Endonura paracentaurea, Smolis, Adrian, Shayanmehr, Masoumeh, Kuznetsova, Nataliya & Lafooraki, Elham Yoosefi, 2017

Smolis, Adrian, Shayanmehr, Masoumeh, Kuznetsova, Nataliya & Lafooraki, Elham Yoosefi, 2017, Three new remarkable species of the genus Endonura Cassagnau, 1979 from the Middle East and Central Asia (Collembola, Neanuridae, Neanurinae, Neanurini), ZooKeys 673, pp. 135-151 : 135

Endonura paracentaurea sp. n. Figs 11-19, Table 2a

Type material.

Holotype: adult female on slide, Iran, Mazandarn province, Behshahr region, Abbas-Abad forest (36°40'N; 53°32'E), rooting wood, 28.III.2013, leg. E. Yoosefi Lafooraki (DIBEC). Paratypes: 3 females on slide, same data as holotype.

Etymology.

The name " paracentaurea " refers to a strong similarity of the new species to E. centaurea .

Diagnosis.

Habitus typical of the genus Endonura . Dorsal tubercles present and well developed. 2+2 pigmented eyes. Buccal cone short, labrum nonogival. Head with chaetae A, B, C and D. Chaetae O and E absent. Tubercles Cl and Af separate. Tubercles Dl and (L+So) on head with six and eight chaetae respectively. Tubercles Di on Th I present. Tubercles De on Th II and III with three and four chaetae respectively. Tubercles L on Abd III and IV with three and six chaetae respectively. Abd IV and V with eight and three tubercles respectively. Claw without inner tooth. Tibiotarsi with chaetae B4 and B5 short.

Description.

General. Body length (without antennae): 0.90 to 1.65 mm (holotype: 1.65 mm). Colour of the body white. 2+2 small black eyes, in a typical arrangement for the genus (Fig. 13).

Chaetal morphology. Dorsal ordinary chaetae of five types: long macrochaetae, short macrochaetae, very short macrochaetae, mesochaetae and microchaetae. Long macrochaetae thick, slightly arc-like or straight, narrowly sheathed, feebly serrated, apically rounded or pointed (Figs 13, 15, 17). Macrochaetae Mc and Mcc morphologically similar to long macrochaetae, but shorter. Mesochaetae similar to ventral chaetae, thin, smooth and pointed. Microchaetae similar to mesochaetae, but apparently short. S–chaetae of tergites thin, smooth and short, notably shorter than nearby macrochaetae (Figs 13, 15, 18).

Antennae. Typical of the genus. Dorsal chaetotaxy of Ant III–IV as in Fig. 11 and Table 2b. S–chaetae of Ant IV of medium length and moderately thickened, S4 and S7 notably longer than other S–chaetae, S1 distinctly shorter and thinner than others (Fig. 11). Apical vesicle poorly developed, unilobate. Ventral chaetotaxy of Ant III–IV as in Fig. 12 and Table 2b.

Mouthparts. Buccal short with labral sclerifications nonogival. Labral chaetotaxy: 0/2, 4 (Fig. 19). Labium with four basal, three distal and four lateral chaetae, papillae x absent. Maxilla styliform, mandible thin and tridentate.

Dorsal chaetotaxy and tubercles. Head without chaetae E, O, So2 and L3 (Fig. 13). Tubercles Di on Th I differentiated, not fused with tubercles De (Fig. 13). Thorax and abdomen without free chaetae De2 and De3 (Figs 13-15). On Abd I–III, the line of chaetae De1-chaeta s perpendicular to the dorsomedian line. On Abd I-III chaetae De1 notably short (Fig. 15). Cryptopygy absent, Abd VI visible from above.

Ventral chaetotaxy. On head, groups Vea, Vem and Vep with 3, 4, 4 chaetae respectively. Group Vi on head with 6 chaetae. On Abd IV, furca rudimentary with 4-5 microchaetae without visible chaetopores (Fig. 16). On Abd V, chaetae Vl and L’ present.

Legs. Chaetotaxy of legs as in Table 1a. Claw without internal tooth. On tibiotarsi, chaeta M present and chaetae B4 and B5 relatively short and pointed.

Remarks.

Morphologically, E. paracentaurea sp. n. strongly recalls E. centaurea Cassagnau et Péja, 1979, a form shortly described from Greece ( Cassagnau and Péja 1979) and recently redescribed ( Smolis 2016). Both species are characterised in having white body, same number of chaetae on tubercles Dl and Af on head, same number of dorsal chaetae on Th and Abd and microchaetae on furca rudimentary. Nevertheless, the new species can be recognised by presence of pigment on eyes (in centaurea absent), presence of eight chaetae (L+So) on head (in centaurea nine), absence of non-reticulate area within tubercle Af on head (in centaurea present) and presence of tubercle Di on Th I (in centaurea absent).