Seira barrai sp. nov. Cipola & Baquero

Figs 3C, 26‒29, Tables 1‒2

Diagnosis. Body black with legs yellowish (Fig. 3C); head mac M 4i, S4, Pa4 and Pp6 absent, eyepatches with 3 interocular chaetae (q and r absent) (Fig. 26E); labral papillae conical, outer papillae smaller (Fig. 26D); Th II with 4 medio-central mac (m1‒ 1i, m2‒ 2i) and PmA‒PmC groups with 6‒7, 2‒3 and 5 mac (Fig. 27 A); Th III‒Abd III with 14, 6, 4 and 1 central mac, respectively (Figs 27B‒E); Abd IV with 11‒12 central and 13‒14 lateral mac (Fig. 28 A); unguis apical tooth absent (Fig. 29E); unguiculus outer edge serrated and with proximal tooth (Fig. 29E); manubrium ventrally with 0/2 subapical and 14‒16 apical chaetae (Fig. 29G).

Type material. Holotype female on slide (20141218-e/MZNA): Spain, Navarra Province, Viana municipality, Embalse de Las Cañas (42°29'20.3"N; 02°24'13.6"W), on Suaeda vera (Amaranthaceae), 383 m, 18.xii.2014, E. Baquero coll. Paratypes on slides (MZNA): 1 female and 1 juvenile, same data as holotype.

Description. Total length (head + trunk) of adult specimens 2.14‒2.16 mm (n=2), holotype 2.16 mm. Specimens completely black, except for trochanters and femora slightly depigmented and tibiotarsi yellow; eyepatches black (Fig. 3C). Scales present on Ant I to basal third of Ant III, ventral and dorsal head, thorax and abdomen dorsally, legs (except empodia), anterior collophore, and manubrium and dentes ventrally.

Head. Antennae shorter than body length, antennal ratio as I: II: III: IV = 1: 1.5 9‒1.72: 1.78‒1.82: 2.27‒2.82 (n=3), holotype 1: 1.60: 1.78: 2.34 (Fig. 3C). Ant IV annulated, with apical bulb apically bilobed and blunt sens (Fig. 26 A) . Ant III apical organ with two rod-like sens, 3 guard sens and several blunt sens of different sizes (Fig. 26B). Clypeal formula with 4 (l1‒2), 2 (f), 5 (pf0‒2) ciliate chaetae, l1 acuminate, l2 largest, pf2 smaller and spine- like (Fig. 26C). Four conical labral papillae, outer papillae smaller (Fig. 26D). Maxillary palp with smooth apical appendage (a. a.) and basal chaeta (b.c.) weakly ciliated, thicker and 1.03 longer than apical . Eyes A and B larger, G and H smaller, with 3 interocular chaetae (v, p, t); head dorsal chaetotaxy (Fig. 26E) with 9 ‘An’ mac (An 1, An 2‒3), 4 ‘A’ mac (A 0, A 2‒3, A 5), 3 ‘M’ mac (M1‒2, M4), 7 ‘S’ mac (S0‒3, S5‒6), 1 ‘Ps’ mac (Ps 2), 4 ‘Pa’ mac (Pa 1‒3, Pa 5), 2 ‘Pm’ mac (Pm 1, Pm 3), 4 ‘Pp’ mac (Pp 1‒3, Pp 5), and 3 ‘Pe’ mac (Pe2‒3 plus Pe3p). Basomedian and basolateral labial fields with M1‒2, R, E, L1‒2, M1, R smaller. Postlabial ventral chaetotaxy with about 15 ciliate chaetae, postlabial formula 4 (G1‒4), 3 (H2‒4), 4 (J1‒4), J2 reduced, basal chaeta (b.c.) largest (Fig. 26F).

Thorax chaetotaxy (Figs 27 A ‒B). Th II, series ‘a’ with 4 mac (a5ip‒5p); series ‘m’ with 7 mac (m 1i ‒1, m 2i ‒2, m 4i ‒4p); series ‘p’ with 14‒16 mac (p 1i 2p‒1p, p2a–2ep2, p3, p5), p1ip present or absent, p2a as mac or mic. Th III, series ‘a’ with 7 mac (a 1i ‒6); series ‘m’ with 1 mac (m6); series ‘p’ with 10 mac (p 1i ‒1p, p2a‒2ea, p3, p5‒6). Th ratio as II: III = 1: 0.5 5‒0.72 (n= 3), holotype 1: 0.72.

Abdomen chaetotaxy (Figs 27 C‒E, 28 A ‒B) . Abd I, series ‘a’ with 1 mac (a3); series ‘m’ with 5 mac (m 2i ‒4). Abd II, series ‘a’ with 1 mac (a2); series ‘m’ with 4 mac (m3‒3e, m5). Abd III, series ‘m’ with 3 mac (m3, am6, pm6); series ‘p’ with 1 mac (p6). Abd IV with 11‒12 central mac of series ‘A’ to ‘T’ (A 3a‒6, Ae7, B3‒6, C1, T1), A 3a as mac or mic, and 13‒14 lateral mac of series ‘E’ to ‘Fe’ (E2‒4p, Ee 7, Ee 10, F1‒3, Fe 2‒5), E2p as mac or mic; at least 5 sens (ps type I and 4 type II), and posteriorly with 6 mes and 1 mic present . Abd V, series ‘a’ with 1 mac (a5); series ‘m’ with 4 mac (m2‒3, m5‒5e); series ‘p’ with 5 mac (p1, p3‒5, ap6). Abd ratio as III: IV = 1: 3.21‒5.07 (n= 3), holotype 1: 3.21.

Legs. Subcoxa I with 4 chaetae and 2 psp; subcoxa II with an anterior row of 10 chaetae and 1 anterior chaeta, posterior row of 4 chaetae and 5 psp; subcoxa III with one row of 9 chaetae and 2 posterior psp (Figs 29 A ‒C) . Trochanteral organ with about 20 spine-like chaetae (Fig. 29D). Unguis with basal and median teeth with the same length, apical tooth absent. Unguiculus with all lamellae acuminate, pe lamella serrated and with small proximal tooth, other lamellae (ai, ae, pi) smooth; ratio unguis: unguiculus = 1: 0.53 (Fig. 29E) . Tibiotarsus III distally with inner smooth chaeta 1.10 larger than unguiculus; outer tenent hair capitate, discretely ciliate, and 0.93 smaller than unguis.

Collophore (Fig. 29F). Anterior side with 10 ciliate chaetae, including 2 distal mac and 1 large acuminate long chaetae; posterior side with 5 ciliate chaetae, 1 distal thickest; lateral flap with 3 smooth chaetae (one small posteriorly) and 12 ciliate chaetae.

Furcula (Figs 29G‒H). Manubrium ventrally with formula 1, 0, 0, 0/2 (subapical), 14‒16 (apical) ciliate chaetae and approximately 11 elongated apical scales per side; manubrium dorsally with 7 subapical ciliate chaetae; manubrial plate with 5‒6 ciliate chaetae and 4 psp.

Etymology. The species was named after Dr. Jean-Auguste Barra (Louis Pasteur University, France), researcher of Seira .

Remarks. Seira barrai sp. nov. is most similar to S. maroccana Negri, Pellecchia & Fanciulli, 2005 and S. vanderheydeni Jacquemart, 1974, both from Northern Africa, in head mac M 4i, S4, Pa4 absent, Th II with 4 medio-central mac (m1‒ 1i, m2‒ 2i) and 5 mac in PmC group, Th III-Abd III with 14, 6, 4 and 1 central mac, respectively; and Abd IV with about 11 central mac (Table 2). However, S. barrai sp. nov. differs from these species by chaetotaxy of the Th II with up to 7 mac (generally) in PmA group (6 in S. maroccana and S. vanderheydeni), and 13‒14 lateral mac in Abd IV (12 in S. maroccana). Seira barrai sp. nov. differs also by Ant IV with apical bulb apically bilobed (simple in S. maroccana), unguis without apical tooth (present in the other species), unguiculus with outer lamella serrated and with proximal tooth (outer lamella smooth and without tooth in S. maroccana), and manubrium ventrally with 0/2 subapical and 14‒16 apical chaetae (0/4 and 12, respectively, in S. maroccana) (see Tabs 1 and 2). Seira barrai sp. nov. also differs from these species by body black with legs yellowish, while S. vanderheydeni is depigmented (except eyepatches) and S. maroccana has transverse white strips on Abd I‒II, and anterior and posterior Abd IV. This color pattern of S. barrai sp. nov. is similar to S. pallidipes Reuter, 1895, but the new species differs from this last by reduction of dorsal macrochaetotaxy (see Winkler & Dányi 2017, and remarks of S. burgersi sp. nov.). Other morphological differences among the compared species are presented in Tables 1 and 2.