Psyllipsocus subtilis Lienhard, 2014

Lienhard, Charles & Ferreira, Rodrigo L., 2014, New species of Psyllipsocus from Brazilian caves (Psocodea: ‘ Psocoptera’: Psyllipsocidae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 121 (2), pp. 211-246 : 229-233

Psyllipsocus subtilis Lienhard n. spec. Fig. 11

HOLOTYPE: ISLA; 3 (slide-mounted); BRAZIL ( RN), Felipe Guerra , Caverna Arapuá cave, 3.viii.2010, leg. D. M. Bento.

PARATYPES: ISLA and MHNG, slide-mounted or in alcohol ; BRAZIL, leg. D. M. Bento, from the following municipalities. – 13, 3♀ (one of them allotype, one lacking head), Felipe Guerra ( RN), Caverna Arapuá cave , 3.viii.2010 (type locality). – 13, Felipe Guerra ( RN), Caverna Rumana cave , 5.viii.2010. – 1♀, Felipe Guerra ( RN), Caverna Beira-Rio cave , 19.vii.2010. – 13, 2♀, Governador Dix-Sept Rosado ( RN), Gruta do Lagedo Grande cave , 20.iii.2010. – 13, Governador Dix-Sept Rosado ( RN), Caverna Capoeira do João Carlos cave , 3.vi.2010. – 1♀, Governador Dix-Sept Rosado ( RN), Gruta do Marimbondo Caboclo cave, 20.vii.2010 .

FIG. 10

Psyllipsocus didymus Lienhard n. spec., male holotype. (A) Forewing. (B) Pedicel with microspades organ (pilosity not shown). (C) Antenna (scape, pedicel and basalmost 11 flagellomeres; pilosity not shown). (D) Paraprocts, clunial rods and hypandrium with phallosome (pilosity not shown, except for anal spine and paraproctal setal organ).

DESCRIPTION: General colouration yellowish to light brown. Compound eyes dark brown. Forewing with characteristic but very subtle colour pattern (Fig. 11A), brown patches often weakly developed, almost invisible in the very pale male from the Caverna Rumana cave. Tibiae without transversal bands. Abdomen whitish, terminalia light brown.

Both sexes macropterous. Forewing (Fig. 11A): Rs and M fused for a length; distal closed cell very much longer than marginal length of pterostigma and also slightly longer than basal closed cell (bcc/dcc ≈ 0.9); first portion of pterostigmal R1 about equal in length to R1-Rs crossvein; CuA1 almost semicircular (AP relatively short, but its marginal length exceeding its height). Hindwing: Basal portion of Rs not differentiated and R1 originating from R-M fusion, thus closed cell triangular (as shown for P. fuscistigma in Fig. 12B). Three ocelli present. Head pilosity not uniform, with some stout setae on frons and vertex (almost all head setae dislodged in the material examined; however, a certain number of particularly large alveoli are present on frons and vertex, in addition to the small alveoli of normal hairs; pattern similar to that shown for P. thaidis in Fig. 7H). Antennal flagellomeres with uneven surface (due to insertion points of long and relatively thick setae), in basal half of antenna maximal length of flagellar hairs about 5x greatest width of their flagellomeres. Pedicellar microspades organ well-developed, with 5 units. Maxillary palp as in Fig. 11D, P2 with a stout sensillum about in middle of inner side, P4 broadly hatchet-shaped, externally concave and distally slightly tapered. Lacinial tip as in Fig. 11C. Pretarsal claws simple, symmetrical, with a small preapical denticle; hind legs with well-developed coxal organ. Clunium, epiproct and paraproct simple in both sexes; the latter with a very long anal spine and a setal organ consisting of a short fine seta and a longer, somewhat thicker seta; paraproctal sensorium with 6 fine trichobothria on basal florets and one normal seta (as shown for P. fuscistigma in Fig. 12C).

Hypandrium and phallosome as in Fig. 11B; hypandrium with a shallow apical lobe (as shown in Fig. 12D for P. fuscistigma ), this prominence not visible in the holotype (Fig. 11B) due to slide-mounting; phallic cradle posteriorly fused to phallosome and joined by a postero-lateral arm to the lateral sclerotizations of the hypandrium; phallosome on each side with a broad granulate apical lobe and a weakly prominent denticulate internal lobe; the latter not reaching the tip of the granulate apical lobe; basal struts short; endophallic tube with a row of 4 pores on each side.

Female genitalia (Fig. 11E): Subgenital plate simple, with some long fine setae on posterior margin. Median axis of v1 and v2 very weakly sclerotized, v3 with a marginal row of 6-7 thick setae (these setae clearly thicker than other v3-setae of similar length). Spermapore plate simple, with some membranous folds and a weakly sclerotized area around spermapore; spermathecal duct thin-walled, of medium length and rather wide; spermathecal wall damaged by slide-mounting, very thin and lacking conspicuous sclerotizations; non-sclerotized spermatophore large and almost spherical.

MEASUREMENTS: Male holotype: BL = 1.5 mm; FW = 1590 µm; FWw = 578 µm; FW/FWw = 2.75; HW = 1340 µm; F = 268 µm; T = 564 µm; t1= 166 µm; t2 = 39 µm; t3 = 45 µm; IO/ D = 1.6. – Female allotype: BL = 1.3 mm; FW = 1636 µm; FWw = 620 µm; FW/FWw = 2.64; HW = 1354 µm; F = 275 µm; T = 592 µm; t1 = 168 µm; t2 = 41 µm; t3 = 49 µm; IO/D = 1.75.

ETYMOLOGY: The specific epithet refers to the characteristic but very subtle wing pattern of this species (Latin: subtilis , - is, - e).

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT: P. subtilis is known from six caves situated in two municipalities in the state Rio Grande do Norte. These caves belong to a Cretaceous limestone formation (Apodi group). Their environment comprises Brazilian “Caatinga” vegetation (semi-arid) and some areas have been altered by human acti- FIG. 11

Psyllipsocus subtilis Lienhard n. spec., male holotype (A-D) and female allotype (E). (A) Forewing. (B) Hypandrium and phallosome, ventral view (NOTE: apical prominence of hypandrium similar to that of P. fuscistigma , see Fig. 12D, here not visible due to slide-mounting). (C) Lacinial tip. (D) Maxillary palp. (E) Left ovipositor valvulae, left hind corner of clunium and spermapore plate.

vities, especially agriculture. The caves are predominantly dry, and their length mostly does not exceed 100 metres. Specimens were all observed on piles of old bat guano.

DISCUSSION: See discussion on P. fuscistigma , below.