Thalassaphorura grandis Sun, Chen & Deharveng, 2010, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sun, Xin
name: Chen, Jian-Xiu
name: Deharveng, Louis
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Entognatha
Collembola
Onychiuridae
Thalassaphorura
Thalassaphorura grandis

description: Thalassaphorura grandis sp. nov.
Figs 1, 15, 21, 27 & 33, Tab. 1.
Type material. Holotype female and 51 paratypes female on slide, about 800 paratypes in alcohol, China: Guangxi: Huanjiang: Min Li forest (E 107.96647°, N 25.09935°): 14.iii.2005, litter, berlese after sifting, M. Chen leg. (CHIgx05–109); ibid: 6 paratypes on slide, more than 200 paratypes in alcohol, 14.iii.2005, litter and soil, berlese, L. Deharveng & A. Bedos leg. (CHIgx05–100, –102, –104); ibid: near Dong Qiao Dong: 4 paratypes on slides, 5.xi.2009, litter, sifting and berlese, Tian Mingyi leg. (CHIgx09–080); ibid: near Hong Dong (Alt. 680m, E 107.9747°, N 25.11825°): 1 paratype on slide, about 60 paratypes in alcohol, 13.ii.2009, litter, sifting and berlese, L. Deharveng leg. (CHIgx09–004); ibid: near a shaft (E 107.97692°, N 25.11945°): 4 paratypes on slide, about 150 paratypes in alcohol, 12.iii.2005, litter, berlese after sifting, L. Deharveng & A. Bedos leg. (CHIgx05–078). Holotype and 33 paratypes on slide and many paratypes in alcohol in NJU; 33 paratypes on slide and many paratypes in alcohol in MNHN.
Other material. Longzhou: Nonggang Nature Reserve: 5 on slide, 40 in alcohol, 7.iii.2005, soil, berlese, L. Deharveng & A. Bedos leg. (CHIgx05–067); ibid: 4 on slide, 50 in alcohol, 7.iii.2005, litter, berlese after sifting, L. Deharveng & A. Bedos leg. (CHIgx05–068); Yachang: forest near Yan Wu Dong (Alt. 1359m, E 106.43133°, N 24.82364°): 2 on slide, 31.v.2007, secondary forest with Quercus and Castanopsis, litter, berlese after sifting, L. Deharveng & A. Bedos leg. (CHIgx 07–31–03).
Description. Body length: females 1.4–1.6 mm. Body shape: cylindrical, Abd. III–IV more or less broadened. Body color: white in alcohol.
Pseudocelli formula as 32/133/33343 dorsally, 11/000/01110 ventrally, subcoxa 1 of legs I, II and III with 2, 2 and 2 pso respectively (Fig. 15). Parapseudocelli: 1+1 on sternum of Abd. I, near base of ventral tube (Fig. 33). Pseudopore formula as 00/011/11110 dorsally, 00/111/000x0 ventrally.
S-chaeta not distinguishable from ordinary chaetae. S-microchaeta tiny and blunt, present on Th. II and III dorsally.
Head. Antennae short and distinctly segmented, 0.8 times as long as head. Length ratio of antennal segments I: II: III: IV = 1.0: 1.2–1.5: 1.2–1.5: 2–2.4. Ant. I with 9 chaetae. Ant. II with 13 chaetae. Ant. III sensory organ composed of 5 papillae, 5 guard chaetae, 2 small rods and 2 smooth subequal clubs; lateral ms just behind sensory organ. Ant. IV subapical organite with apex globular; basolateral ms at about 2/5 length from base. Antennal base with distinct granulation. Anterior cephalic dorsal pso situated inside antennal basal area. PAO composed of 21–23 simple vesicles arranged in 2 rows along axis of organ. Dorsal cephalic chaeta d0 present. 4+4 p-chaetae between posterior a-pso on head, p1 anterior to others. Mandible with strong molar plate and 4 apical teeth. Maxilla bearing 3 teeth and 6 lamellae. Maxillary palp simple with 1 basal chaeta and 2 sublobal hairs. Labral chaetae 4/1,4,2. Labial papillae of AC type, papillae A–E respectively with 1, 4, 0, 3 and 2 guard chaetae. Labium with 6 proximal, 4 (E, F, G and f) basomedian and 6 (a, b, c, d, e, e’) basolateral chaetae. Postlabial chaetae 4+4 along ventral groove.
Body chaetotaxy. Ordinary chaetae differentiated in meso- and macrochaetae, ratio Sp: m1: P1 on Abd. V = 1: 0.6: 1.3 (Fig. 21). Th. I with 5–7+5–7 dorsal chaetae. Th. II–Abd. III respectively with 3+3 dorsal chaetae along axial line, without dorsal axial chaetae. Abd. IV tergite with axial chaeta m0, Abd. V without axial chaeta, Abd. VI with m0 (Fig. 21). Th. I, II and III with 1+1, 1+1 and 1+1 chaetae respectively between legs. Subcoxa 1 of legs I, II and III with 4, 4 and 4 chaetae, subcoxa 2 with 1, 4 and 4 chaetae respectively.
Appendages. Tibiotarsi I, II and III with 18 (9, 8, 1), 18 (9, 8, 1) and 18 (9, 8, 1) chaetae. Unguis without teeth. Unguiculus slender and pointed, 0.4–0.5 times as long as inner edge of unguis, with narrow inner basal lamella (Fig. 27). Ventral tube with 6+6 distal chaetae and 2+2 basal chaetae, without anterior (Fig. 33). Furca reduced to a finely granulated area, with 4 small chaetae in two rows posterior to furcal rudiment.
Genital plate with 15–19 chaetae in females. Anal valves with numerous acuminate chaetae; each lateral valve with chaetae a0 and 2a1; upper valve with chaetae a0, 2a1, 2b1, c0, 2c1, 2c2. Anal spines set on indistinct papillae, 0.75 times as long as inner edge of hind unguis (Fig. 21).
Ecology. In forest litter.
Etymology. Named for its large body size.
Remarks. Probably parthenogenetic (no male and 60 females among the examined specimens). The new species is similar to T. petaloides (Rusek, 1981) in dorsal pso formula, the presence of basal lamella on unguiculus, the number of vesicles on PAO and the number of chaetae on Th. I. They can be easily separated by the ventral pso formula (11/000/01110 in grandis sp. nov. versus 11/000/01120 in petaloides) and S-chaeta dorsally (undifferentiated in grandis sp. nov. versus differentiated in petaloides).
description: Published as part of Sun, Xin, Chen, Jian-Xiu & Deharveng, Louis, 2010, Six new species of Thalassaphorura (Collembola, Onychiuridae) from southern China, with a key to world species of the genus, pp. 20-38 in Zootaxa 2627 on pages 27-28, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.198236