Pygmarrhopalites shoshoneiensis, Zeppelini, Douglas, Taylor, Steven J. & Slay, Michael E., 2009

Zeppelini, Douglas, Taylor, Steven J. & Slay, Michael E., 2009, Cave Pygmarrhopalites Vargovitsh, 2009 (Collembola, Symphypleona, Arrhopalitidae) in United States, Zootaxa 2204, pp. 1-18 : 12

Pygmarrhopalites shoshoneiensis sp. nov.

furcatu s-group. ( Fig. 5 )

Description. No traces of pigment, dorsal body setae short on anterior part and twice as long on posterior part of great abdomen, posterior setae longer than third unguis ( Table 2 ). Ant. IV of holotype 1.34 times the cephalic diagonal, with 7 subsegments ( Fig. 5 A), apex with capitate sense rod. Ant. III not swollen basally; sense organ ( Fig. 5 B) with 2 parallel sense rods in separate pits; seta Aai straight, blunt; Api slender, bristlelike and short, Ape strong, short, acuminate, Ae, Ap and Ai elongate, about twice as long as Ape and Api. Eyes reduced to pair of smooth round spots in cuticle behind antennae. Dorsal cephalic setae slender, not spine-like, M4–5 present ( Fig. 5 C). Metatrochanteral organ elongate ( Fig. 5 D). Seta FSa present on all tibiotarsi. First unguis elongate, all ungues with inner tooth, tunica absent. First unguiculus slender, corner tooth very small or absent. Apical filament exceeding unguis tip in first and second unguiculi. Third unguiculus elongated, with corner tooth and short apical filament ( Figs. 5 E). Corpus tenaculum with two setae ( Fig. 5 F). Dens with 7 dorsal E setae, E1 strongly spine-like, other E setae normal; L1 strongly spine-like, L2– 3 spine-like, 4 ventral setae rows (3,2,1,1) present ( Fig. 5 G), dental chaetotaxy in Table 3. Mucro narrow, gutter-like, with narrow tip, outer edge serrate, inner edge smooth. Anal valve without cuticular spines ( Fig. 5 H); setae C1 forked, C3–6 swollen basally, D5 and D7 absent, chaetotaxy in Table 4 . Female subanal appendage forked with both branches deeply fringed ( Fig. 5 I).

Type material. Holotype (female) (number 3 in the slide): USA, NEVADA, White Pine Co., Model Cave, 24-v-06, S.J. Taylor. J.K. Krejca, M.E. Slay leg. ( INHS). Paratypes: 2 females (number 1 and 2) in the same slide with the holotype, and 6 adults in alcohol, same locality as holotype ( INHS).

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the Western Shoshone, a group of Native Americans who have visited the caves of Great Basin National Park for many hundreds of years, leaving behind only traces of their lives. Their tribal homeland encompasses large portions of the Basin and Range province of the Great Basin region.

Remarks. Pygmarrhopalites shoshoneiensis type specimens were found in a cave at Great Basin National Park. The physiographic province Basin and Range Province of the Great Basin, climate is BSk, dry, Steppe, middle latitude. This species resembles P. s e x t u s in many aspects, including the shape of female subanal appendages and anal valve chaetotaxy, antenna/cephalic diagonal ratio, fourth antennal segment subdivision, and foot complex. The most important features that split them apart are the presence, in P. shoshoneiensis , of a forked C1 on the anal valve, the spine-like L1–3 on dens, the mucro with one smooth edge, the stout short Ape on apical organ of ant. iii, the presence of M5 on head, and the absence of a conspicuous eye.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Pygmarrhopalites shoshoneiensis sp. nov.: A, Fourth antennal segment; B, Apical sensory organ of the third antennal segment; C, Posterior dorsal cephalic chaetotaxy; D, Metatrochanteral organ; E, Empodial complex (a –– first leg, b –– second leg, c –– third leg); F, Tenaculum; G, Dorsal and ventral chaetotaxy of the dens; H, Chaetotaxy of the anal valve; I, Subanal appendage of the female.