly shorter. Lateral spines absent on all the tibiae.

ABDOMEN. Urotergites typical, setae covering the disc are about 1/4–1/12 times longer than each tergite and the longest macrochaetae of the posterior margin (those inserted in the infralateral area) are about 0.5–0.6 times longer than the corresponding tergite. Urotergite X of the male ( Fig. 4A ) with 8+6 sensory pegs, 5 of them inserted in the posterolateral lobes and the remaining in the lateral margins of the tergite ( Fig. 4B ). The posterior border between these lobes is slightly concave, although a little broken on the slide. Disc of the urotergite with 9 thin setae; apart from these, the lateral and posterior margins of the tergite have two rows of stronger setae (marginal and submarginal). The urotergite X of the female ( Fig. 4C ) has a slightly concave hind margin; their posterolateral angles bear 1 macrochaetae (about 0.6 times the length of the tergite). The disc of the tergite has 13 thin acute setae. Most of the submarginal setae of the lateral and posterior margin (arranged as in the male, but less dense) are lost and only their insertions are visible. Urosternites without special characters, those with styli (II–VII) with 1 +1 submedian and 1+1 sublateral in the posterior margin, together with 1 +1 discal macrosetae ( Fig. 4D ). The VIIIth urosternite of the male is broken but the straight shape of the hind margin between the styli is visible ( Fig. 4E ).

MALE GENITALIA. Parameres and penis as in Fig. 4F ; parameres subcylindrical, slightly wider in their apical part and about 4.3 times longer than their greatest width and about 0.69 as long as stylus IX (including the apical spine of the stylus). Styli IX about 1.2 as long as styli VIII.

FEMALE GENITALIA. In the female, the subgenital plate is trapezoidal, 0.82 as long as wide at the base and the posterior margin is straight, even slightly concave ( Fig. 4G ); the disc lacks discal macrochaetae. Ovipositor broken; thus, it is difficult to estimate its relative length with the body or the ninth styli; the preserved part has at least 24 divisions. The apex of a gonapophysis IX is shown in Fig. 5A.

TERMINAL FILAMENTS. Long, maximum length preserved 9.5 mm of a cercus (9 of a paracercus). Cerci of male ( Fig. 5B ) with 4–5 short acute slightly pigmented spines (apex not truncated as in usual pegs); the basal division (C1) of the cercus has one of these spines and the second division (C2) has 4 (formula C1 (1[1id]) +C2(1[1id]+ 2[1id] +3[1id] +4[1id]). The shorter spines of the cerci of the female are clearly longer, about 30% longer than in male ( Fig. 5C–D ); for example, the first spine of the C2 is 9.5 as long as wide in the female and about 7 as long as wide in the male (SrC2 ratio = 0.73). The paracercus of the holotype is lost and only its first division (P1) is preserved, where 2 short acute spines are visible; in the female only one small thin spine is in P1.

Habitat

Cave Banđenova jama is located within Nature Park Vransko Lake, at a hill above the northern part of the lake Vransko jezero, the largest freshwater lake in Croatia. The cave lies at an altitude of ca 85 m a.s.l. and is ca 5.5 km inland from the Adriatic Sea. The cave’s relatively small entrance, ca 0.8× 1 m in size, is hidden amidst a maquis shrubland. It is a small cave, 25 m long and 10 m deep. After a vertical drop of about 2.5 m and a narrow passage, the cave opens into a spacious cavity with rocky bottom. The cave is dry, with no permanent water source. Increased concentrations of CO 2 have been detected in the deepest part of the cave; however, this was not observed during our visits (judged from the fact that

a candle burned normally at the deepest point in the cave). This short description is based on our own observations as well as adapted from Rađa & Vujčić-Karlo (2004).

Coletinia dalmatica sp. nov. was found only at the bottom of the cave, in traps close to a pile of rocks and gravel resembling a small scree. A habitat with similar environmental properties as in this cave scree exists also outside the cave and all around the wider area characterized by the typical Mediterranean maquis shrubland. It is probably best described as a system of interconnected cracks and crevices, a labyrinth of empty air-filled voids of intermediate sizes within rocky fragments, sometimes covered with soil. It is formally known as ‘milieu souterrain superficiel’ (MSS) and is one of the many shallow subterranean habitats (SSH) recognized thus far. Its main characteristics resemble the ones in caves, i.e., permanent darkness and buffered microclimatic conditions, and are suitable to support subterranean fauna. Culver & Pipan (2014) as well as Mammola et al. (2016) provide a thorough review of this habitat type. Because some other species of the genus Coletinia were regularly found in MSS and that this cave is probably too small to support a viable population, it seems very likely that C. dalmatica inhabits not just the cave but the surrounding MSS as well, although it has not been found there yet. Based on the almost omnipresence of this habitat type in the wider area, the species true distribution range might be quite extensive, and the current single-site occurrence is a consequence of under-sampling or lack of interest and specialists for this animal group in the Dinaric Karst.

Coletinia dalmatica sp. nov. was found only in pitfall traps, but not during the general survey of the cave. It was found in traps at the bottom of the cave, closest to the scree-like pile of rocks and gravel. All four individuals caught were still alive and very active when traps were examined three days after setting them. Besides the silverfish, Collembola Lubbock, 1871, two beetle species of family Cholevidae Kirby, 1837 , ground beetle Laemostenus sp. , and Psyllipsocus ramburii Sélys-Longchamps, 1872 (Psocoptera) were found in the pitfall traps. During the general survey of the cave, orthopterans Gryllomorpha dalmatina (Ocskay, 1832) and Dolichopoda sp. , the isopod Alpioniscus sp. , spiders Agelena gracilens Koch, 1841 and Troglohyphantes sp. , as well as a pseudoscorpion species and the bat tick Eschatocephalus vespertilionis (Koch, 1844) were observed. The presence of the latter species hints that bats occasionally visit this cave too. Rađa & Vujčić-Karlo (2004) report also the occurrence of Spelaeobates sp. , a troglobiontic beetle. Considering this list of taxa, the fauna of this cave appears to comprise mostly non-specialized, troglophilic species, which is not surprising for a small cave with good connections to the surface.

Figures

Fig. 2. Coletinia dalmatica Molero-Baltanás, Fišer, Bach de Roca & Gaju-Ricart sp. nov. Holotype, ♂ (MNCN_Ent 283558). A. Head and frons. B. Clypeus and labrum. C. Pedicellar apophysis. D. Micrograph of the same apophysis. Scale bars: A–C = 0.1 mm; D = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 3. Coletinia dalmatica Molero-Baltanás, Fišer, Bach de Roca & Gaju-Ricart sp. nov. Holotype, ♂ (MNCN_Ent 283558). A. Mandible. B. Maxilla and maxillary palp. C. Labial palps and anterior part of the labium. D. Thoracic nota. E. First leg, excluding apical tarsomeres. F. Femur, tibia, tarsal articles and praetarsus of the third leg. Scale bars: A, C, F = 0.1 mm; B, D–E = 0.2 mm.

Fig. 4. Coletinia dalmatica Molero-Baltanás, Fišer, Bach de Roca & Gaju-Ricart sp. nov. A–B, E–F. Holotype, ♂ (MNCN_Ent 283558). C–D, G. Paratype, ♀ (MNCN_Ent 283559). A. Urotergite X. B. Detail of the posterolateral lobe of the urotergite X, showing pegs. C. Urotergite X. D. Urosternite VII. E. Hind margin of the right half of the urosternite VIII. F. Coxite and styli IX, paramere and penis. G. Subgenital plate. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.

Fig. 5. Coletinia dalmatica Molero-Baltanás, Fišer, Bach de Roca & Gaju-Ricart sp. nov. A, C–D. Paratype, ♀ (MNCN_Ent 283559). B. Holotype, ♂ (MNCN_Ent 283558). A. Apex of the gonapophysis IX. B. First and second divisions of the cercus. C. First and second divisions of the cercus. D. Detail of the limit between the first and the second division of the cercus. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.