Plusiocampa ( Plusiocampa ) balcanica Sendra & Stoev, 2025
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/10.3897/dez.72.162647 |
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publication LSID |
lsid:zoobank.org:pub:698183AA-967C-4646-A71E-2A02892922B5 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17532347 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/ED7BBBD2-F224-565F-BBA8-4A348B09B647 |
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treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Plusiocampa ( Plusiocampa ) balcanica Sendra & Stoev |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Plusiocampa ( Plusiocampa) balcanica Sendra & Stoev sp. nov.
Figs 11 View Figure 11 , 12 View Figure 12 , 21 View Figure 21
Etymology.
The specific epithet derives from the type locality, which is situated in Stara Planina (= Balkan) Mts. The specific epithet is a noun in the genitive case.
Material examined.
Holotype • male deposited in the Natural History Museum of Sofia, Non-insect Invertebrates – Id. 10835 NMNHS. Bulgaria: Central Stara planina Mts.: Karlovo District , village Hristo Danovo, cave Yulen Ere (Vodnata peshtera), 950 m alt., 27 Sep. 1997, leg. P. Beron & T. Ivanova ; Paratypes • 3 females from the same locality, date, and collectors deposited in the Natural History Museum of Sofia, Non-insect Invertebrates Id. 10836-10838 NMNHS • 1 female from the same locality, date, and collectors deposited in MCNB - MZB 2025-7269 View Materials ; and 1 male from the same locality, date, and collectors deposited in MUVHN - ZE 4330 .
Description.
Body. Body length 5.5 mm and 6 - mm ( holotype) males, 6.5 mm to 7 mm females. Epicuticle smooth under optical microscope; slender body with smooth or with one or two tiny distal barbs on clothing setae.
Head. Antennae have 37, 40, 40, and 41 antennomeres in four completed and intact antennae; antennae ~ 1.1-0.7 times longer than the body’s length, with medial antennomeres almost three times longer than wide and apical antennomere more than two times longer than wide. Cupuliform organ, occupying 1 / 9 of the total length in the last antennomere, has about 6–7 complex olfactory chemoreceptors. Distal and central antennomeres have two whorls of macrosetae with a few distal barbs and scattered smooth thin setae, in addition to a single distal whorl of 10‒14 long gouge sensilla (35-45 µm long) and up to two very short coniform sensilla. Proximal antennomeres have typical trichobothria, plus a small coniform sensillum on the third antennomere in ventral position. The frontal process has three slightly tuberculate smooth macrosetae; the three-insertion line macrosetae with a few distal barbs, with length ratios of a / i / p / x are 41 / 47 / 35 / 55, respectively, in the holotype. Labial palps are suboval with small latero-external sensillum, three guard setae, up to six setae on the anterior border, and up to 95 neuroglandular setae in the larger paratype.
Thorax. Thoracic macrosetae distribution: pronotum with 1 + 1 ma, 2 + 2 la 3-4, 1 + 1 lp 1, 3 macrosetae; mesonotum with 1 + 1 ma, 3 + 3 la 1-3, 2 + 2 lp 2-3 and 1 + 1 ma, 1 + 1 la 1, 2 + 2 lp 2-3 long macrosetae. All macrosetae long with thin barbs along the basal two-thirds of their length; thin marginal setae barbed on distal portion double the length of clothing setae. Legs elongated, and the metathoracic legs reach the eighth abdominal segment. Tibia longer than the femur or tarsus; femur / tibia / tarsus plus claws: 0.10 / 0.11 / 0.99 mm in paratype 7 mm in lengths. Femora I – III with one long dorsal macrosetae, and three ventral macrosetae on tibia III. Calcars have long barbs almost all over. Two ventral rows of slightly barbed on medial portion setae on tarsus; end part of the tarsus with two dorsal smooth long setae plus two ventral long barbed setae. Claws are very unequal in size with posterior claw longer than the anterior claw (1.6‒1.8: ratio posterior / anterior). Claws have large lateral crests well developed in posterior claw with a large backward overhang. Pretarsus has similar long smooth setiform lateral processes on posterior claw but shorter on the smaller anterior claw (Fig. 11 a, b View Figure 11 ).
Abdomen. Distribution of abdominal macrosetae on tergites: 1 + 1 post macrosetae on I – III (0 + 0 on I – II urotergites in male paratype), 1 + 1 la, 5 + 5 post on IV – V urotergites, 2 + 2 la, 5 + 5 post on VI – VII; 6 + 6 post on VIII, and 8 + 8 post macrosetae on IX abdominal segment. All tergal abdominal macrosetae long and well-differentiated with thin barbs along most of its length. Urosternite I with 7 + 7 (7 + 1 + 7) well-barbed macrosetae (Fig. 15 a, b View Figure 15 ); urosternites II to VII with 5 + 5 macrosetae; urosternite VIII with 2 + 2 macrosetae; urosternal macrosetae with long barbs along distal half to two third. Stylus with an apical almost smooth setae with one large and one small basal barb, subapical seta with a few short barbs and ventromedial seta with some long barbs on half distal part (Fig. 12 c View Figure 12 ). All cerci broken, the most complete is 4.8 mm long with a basal article follow for eight primary articles; each primary article bear up to four untidy whorls of macrosetae with short thin barbs on half distal part in addition to several smooth long setae and the characteristic apical whorl of very thin short setae smooth or with one or two tiny barbs.
Secondary sex characters. Female urosternite I with large subcylindrical appendages, bearing each up to 30 glandular a 1 setae in a distal field (Fig. 12 a View Figure 12 ). Male with larger subcylindrical appendages than the female, bearing each up to 45 glandular setae a 1, in addition posterior portion of the urosternite with a few glandular g 1 setae, up to 14 on holotype (Fig. 12 b View Figure 12 ) with bears a whorl of 17 short setae around the terminal hole of the genital papilla.
Taxonomic position.
According to Sendra et al. (2020 b), the taxonomy of the species of Plusiocampa needs thorough revision and clarification. However, here we propose a new species: Plusiocampa ( Plusiocampa) balcanica sp. nov., which is distinguished from the congeners ( Plusiocampa s. str.) by having two reliable taxonomic characters: very uneven pretarsal claws with a 1.6‒1.8: posterior / anterior ratio, and the lack of medial posterior macrosetae on the mesonotum and metanotum. There is yet another species that possesses this combination of characters: Plusiocampa ( Plusiocampa) ternovensis Sendra & Borko, 2020 , found in three caves on the edge of a karst plateau north of the town of Ajdovščina, in Slovenia ( Sendra et al. 2020 b).
However, P. ( P.) balcanica sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. ( P.) ternovensis by the following characters: 2 + 2 la macrosetae on the pronotum (vs. 4 + 4 in P. ( P.) ternovensis ; three ventral tibial macrosetae (vs. only one); 5 + 5 post macrosetae on urosternites V – VII (vs. 4 + 4); and larger, thicker appendages in both males and females (vs. much thinner ones in P. ( P.) ternovensis .
Habitat and distribution.
This cave-adapted species is currently known only from a single cave, Yulen Ere (Vodnata Peshtera), near the village of Hristo Danovo in the Central Stara Planina Mts (= Balkan) in Bulgaria (Fig. 21 View Figure 21 ). According to Beron (2015), the cave is situated at an altitude of 970 m and has a length of 227 m, with a denivelation of + 17 m. In addition to Plusiocampa ( P.) balcanica sp. nov., the following species have been recorded in the cave: Araneae : Meta menardi (Latreille, 1804), Antrohyphantes balcanica (Drensky, 1931) ; Pseudoscorpiones : Chthonius sp. ; Diptera : Triphleba antricola (Schmitz, 1918) ; Chiroptera : Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774) , Rhinolophus hipposideros (Bechstein, 1800) ( Beron 2015) . Two other caves, Zlatnata Peshtera and Mazata, are known from the same area. It is, therefore, likely that the new species also occurs in these caves.
| T |
Tavera, Department of Geology and Geophysics |
| MCNB |
Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona |
| V |
Royal British Columbia Museum - Herbarium |
| VI |
Mykotektet, National Veterinary Institute |
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.