Lechytiayulongensis, Zhang & Zhang, 2014

Zhang, Fubin & Zhang, Feng, 2014, First Report Of The Family Lechytiidae (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) From China, With The Description Of A New Species, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 60 (3), pp. 217-225 : 218-224

Lechytiayulongensis sp. n.

( Figs 1–4 )

Typematerial. Holotypemale (Ps.- MHBU-YN12080301 ): China, YunnanProvince , YulongCounty, JadeDragonSnowMountains, Maoniuping (27°08′N, 100°13′E), alt. 3254 m, 3 August 2012, AkiNakamuraleg. Paratypes: twomales (Ps.- MHBU-YN12080302-03 ), samedataasforholotype .

Etymology. Thespecificnamereferstothetypelocality.

Diagnosis. Thisnewspeciesischaracterizedbythefollowingcombina- tionofcharacters: carapacewithtwoindistincteyespots, theanteriormargin finelydenticulate; marginalteethofchelalfingerswelldevelopedanddistinctlyretrorse; malewithwell-developedspinneretonmovablefingerofchelicera; bothapicalsetaeofpalpalcoxasimpleattip ( hoffi species-group); eleventh sterniteapparentlyreduced; chela 3.55–3.59 timeslongerthanbroad; palpalfe- mur 4.00 timeslongerthanbroad; movablefinger 1.36–1.37 timeslongerthan hand; trichobothria b and sb onlyaboutoneareolardiameterapart.

Description. Male – Chelicera, carapace, legsandabdomenyellowish- brown; palp lightbrown ( Fig. 1 ).

Carapace ( Figs. 2a , 4b): subquadrate, somewhatlongerthanbroad, constrictedan- teriorly; surfacewithfine, anastomosing, transversestriations; noepistomepresent, but anteriormarginslightlyconvexandwith 10–11 distinctdenticles; posteriorpartwithsquamoussculpturing; withtwoindistincteyespots, eachalmostoneoculardiameterfrom anteriormargin; carapacalchaetotaxy: 6–2, (18),thepre- ocularsetashorterthanothersin anteriorrow.

Coxalarea ( Figs 3a , 4f ): coxaIwithalow, triangularapicalprojection; twolongsetae attipofmanducatoryprocess, setaeP 2+3, I 7, II 5, III 6, IV 7, allsetaeacuminate, including apicalsetaeofpalpalcoxa; nocoxalspines; nointercoxaltubercle.

Chelicera ( Figs 2b , 4c): about 0.60–0.70 aslongascarapace; palmwith 5 setae, of whichashortonelocatedlaterally; galealsetalocatedatmiddleofmovablefinger; fixed fingerwithonelargetooth, andthreeroughenedridgesproximally; movablefingerwith anacuteapicaltoothand 3 pointed, conspicuousmiddleteeth; movablefingerwithadis- tinctspinnerethump. Rallumconsistingof 8 blades, thesubdistalbladestronglyrecumbent, othersstraight ( Fig. 3d ).

Palp ( Figs 2c–2f , 3b, 4a): chelarobust; trochanter 1.60–1.80, femur 4.00, patella 1.77– 1.83 andchela 3.55–3.59 timeslongerthanbroad; chelalhand 1.56–1.59 timeslongerthan broad; movablechelalfinger 1.36–1.37 timeslongerthanhand; chelalfingercurvedindorsalview. Fixedfingerwith 41–43 pointed, retrorseteeth, movablefingerwith 35 retrorse teeth, depressedbasally; fixedfingerwithasmallaccessorytoothoninnersideaboutat levelofsecondmarginaltooth. Trichobothria: ib, isb, eb and esb ondorsumofhand, ib and isb situatedbasally, eb and esb situatedmedially; fixedfingerwithfour (et, it, est and ist), plustwospecialsensoryhairs (dx) present, locatednearthetipoffixedfinger; movable fingerwithfour (t, b, sb, st), b situatedslightlycloserto sb thanto t; b and sb onlyaboutone areolardiameterapart; sensillaabsent.

Abdomen ( Figs 3c , 4g ) ovate, tergitesandsternitesundivided, eleventhsternite greatlyreduced, onlyanarrow, thinmembraneexistingbetweententhsterniteandventral analplate. Tergalchaetotaxy: 4–5: 4–5: 6: 6: 6: 6: 6: 6: 6: 4: T2T: 0; sternalchaetotaxy: 8–9: (3)29–33(3): (3)8(3): 12: 10: 10: 10: 8: 2TT2: –: 2; lateralmostonesonanteriortergitesand smallerthanthosemedially, andlateraltwooneachtergitesetclosetogether; anterior genitaloperculumwith 8–9 setae, genitalopeningslit-likeinbasalhalf, eachsidewith 10–12 marginalsetae, anteriorsetaeborderinggenitalopeningacuminate, posteriorones bifurcate.

LegsI ( Figs 2g , 4d) andIV ( Figs 2h , 4e); robust, surfacesnearlysmooth; legIfemur 3.17–3.50 timeslongerthandeep, legIVfemur+patella 2.31–2.33 timeslongerthandeep. Tarsiwithtwoelongateopeningsalongdorsalsurfaceeachwithcrenulatemargins.

Measurements (length/breadthordepth, inmm, ratiosinparentheses). Male (holotypeandparatypes). Bodylength 1.38–1.44. Carapace 0.37–0.40×0.35–0.37 (1.06–1.08). Chelicera 0.24–0.26×0.13 (1.85–2.00), movablefingerlength 0.12–0.13. Palpaltrochanter 0.16–0.18×0.10 (1.60–1.80), femur 0.40×0.10 (4.00), patella 0.22–0.23×0.12–0.13 (1.77–1.83), chela 0.61–0.64×0.17–0.18 (3.55–3.59), hand 0.27–0.28×0.17–0.18 (1.56–1.59), movablefinger length 0.37–0.38 (1.36–1.37×hand). LegItrochanter 0.10–0.11×0.08 (1.25–1.38), femur 0.19– 0.21×0.06 (3.17–3.50), patella 0.11×0.05–0.06 (1.83–2.20), tibia 0.12–0.14×0.04–0.05 (2.40–2.80), tarsus 0.24×0.03 (8.00); legIVtrochanter 0.15×0.09 (1.67), femur+patella 0.35–0.37×0.15–0.16 (2.31–2.33), tibia 0.25–0.27×0.07 (3.57–3.86), metatarsus 0.13–0.14×0.05–0.06 (2.33–2.60), te- lotarsus 0.19–0.21×0.03 (6.33–7.00).

Distribution. China (YunnanProvince).

Remarks. Becauseoffewcollections, Lechytia specieshaverarelybeen studiedinrecentyearsandlittleisknownabouttherelationshipsbetween them. However, twodistinctspecies-groupscanberecognizedinthisgenus ( MUcHmorE 1975, 2000, JUdsoN 1992), the L. arborea species-groupandthe L.

hoffi species-group. The L. arborea species-grouphasthefollowingcharacters: (1) apicalsetaeofpalpalcoxabifurcate; (2) eleventhtergitewithchaetotaxy 1T2T1; (3) spinneretofmaleabsentorindistinct; (4) mostteethofchelalre- duced. The L. hoffi species-groupisdiagnosedbyhaving: (1) apicalsetaeof palpalcoxasimple, acuminate; (2) eleventhtergitewithchaetotaxyT2T; (3) malewithspinneretnearlyaswelldevelopedasinfemale; (4) chelalteeth welldeveloped, mostlycusped. Basedonthesecriteria, L. yulongensis sp. n. caneasilybeassignedtothe L. hoffi species-group.

Five Lechytia specieshadpreviouslybeenrecordedfromAsia: L. madrasica Sivaraman, 1980 , L. indica Murthy & Ananthakrishnan, 1977 fromIndia, L. sakagamii Morikawa, 1952 fromJapan, L. himalayana Beier, 1974 fromNepal and L. asiatica Redikorzev, 1938 fromVietnam. Thenewspeciesdiffersfrom L. madrasica and L. indica bythepresenceofeyespotsoncarapace, whichare lacking in L. madrasica and L. indica . It can be separated from L. sakagamii by themalemovablefingerwithadistinctspinnerethump (absentinmaleof L. sakagamii ) andbytrichobothria b and sb onlyaboutoneareolardiameterapart (b and sb closetogether, onlyabouthalfanareolardiameterapartin L. sakagamii ). L. himalayana isdistinguishedfromthenewspeciesbytheratioofmovablefingerlongerthanhand (1.20× vs 1.36–1.37×), andbypossessingamuch longercarapace (1.25 timesaslongasbroad, comparedwith 1.06–1.08 times in L. yulongensis sp. n.). L. asiatica differsfromthenewspeciesbyitssmaller size (palpalfemur 0.3 mm vs 0.40 mm, chela 0.20 mm vs 0.27–0.28 mm), and its relativelyshortermovablechelalfinger (1.10× vs 1.36–1.37× hand).

Thenewspeciesresembles L. hoffi Muchmore, 1975 fromAmerica, both inhavingaspinnerethumpinthemaleandthechelalteethwell-developed, but L. hoffi differsfrom L. yulongensis sp. n. inhavingtwocorneateeyes (re- ducedto eye spots in L. yulongensis sp. n.) andchelal (3.55–3.59 vs 3.90–4.10) timeslongerthanhand; furthermore, theformofteethonthemovablechelal fingerisdifferent (with 35 retrorseteeth, depressedbasally), asopposedto 8–12 small, triangularteethatdistalend, followedby 19–24 long, lowteeth, nearlyallwithcuspsin L. hoffi ). Thenewspeciesalsoresembles L. kuscheli Beier, 1957 fromChileinhavingtheapicalsetaofthepalpalcoxasimple, but itdiffersfromthelatterinhavingamuchmorerobustchela (3.55–3.59 times longerthanbroad, asopposedto 4.8 timesin L. kuscheli ).

Consideringbiogeographicaldistribution, both L. yulongensis sp. n. and L. hoffi couldbecollectednearbytheTropicofCancer, andoccurredatrela- tivelyhighelevations. As L. hoffi hasbeenrecordedfromawideareainthe westernUnitedStates, wepresume L. yulongensis sp. n. maybehaveawide- spreaddistributioninChina (orAsia).

MembersoffamilyLechytiidaearedistributedworldwidewitheleven speciesrecordedfromSouthandNorthAmerica, sixspeciesfromAfrica, one speciesfromTurkey, onespeciesfromAustralia, andfivespeciesfromAsia andthePacificregion ( HArvEy 2013). L. yulongensis sp. n. isthefirstmember ofthefamilyLechytiidaetobediscoveredinChina; twomalespecimenswere collectedfromconiferforestsusingthebarksprayingmethod, andonemale specimenwascollectedfromconiferforestsusingBerleseextraction. There- forewepresume L. yulongensis sp. n. maybeacorticolousspecies, oritlivesin thesoil, orinbothconditions.

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Acknowledgements – WeexpressoursincerethankstoDr. MarkS. Harveyforprovidingsomeliterature. WearegratefultoAkiNakamuraforcollectingthespecimens. Dr. J. MacDermottkindlyhelpedreviewingtheoriginalEnglishmanuscript. Thisworkwas supportedbytheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina (No. 31372154, 31093430), andinpartbyagrantoftheProgramofMinistryofScienceandTechnologyofRepublicof China (2012FY110803) to Dr. Feng Zhang.

Figures

Fig. 1. Lechytiayulongensis sp. n., holotype, male: habitus, dorsalview.

Fig. 2. Lechytiayulongensis sp. n., holotype, male: a = carapace, dorsalview,b = leftchelicera, dorsalview, c = leftchela, lateralview, d = tipofmovablefinger, dorsalview, e = tipoffixed finger, dorsalview, f = leftpalp (minuschela), dorsalview, g = leftlegI, lateralview, h = left legIV, lateralview. Scalebars: 100 μm (d, e), 150 μm (b), 250 μm (a, c, f–h).

Fig. 3. Lechytiayulongensis sp. n., holotype, male: a = coxalregion, ventralview, b = left chela, dorsalview, c = malegenitalopening, d = rallum. Scalebars: 30 μm (d), 50 μm (c), 250 μm (a, b).

Fig. 4. Lechytiayulongensis sp. n., holotype, male: a = leftchela, lateralview, b = carapace, dorsalview, c = leftchelicera, dorsalview, d = leftlegI, lateralview, e = leftlegIV, lateral view, f = apexofthepalpalcoxae, g = genitalareaofmale.