Acanthocreagris sardoa ( Beier, 1959 )

Gardini, Giulio, 2022, Two new species of Acanthocreagris from Corsica and mainland France, and notes on some congeneric species (Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae), Fragmenta entomologica (Frag. Entomol., Roma) 54 (1), pp. 119-132 : 129-131

Acanthocreagris sardoa ( Beier, 1959)

Acanthocreagris sardoa : Gardini 2018: 20, figs 1–8 (in part: Dorgali, Grotta Pisanu; Orani, Grotta di San Francesco)

Material examined. ITALY: Sardinia: Nuoro Prov.: 1 ♀, Dorgali, Gurennoro , Grotta Pisanu 215 Sa / NU (40°17’56.40”N 9°33’05.30”E), 142 m, Mar 2009, P. Magrini leg.

Description of adults [♂: according to Beier (1959); ♀: according to Gardini (2018)]. Carapace, chelicera, pedipalps and palpal coxae red-brown pale. Carapace 1.22 (♂) or 1.37 (♀) times as long as broad, without eyes or eye-spots, anterior margin with slightly prominent epistome, apically rounded ( Gardini 2018, fig. 1); 22 macrosetae, anterior and posterior rows with 4 and 6 macrosetae, respectively. Chaetotaxy of tergites I–X (♀) 6:6:7:9:9:10:10:11:10:9. Chaetotaxy of sternites II–XI (♀) 11:8:6:10:10:12:12:12:12:9; sternites III and IV (♀) each with 3 microsetae in front on each stigma, sternites VI-VIII with 2 discal setae; anal cone with 2+2 setae. Chelicera (♀, Gardini 2018, fig. 2) 1.9 times as long as broad, palm with 6 setae (♂ ♀, 7 setae in left chelicera of ♀); fixed finger with about 12 teeth; movable finger with 9 teeth; gs ratio 0.73, galea squat, slightly squared apically, with 3 or 4 silk ducts; rallum with 7 blades, the three distal ones laterally pinnate, the two median ones serrate, the two proximal ones finely dentate; serrulae interior and exteri- or respectively with about 22 and 25 blades. Manducatory process with 3 setae. Coxal setae: pedipalp 6, I 4, II 5, III 4–5, IV 7; anterolateral process of coxa I sharp, apically pointed. Pedipalp ( Beier 1959, fig. 1; Gardini 2018, figs 3–6): trochanter with granular surface, 2.74 (♀) times as long as broad, without tubercles on paraxial face, with 4 spiniform setae with simple and acuminate tips; femur gradually widened in the proximal third, then parallel in the distal two thirds, 4.2 (♂) or 4.25 (♀) times as long as broad, with granular surface as in Gardini (2018, fig. 3); patella 3.1 (♂) or 3.36 (♀) times as long as broad, club elongate and granular on paraxial face, pedicel granular, ratio between club and pedicel about 2.1 (♂) or 1.88 (♀); chela with pedicel 4.0 (♂) or 4.05 (♀) times as long as broad; hand of chela with pedicel 1.8 (♂ ♀) times as long as broad, briefly oval in dorsal view, with a very convex paraxial profile; granular surface as in Gardini (2018, figs 4–5); fixed chelal finger with 79 (♀) small contiguous teeth with dental canals ( Gardini 2018, figs 5–6), venom duct short, nodus ramosus subterminal, subterminal sensillum as in Gardini (2018, fig. 6); movable chelal finger with 75 (♀) small contiguous, rounded teeth with dental canals ( Gardini 2018, figs 5–6) reaching back near b, the distal six teeth pointed; movable chelal finger with four sensilla, two of which subterminal ( Gardini 2018, fig. 6), the others just distal and proximal to trichobothrium sb, respectively ( Gardini 2018, fig. 5); trichobothria as in Beier (1959, fig. 1) and Gardini (2018, figs 4–5), relative position of trichobothria along chelal axis (♀): et 0.15/ it 0.26/ est 0.31/ ist 0.40/ isb 0.68/ ib 0.82/ esb 0.90/ eb 0.95/ t 0.23/ st 0.39/ sb 0.63/ b 0.85; ratio between movable finger and hand of chela with pedicel about 1.3 (♂) or 1.36 (♀); ratio between pedipalpal femur and movable finger 0.95 (♂) 0.91 (♀); ratio between pedipalpal femur and carapace 1.11 (♂) 1.12 (♀). Leg IV (♀) ( Gardini 2018, figs 7–8): femur + patella 3.68 times as long as deep, tibia 6.0 times, basitarsus 3.0 times, telotarsus 6.15 times as long as deep, tactile seta in the proximal half (TS = 0.30), ratio between basitarsus and telotarsus 0.6, subterminal seta furcate, slightly dentate, claws with a very small dorsal tooth.

Measurements (mm). Body length 2.2 (♂) or 2.5 (♀). Carapace 0.60 × 0.49 (♂) or 0.66 × 0.48 anteriorly (♀). Chelicera 0.42 × 0.22 (♀); movable finger length 0.28 (♀). Pedipalp: trochanter 0.48 × 0.175 (♀); femur 0.67 × 0.16 (♂) or 0.85 × 0.20 (♀); patella 0.61 × 0.20 (♂) or 0.74 × 0.22 (♀); chela with pedicel 1.21 × 0.30 (♂) or 1.50 × 0.37 (depth 0.33) (♀); hand with pedicel length 0.55 (♂) or 0.68 (♀); movable finger length 0.70 (♂) or 0.93 (♀). Leg IV (♀): femur + patella 0.70 × 0.19; tibia 0.60 × 0.10; basitarsus 0.24 × 0.08; telotarsus 0.40 × 0.065.

Remarks. Gardini (2018) redescribed Acanthocreagris sardoa ( Beier, 1959) on the basis of a female from the Grotta Pisanu near Dorgali, central-eastern Sardinia, and a male—damaged, with broken chelae—from the Grotta Su Pittiolu de Gospuru near Armungia, southeastern Sardinia. Its redescription partially incorporated the original one of Beier (1959), based on a male from the cave Pozzo di Tuttavista 216 Sa/NU near Galtellì, about 9 km from Dorgali. The species was considered by Gardini (1998) phenetically similar to A. agazzii (Beier, 1966) from Venetian pre-Alps, but probably related to A. foghesa , described in the same paper ( Gardini 2018) on two females from the Grotta de Su Fenugu near Perdasdefogu, southeastern Sardinia.

According to Gardini (2018), Acanthocreagris sardoa differs from A. foghesa in the lesser troglomorphic facies: length of pedipalpal femur 0.67–0.85 mm (4.2–4.25 times as long as broad) in A. sardoa (♂ ♀), 1.14–1.28 mm (5.06–5.33 ×) in A. foghesa (♀); length of patella 0.61–0.74 mm (3.1–3.35 ×) in A. sardoa (♂ ♀), 1.0– 1.1 mm (3.84–3.93 ×) in A. foghesa (♀); length of chela with pedicel about 1.21–1.50 mm (4.0–4.04 ×) in A. sardoa (♂ ♀), 1.93–2.22 mm (4.76– 5.04 ×) in A. foghesa (♀); ratio between pedipalpal femur and carapace 1.10–1.12 in A. sardoa (♂ ♀), 1.32–1.45 in A. foghesa (♀). Also the shape of chelal hand—a character overlooked by Gardini (2018) —is different in the two species: briefly oval in dorsal view, with a very convex paraxial profile, in A. sardoa ( Beier 1959, fig. 1; Gardini 2018, fig. 4), elongated oval, with a slightly convex paraxial profile, in A. foghesa ( Gardini 2018, fig. 12). This last character cannot be evaluated in the male from the cave near Armungia, as both hands of its palps are broken, which makes its attribution to A. sardoa ( Gardini 2018) uncertain, to be evaluated only with the examination of further material. The cave near Armungia is about 18 km from the type locality of A. foghesa and about 94 km from that of A. sardoa , each in karst complexes independent from each other (G. Grafitti, in litt.: January 19, 2022). The redescription of Acanthocreagris sardoa proposed above does not include the data relating to the male of Armungia and is therefore based only on the original description of A. sardoa ( Beier 1959) and on that of the female from Dorgali ( Gardini 2018). The male from the cave near Armungia is doubtfully attributed to A. foghesa and briefly described (see Remarks under A. cf. foghesa ).

Noël Dubois (Fédération française de spéléologie), the biospeleologists of the Ligue Insulaire Spéléologique Corse, Josiane Lips (Villeurbanne), Carlo Onnis (Unione Speleologica Cagliaritana, Cagliari) and Cosimo Baviera (University of Messina). Giuseppe Grafitti (Gruppo Speleologico Sassarese, Sassari) kindly provided information on Sardinian caves. Helpful comments on the manuscript were made by Carlo Giusto (Genoa) and Pietro Gardini (Genoa) kindly provided invaluable expertise in digitizing plates of the drawings and production of the distribution map.