Hubeicampa aff. melissa Sendra & Lips, 2021

Sendra, Alberto, Komerički, Ana, Lips, Josiane, Luan, Yunxia, Selfa, Jesús & Jiménez-Valverde, Alberto, 2021, Asian cave-adapted diplurans, with the description of two new genera and four new species (Arthropoda, Hexapoda, Entognatha), European Journal of Taxonomy 731, pp. 1-46 : 14-18

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5852/ejt.2021.731.1199
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A734B727-9978-4E14-B431-85865CE91E40
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4422561
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E9EEC42A-21E5-43D8-B572-F4A6FD327323
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:E9EEC42A-21E5-43D8-B572-F4A6FD327323
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Hubeicampa aff. melissa Sendra & Lips
status	gen. et sp. nov.

Treatment

Hubeicampa aff. melissa Sendra & Lips gen. et sp. nov.

Material examined

CHINA • 3 ♂♂ (6.6 to 8.0 mm), 1 ♀ (9.6 mm), 1 juv. (5.5 mm); Hubei, Banqiao, Kedu Dong ( Grotte des Têtards ); 6 Aug. 2009; Josiane Lips leg.; Coll. AS.

Remark

Specimens from Kedu Dong are considered as H. aff. melissa gen. et sp. nov. due to the specimens’ bad condition which does not allow us to clearly observe any variations in the taxonomical features. Nevertheless, they have the same important traits as the new species, but there is no dorsal macrosetae on the femur, except in a juvenile.

Taxonomic affinities

Hubeicampa melissa Sendra & Lips gen. et sp. nov. is closely related to another cave-adapted species, Hubeicampa lipsae ( Condé, 1993) , which is a new combination of Plusiocampa (Dydimocampa) lipsae Condé, 1993 , and thus leads us to propose Hubeicampa as a new genus for both species that live in karst regions of the Chinese province of Hubei. The new genus is distinguished by the pretarsus, which has lateral crests and a laminar lateral process covered by spiniform formations and micro-barbs, pubescent setae and macrosetae ( Figs 36–39 View Figs 34‒39 ), as well as by 1+1 macrosetae on the eighth urosternite.

A significant number of taxonomic characters separates H. melissa gen. et sp. nov. from H. lipsae . The most relevant differences are in the number of macrosetae on the mesonotum ( Fig. 30 View Figs 30‒33 ) (with 1+1 medial anterior, 1+1 lateral anterior and 1+1 medial posterior macrosetae in H. melissa gen. et sp. nov. instead of 1+1 medial anterior and 2+2 lateral posterior macrosetae in H. lipsae ), and the number of macrosetae on metanotum (with 1+1 medial anterior macrosetae and none or 1+1 medial posterior submacrosetae instead of 1+1 medial anterior and 1+1 lateral posterior in H. lipsae ). Other important features are the larger lateral crests in the pretarsus of H. melissa gen. et sp. nov. ( Figs 36–37 View Figs 34‒39 ) the presence of one dorsal macroseta on the metathoracic femora, and one ventral macroseta on the metathoracic tibia in H. melissa gen. et sp. nov. instead of two dorsal femora and two ventral tibia macrosetae in H. lipsae . Finally, there are 4+4 posterior macrosetae on V–VII urotergites in H. melissa gen. et sp. nov. ( Fig. 40 View Figs 40‒43 ) instead of 3+ 3 in H. lipsae .

Remarks

Hubeicampa melissa Sendra & Lips gen. et sp. nov. lives in the “Grotte du 8 ième Ciel Baxian Dong”, a cave situated at an elevation of 1870 m in the mountain near Banqiao village in the Hubei Province. The cave is 1703 m long and 122 m deep, with a huge entrance and giant galleries, as well as narrow passages and a narrow independent entry. The holotype of Hubeicampa melissa gen. et sp. nov. was observed and collected on the cave floor at about 300 m from the huge entry and at the top of the - 40 m deep pit on clay ground above the Saltpetre passage ( Lips et al. 2009) ( Figs 46–48 View Figs 46‒48 ). Some paratypes were collected in the same cave in the big chamber “Grande galerie du Va-et-Vient”.