Ceratophysella taiguensis, Jia, Junli, Skarżyński, Dariusz & Li, Youlian, 2010

Jia, Junli, Skarżyński, Dariusz & Li, Youlian, 2010, Ceratophysella taiguensis sp. nov. (Collembola, Hypogastruridae) from China, with an annotated checklist of Chinese Ceratophysella Börner, 1932, Zootaxa 2644, pp. 57-63 : 58-60

Ceratophysella taiguensis sp. nov.

Figs 1–9, Tab. 1

Type material. Holotype female on slide, detritus under decaying leaves of Parthenocissus tricuspidata , entrance to the garden of Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu county, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, China, 20.v.2010, leg. Jia Junli. Paratypes: 2 females on slides, 1.ix.2009, 6 females, 2 males on slides, 20.v.2010, same data as holotype. Holotype and 5 paratypes deposited in the collection of the Entomology Department, College of Agriculture, Shanxi Agricultural University, China, 5 paratypes deposited in the collection of the Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Taxonomy, Wrocław University, Poland.

Other material. 4 females, 1 male on slides, 30 specimens in alcohol, pool surface, road in orchard of Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu county, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, China, 17.v.2010, leg. Liu Li (deposited in the collection of the Entomology Department, College of Agriculture, Shanxi Agricultural University, China).

Description. Body length 1.5–1.8 mm. Body color violet or blue in live specimens, grey or grey-black in alcohol, ventrally pale. Granulation fine and uniform, 10–18 granules between setae p1 on abd. V.

Arrangement of setae on head typical for the genus, spine-like setae absent. Dorsal chaetotaxy of A type (Figs 1–2). Macrosetae p2 shifted forward on th. II–III, setae m3 and m4 usually present, setae a3 longer than a2, setae m6 present. Setae a’2 and two m-setae on abd. I–III present. Setae p1 and p2 on abd. IV micro- and macrosetae respectively, setae a1 and p3 present. Abd. V with 3 + 3 or 4 + 4 a-setae inside the two p5 macrosetae (a’2 present or absent). Differentiation of dorsal setae into micro- and macrosetae distinct. Setae long and thick, usually abruptly pointed at tips, curved and serrated (Fig. 5). Body sensilla (s) relatively long, but shorter than macrosetae (Figs 1, 2). Microsensilla (ms) on th. II present (Fig. 1). Subcoxae I, II, III with 1, 3, 3 setae respectively.

Ant. IV with simple apical vesicle (av), subapical organite (or), microsensillum (ms), 7 (2 lateral, 5 dorsal) cylindrical, subequal sensilla and about 10–15 thin, slightly curved and blunt-tipped sensilla in ventral file (Figs 7–8). Ant. III-organ with two long (lateral) and two short (internal) curved sensilla (Fig. 8). Microsensillum on ant. III present. Eversible sac between ant. III–IV small and never everted (Fig. 7). Ant. I with 7 setae.

Ocelli 8 + 8. Postantennal organ 1.5–2 times as large as single ocellus with four lobes of which the anterior pair larger than the posterior (Fig. 3), rarely almost equal (Fig. 4). Accessory boss absent (Fig. 3).

Labrum with 5, 5, 4 setae, 4 prelabrals present. Head of maxilla of the C. denticulata type. Maxillary outer lobe with one sublobal hair. Labium of the C. denticulata type, with 5 papillae (A–E) and 6 proximal setae.

Tibiotarsi I, II, III with 19, 19, 18 setae respectively, clavate tenent hairs absent. Claws with inner tooth and a pair of lateral teeth. Empodial appendage with very narrow basal lamella and apical filament reaching tip of claws or almost so (ratio: empodial filament/inner edge of claw = 0.8–1.0 (Fig. 6). Ventral tube with 4 + 4 setae.

Furca well developed. Ratio dens + mucro/inner edge of claw III = 1.9–2.1, ratio dens/mucro = 2–2.5. Cuticular skeleton of furca well visible. Dens with uniform granulation and 6 unmodified dorsal setae (basal macroseta slightly shorter than dens). Mucro narrow, boat-like with clear outer lamella (Fig. 9). Retinaculum with 4 + 4 teeth.

Anal spines long (1.0–1.3 as long as claws III), slightly curved, situated on basal papillae, more or less yellowish (Fig. 2).

Etymology. The new species is named after the type locality, Taigu County.

Remarks. Ceratophysella species usually have empodial appendages with broad basal lamella and apical filament reaching inner tooth of claws and well developed furca with 7 setae on dens. C. taiguensis sp. nov. resembles species of the denticulata group with prolonged empodial appendages and reduced number of setae on dens: C. kapoviensis Babenko, 1994 ( Russia, Bashkiria, cave), C. kutyrevae Babenko, 1994 ( Russia, FIGURES 1–9. C. taiguensis sp. nov.: 1, chaetotaxy of th. II; 2, chaetotaxy of abd. III–VI; 3, postantennal organ and adjacent ocelli; 4, postantennal organ, variant; 5, from left to right: microseta p1 and macroseta p2 on th. II; 6, claw I with empodial appendage; 7, chaetotaxy of ant. III–IV, ventral side; 8, chaetotaxy of ant. III–IV, dorsal side; 9, dens and mucro. Abbreviations in text.

Primorsky krai), C. robustiseta Skarżyński & Smolis, 2006 ( England, greenhouses), C. sedecimocellata ( Yosii, 1962) ( Mexico, Nevada de Toluca) and C. vargovychi Skarżyński et al., 2001 ( Ukraine, Crimea, caves) ( Yosii 1962; Babenko et al. 1994; Skarżyński et al. 2001; Skarżyński & Smolis 2006). Nevertheless it differs from all of them by longer empodial appendages (max. ratio: empodial filament/inner edge of claw = 1.0, versus 0.75). Moreover C. taiguensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from C. kapoviensis and C. kutyrevae by uniformly dark body color (versus light with scattered spots of dark pigment) and complete chaetotaxy (versus: C. kapoviensis : setae a’2 on abd. I–III and V, p3 on abd. IV and p2 and p4 on abd. V absent, C. kutyrevae : setae m6 on th. II–III, a1 on abd. IV and a’2 on abd. V absent). The remaining species C. robustiseta , C. sedecimocellata and C. vargovychi are very characteristic having slightly reduced furca (all of them) and moruliform postantennal organ ( C. robustiseta ), very long anal spines ( C. sedecimocellata ) and trilobed apical vesicle ( C. vargovychi ). Morphological characters of C. taiguensis sp. nov. and similar species are presented in Tab. 1 .