Willowsia neocaledonica, Zhang, Feng, Bedos, Anne & Deharveng, Louis, 2014

Zhang, Feng, Bedos, Anne & Deharveng, Louis, 2014, Two new species of Willowsia from New Caledonia (Collembola: Entomobryidae), Zootaxa 3872 (4), pp. 381-386 : 382-385

Willowsia neocaledonica sp. nov.

Figs 1–11, Tab. 1

Types. Holotype: female on slide, New Caledonia: Riviere Bleue, alt. 170 m, viii-xii.1986, L. Bonnet de Larbogne, J. Chazeau & S. Tillier leg. (sample P7(15)ε3). Paratypes: 4 females on slides and numerous in alcohol, same data as holotype. Two paratypes on slides in NJAU, holotype and other paratypes in MNHN.

Description. Body length up to 1.45 mm.

Ground colour pale in alcohol. Dark pigment scattered on antennae and legs. Irregular lateral patches present on body. A narrow transverse band on posterior Abd.III–V respectively ( Fig. 1). Scales pointed, striate heavily with some ribs long reaching the end; scales absent on antennae, legs and furcula ( Fig. 2 ).

Antenna 1.8 times as long as cephalic diagonal. Antennal segments ratio as I: II: III: IV = 1: 1.9: 1.6: 2.2. Antennal apical bulb unilobed. Eyes 8+8, G and H smallest. Prelabral and labral chaetae 4/ 5, 5, 4, all smooth. Each labral papilla with about 3 denticles. Three smooth hairs on sublobal plate of maxillary palp. Lateral process of labial palp as thick as normal chaetae with tip nearly reaching apex of labial papilla ( Fig. 3 ). Labial chaetae MREL1L2, all ciliate; chaeta R 0.65 times as long as M ( Fig. 4 ). Anterior dorsal cephalic chaetotaxy with 4 antennal (An), 2 median (M) and 3 sutural (S) mac ( Fig. 5 ).

Th.II with 1 (m4) medio-lateral and 2 (p3, p5) posterior mac. Th.III with 6 (p3, a4, m5, a6, p6, m6) mac; m6e as mesochaeta ( Fig. 6 ). Trochanteral organ with 14–15 smooth spiny chaetae; 11–12 in arms and 3 between arms ( Fig. 7 ). Unguis with 4 inner teeth; lateral one at 0.20 distance from base, inner teeth reaching 0.35, 0.75 and 0.90 distance from base, respectively. Unguiculus lanceolate with outer edge slightly serrate. Tenent hairs clavate and subequal to unguis in length ( Fig. 8 ).

Abd.IV 4.5 times as long as Abd.III in length along dorsal midline. Abd.I with 1 (m4) mac. Abd.II with 2 (m3, m3e) inner and 1 (m5) lateral mac. Abd.III with 1 (m3) inner and 2 (pm6, p6) lateral mac. Abd.IV with 4 (A4, A6, B5–6) inner and 12 lateral mac. Accessory mic of bothriotrichal complexes on Abd.II–IV thin, weekly ciliate and unmodified. Tenaculum with 4 + 4 teeth and one large striate chaeta. Ventral tube anteriorly with more than 15 ciliate chaetae ( Fig. 9 ); posterior side not clearly seen; each lateral flap with 7–9 chaetae, some of them weekly ciliate ( Fig. 10 ). Dens without spines and scales. Distal uncrenulate part of dens 1.5–1.8 times as long as mucro. Mucro bidentate, basal spine short, reaching apex of subapical tooth ( Fig. 11 ).

Etymology. The new species is named after the type locality.

Remarks. This new species can be distinguished from other members of the genus by color pattern, scale morphology (both interrupted and uninterrupted ribs), strongly reduced cephalic (M=2, S=3), and tergal chaetotaxy of thorax, Abd.I (1+1 mac) and Abd.IV (4+4 inner mac). It is most similar to W. nigra sp. nov. from which it differs in color pattern, having 2 median and 3 sutural mac on dorsal head; in addition, W. neocaledonica sp. nov. possess longer lateral process of labial palp and longer distal smooth part of dens. The scales with broken striations rarely occur in W. nigra sp. nov. but are often seen in W. neocaledonica sp. nov. The new species is also similar to W. mexicana Zhang, Palacios-Vargas & Chen, 2007 in having strongly ribbed scales, unilobed Ant.IV apical bulb, prelabral and labral chaetae, claw structure, mucro and chaetotaxy of Th.III, Abd.I–II and Abd.IV; it differs from W. mexicana in 3 sutural chaetae dorsally on head, presence of labial chaeta R, presence of mac p4 on Th.II and a2 on Abd.III ( Table 1 ). The coloration of this new species also resembles W. nigromaculta ( Lubbock, 1873) , but the former has several small discrete lateral patches (See Zhang et al., 2011, Fig. 11 C).

Types. Holotype: male on slide, New Caledonia: Province Sud: Sarramea: Col d’Amieu, Malaise trap, 5–19.xii.2007, Thomas Théry leg. (sample NC07-Thery07), X= 165.761233°; Y = -21.57345°; alt. 412 m. Paratypes: 3 females on slides and 4 specimens in alcohol, same data as holotype. One female paratype on slide, same data as holotype except the date: 11–25.i.2008 (sample NC08-Thery01). Two paratypes on slides in NJAU, holotype and other paratypes in MNHN.

Description. Body length up to 1.95 mm.

Background colour pale yellow in alcohol. The whole body completely dark. Scales pointed, striate heavily with long ribs, that nearly reach tip of scale ( Fig. 12 ); scales present on Ant.I, head and body.

Antenna 2.1–2.3 times as long as cephalic diagonal. Antennal segments ratio as I: II: III: IV = 1: 1.6–1.8: 1.8–2.0: 2.6–3.3. Antennal apical bulb unilobed. Eyes 8+8, G and H smallest. Prelabral and labral chaetae smooth ( Fig. 13 ). Each labral papilla with about 3 denticles. Subapical chaetae of maxillary outer lobe obviously stronger than apical one; 3 smooth hairs on sublobal plate. Lateral process of labial palp as thick as normal chaetae with tip not reaching apex of labial papilla ( Fig. 14 ). Labial chaetae MREL1L2, all ciliate; chaeta R 0.7 times as long as M. Anterior dorsal cephalic chaetotaxy with 4 antennal (An), 1 median (M) and 2 sutural (S) mac ( Fig. 15 ).

Tergal chaetotaxy same as W. neocaledonica sp. nov. Th.II with 1 (m4) medio-lateral and 2 (p3, p5) posterior mac. Th.III with 6 (p3, a4, m5, a6, p6, m6) mac; m6e as mesochaeta ( Fig. 6 ). Trochanteral organ with about 18 smooth spiny chaetae; 13 in arms and 5 between arms ( Fig. 16 ). Unguis with 4 inner teeth; lateral one at 0.20 distance from base, inner teeth reaching 0.35, 0.75 and 0.90 distance from base, respectively. Unguiculus lanceolate with outer edge slightly serrate. Tenent hairs clavate and subequal to unguis in length.

Abd.I with 1 (m4) mac. Abd.II with 2 (m3, m3e) inner and 1 (m5) lateral mac. Abd.III with 1 (m3) inner and 2 (pm6, p6) lateral mac. Abd.IV with 4 (A4, A6, B5–6) inner and 12 lateral mac. Accessory mic of bothriotrichal complexes on Abd.II–IV thin, weekly ciliate and unmodified. Chaetotaxy of Abd.V shown in Fig. 19 . Tenaculum with 4 + 4 teeth and one large striate chaeta. Ventral tube anteriorly with more than 15 ciliate chaetae. Manubrial plaque with 2 pseudopores and 3 ciliate chaetae ( Fig. 17 ). Dens without spines and scales. Distal uncrenulate part of dens 2.5 times as long as mucro ( Fig. 18 ). Mucro bidentate, basal spine short, reaching apex of subapical tooth.

Etymology. The new species is named after dark body.

Remarks. This new species is similar to W. neocaledonica sp. nov. The differences between them are explained in the discussion for that species and summarized in Table 1 .

Figures

FIGURES 2 – 11. W. neocaledonica sp. nov.: 2, body scales; 3, lateral process of labial palp; 4, labial chaetae; 5, dorsal cephalic chaetotaxy; 6, chaetotaxy of Th. II – Abd. IV; 7, trochanteral organ; 8, hind claw; 9, anterior face of ventral tube; 10, lateral flap of ventral tube; 11, mucro.

FIGURES 12 – 19. W. nigra sp. nov.: 12, body scales; 13, labrum; 14, lateral process of labial palp; 15, dorsal cephalic chaetotaxy; 16, trochanteral organ; 17, manubrial plaque; 18, mucro; 19, chaetotaxy of Abd. V.

Tables

TABLE 1. Comparison between W. mexicana, W. neocaledonica sp. nov. and W. nigra sp. nov. “ <” represents tip of lateral process of labial palp not reaching apex of labial papillae, “ = ” reaching apex of papillae.

Characters	W. mexicana	W. neocaledonica sp. nov.	W. nigra sp. nov.
Coloration	patterned	patterned	whole body dark
Scales on Ant.I	present	absent	present
Lateral process of labial palp	<	=	<
Labial chaeta R	absent	present	present
Mac on dorsal head Median Sutural	3 4	2 3	1 2
Chaetotaxy of Th.II Mac m4 Posterior mac	absent 3+3	present 2+2	present 2+2
Chaetotaxy of Abd.III Inner mac Lateral mac	2+2 3+3	1+1 2+2	1+1 2+2
Uncrenulate dens/mucro	2.0–2.6	1.5–1.8	2.5
Long ribs on scales	uninterrupted	often interrupted	rarely interrupted
Willowsia nigra sp. nov. Figs 12–19, Tab. 1