Ephippiochthonius bolivari ( Beier, 1930 ) Beier, 1930

Zaragoza, Juan A., 2017, Revision of the Ephippiochthonius complex in the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands and Macaronesia, with proposed changes to the status of the Chthonius subgenera (Pseudoscorpiones, Chthoniidae), Zootaxa 4246 (1), pp. 1-221 : 55-56

Ephippiochthonius bolivari ( Beier, 1930) , n. comb.

( Fig. 95)

Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) bolivari Beier 1930: 325 ‒326, fig. 3. Chthonius (Ephippiochthonius) bolivari: Zaragoza 2007: 15 .

Type locality. Spain, Asturias, Ribadedeva, La Franca, Cueva del Espinoso (43°23′25″N, 04°34′20″W; 102 m a.s.l.) .

Distribution. Spain: Asturias.

Diagnosis (♀). A medium-sized, hypogean Ephippiochthonius species of the tetrachelatus -group. Movable cheliceral finger without isolated subapical tooth (di) and with prominent spinneret, lyrifissure ldb present; no eyes or eye-spots, 1 preocular microseta on each side, posterior margin of carapace with 2 macrosetae; coxa II with 16– 19 coxal spines; hand of chela distinctly depressed at level of trichobothria ib / isb, with strong and rounded hump distad of ib / isb and an abrupt slope between trichobothria ib / isb and eb; fixed chelal finger with 22 teeth; movable chelal finger with 9 teeth with dental canals, without marginal lamina; pedipalpal femur (♀) length 0.86 mm; chela (♀) 6.0 times longer than deep, length (♀) 1.26 mm; ratio movable chelal finger/chelal hand (♀) 1.6.

Type material examined. ♀ holotype ( MNCN), Spain, Asturias, Ribadedeva, La Franca, Cueva del Espinoso (43°23′25″N, 04°34′20″W; 102 m a.s.l.), 01.IX.1924, leg. Escalera .

Description (♀; ♂ unknown). Medium-sized, hypogean, troglomorphic species. Integument depigmented; weakly hispid granulation on lateral surfaces of carapace, on cheliceral hand and bases of chelal fingers.

Carapace distinctly longer than broad and posteriorly constricted; medial part of anterior margin straight, without epistome, and strongly dentate; without eyes or eye-spots. Chaetotaxy: 18 macrosetae and 1 preocular microseta on each side, formula m 4m:6:4:2:2, anteromedial setae 0.16 mm long, sublateral ocular setae short 0.04– 0.07 mm, preocular microseta 0.03 mm; 4 lyrifissures anteriorly and 2 posteriorly.

Cheliceral hand with 6 setae and 1 lateral microseta, seta vb short (0.040 mm long), microseta 0.023 mm long; hand with 5 dorsal and 1 ventral lyrifissure, lyrifissure ldb present. Fixed finger with 10 teeth decreasing in size proximally and 4 proximal microtubercles, 1 distal tooth distinctly larger than others. Movable finger without an isolated subapical tooth (di), with 7 teeth decreasing in size proximally and 1 proximal microtubercle, three distal teeth of equal size and larger than others; spinneret very prominent, thin and long, apically pointed, tooth shape, 0.01 mm long; seta gl 0.51 from base of movable finger. Serrula exterior with 16 blades.

Chaetotaxy of tergites 4:4:4:4:6:6:6:6:1T2T1:4:1T2T1:0; tergites IX and XI each with 2 sublateral tactile setae. Chaetotaxy of sternites 10:(3)10(3):(2)8(2):8:6:6:6:6:2T1T2:0:2, lateral setae on sternite III only slightly reduced in size compared with others of the row, sternite X with 2 submedial tactile setae.

Pedipalpal coxa with 5 setae (including 2 on manducatory process), distal marginal seta of disk 0.11 mm long; coxa I 4 + 3 marginal microsetae, distal marginal seta 0.08 mm long; II 5 + 16–19 bipinnate coxal spines, III 6 + 4– 5 bipinnate coxal spines and IV 6; intercoxal tubercle bisetose.

Pedipalp with femoral chaetotaxy 3:6:2:6:1. Chela ( Fig. 95) with hand distinctly depressed at level of ib / isb, with strong and rounded hump distad of ib / isb and an abrupt slope between trichobothria ib / isb and eb; dorsalantiaxial surface of the chelal hand between the hump and trichobothria eb / esb flattened, limited by a marked edge; ventral intercondylar bow-like protuberance (ip) present; chaetotaxy 4:5:3, seta ph3 lacking, setae ih1, ih3 and ih4 approximately level with trichobothria ib / isb; distal end of hand and bases of chelal fingers with sclerotized condylar complex. Fixed finger with 22 teeth, all with dental canals, most pointed, the two distal ones small, of these the 9 proximal teeth progressively decreasing in size and becoming rounded, dental row reaching up to halfway between trichobothria sb and b, 3 proximal microtubercles; tip of finger with an accessory tooth (td) on antiaxial face; one pair of long antiaxial sensory setae (as) at the finger base, distance between them equal to their length and distinctly shorter than finger depth at base; 3 teeth at level of est / it occupying 0.1 mm, distance between successive apices 0.035–0.040 mm. Movable finger with 9 pointed teeth with dental canal, the distalmost one small, dental row reaching up to distad of halfway between trichobothria st and sb; proximal half smooth, without marginal lamina; basal apodeme long and apically indented; coupled sensilla pc slightly distad of sb. Trichobothria as in Fig. 95; trichobothrium ist slightly distad of esb and well proximad of lyrifissure fb, trichobothria eb -esb -ist in a straight line; distance between ib / isb and esb 1.1 times longer than that between ib / isb and the base of the hand; distance between st and sb 2.0 times longer than that between sb and b. All chelal lyrifissure patterns present, most with their standard complements, except that the presence of hd could not be confirmed in the holotype.

Measurements and ratios. Female holotype. Body 1.78. Carapace 0.51/0.48 (1.1). Pedipalp: femur 0.86 long, patella 0.30 long, chela 1.26/0.21 (6.0), hand 0.49 (2.3), movable finger 0.77; ratio movable finger/hand 1.6, femur/ movable finger 1.1, femur/carapace 1.7, chela/carapace 2.5, chela/femur 1.5.

Remarks. Within the tetrachelatus -group, E. bolivari ( Beier, 1930) resembles E. mariolae (Carabajal Márquez, García Carrillo & Rodríguez Fernández, 2001) by the following combination of characteristics: anophthalmic, hypogean, with 1–2 preocular microsetae on each side, only 2 setae in posterior row of carapace, without isolated subapical tooth on movable cheliceral finger and with a reduced number of teeth (9–11) with dental canals on the movable chelal finger. The main difference is the presence of a higher number (16–19) of coxal spines on coxa II in E. bolivari , as compared to E. mariolae (7–9).