Cryptonura ellisi Smolis & Skarżyński & Gwiazdowicz 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Smolis, Adrian
name: Skarżyński, Dariusz
name: Gwiazdowicz, Dariusz J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Collembola
Poduromorpha
Neanuridae
Cryptonura
Cryptonura ellisi

description: Cryptonura ellisi sp. nov.
Figs 37–38, 40–44, 47–49; Tab. 3
Type material. Holotype: female, bark of Zelkova abelicea trees, slope of Mt. Kedros near Gerakari village (35.194829 N, 24.606713 E), 1255 m a. s. l., Crete, Greece, 11.X.2018, leg. D.J. Gwiazdowicz.
Description. General. Habitus typical of genus. Dorsal tubercles present and well developed. Body length of holotype (without antennae): 1.25 mm. Colour of the body white in alcohol. 2 + 2 large black eyes, in a typical arrangement for the genus (Fig. 37).
Chaetal morphology. Dorsal ordinary chaetae of four types: long macrochaetae (Ml), short macrochaetae (Mc), mesochaetae and microchaetae. Long macrochaetae long, relatively thin, distinctly arc-like (Anthrenus -like) or straight, narrowly sheathed, feebly serrated, apically pointed (Figs 37, 41). Macrochaetae Mc morphologically similar to long macrochaetae, but shorter and usually straight. Mesochaetae similar to ventral chaetae, thin, smooth and pointed. Microchaetae similar to mesochaetae, but apparently short. S–chaetae of tergites thin, smooth and short, notably shorter than nearby macrochaetae (Fig. 37).
Antennae. Typical of the genus. Dorsal chaetotaxy of Ant. III–IV as Fig. 44 and Tab. 3b. S-chaetae of Ant. IV long and relatively thin, sensillum sgd relatively long and straight. Apical vesicle distinct, trilobate. Ventral chaetotaxy of Ant. III and Ant. IV as Tab. 3b, sensillum sgv long and slightly curved (Fig. 43).
Mouthparts. Buccal cone relatively long and wide, labral sclerifications nonogival (Figs 38, 40). Labrum chaetotaxy: 0/2, 2 (Fig. 40). Labium as in Fig. 38. Maxilla massive, maxillary capitulum with two apical teeth (Fig. 48). Mandible strongly developed with four basal and numerous (more than 10) apical teeth (Fig. 47).
Dorsal chaetotaxy and tubercles. Central area of head without chaetae C and O (Fig. 37, Tab. 3a). Microchaetae D on head free. Tubercles Cl and Af separate. Tubercles Dl and (L+So) on head with 5 and 7 chaetae respectively. Tubercles Di on Th.I with1chaeta each (Fig.37).Tubercles Di on Th.II and III with3chaetae,chaetae Di3free(Fig.37). Tubercles De on Th. II and III with 2+s and 3+s chaetae respectively. Tubercles Di and De on Abd. elongate and weakly prominent. Tubercles L on Abd. III and IV with 3 and 5 chaetae respectively. Tubercles Di on Abd. V with 3 chaetae each. Cryptopygy present and strongly developed, Abd. VI not visible from above (Fig. 41).
Ventral chaetotaxy. On head, groups Vea, Vem and Vep with 3–4, 3, 4 chaetae respectively. Group Vi on head with 6 chaetae (Fig. 38). On Abd. IV, furca rudimentary with 5 mesochaetae and without microchaetae (Fig. 49). On Abd. V, chaetae Vl present.
Legs. Chaetotaxy of legs as in Tab. 3C. Claw with strong inner tooth. On tibiotarsi, chaeta M present and chaetae B4 and B5 relatively long and pointed (Fig. 42).
Etymology. Dedicated to dr. Willem N. Ellis, who initiated the research on Collembola of Crete.
Remarks. Within the genus Cryptonura, Cryptonura ellisi sp. nov. most closely resembles C. anthrenoidea (Ellis, 1976), species described from Crete (Ellis 1976). In order to compare morphology of both species two paratypes of Ellis’ taxon were examined. The examination showed that the new species and C. anthrenoidea clearly differ in set of many characters: the shape of labral apex (in C. ellisi sp. nov. arc-like, Fig. 40; in C. anthrenoidea truncated, Fig. 39), the shape of mandibles (in C. ellisi sp. nov. very strong and thick, Fig. 47; in C. anthrenoidea slightly thickened, Fig. 46), the number of mandibular teeth (in C. ellisi sp. nov. four basal and at least ten apical teeth, Fig. 47; in C. anthrenoidea two basal and four apical teeth, Fig. 46), the shape of maxillae (in C. ellisi sp. nov. notably thickened, Fig. 48; in C. anthrenoidea needle-like, Fig. 45), the number of chaetae d on Ant. III (in C. ellisi sp. nov. three chaetae, Fig. 44; in C. anthrenoidea four chaetae, Fig. 50), the number of chaetae (L+So) on the head (in C. ellisi sp. nov. 7 chaetae, in C. anthrenoidea 8 chaetae), the shape of abdominal tubercle Di and De (in C. ellisi sp. nov. elongate and prominent, Fig. 41; in C. anthrenoidea rounded) and the number of chaetae Vei on Abd. IV (in C. ellisi sp. nov. 2 + 2 chaetae, Fig. 49; in C. anthrenoidea 1 + 1 chaetae, Fig. 51).
description: Published as part of Smolis, Adrian, Skarżyński, Dariusz & Gwiazdowicz, Dariusz J., 2023, New species of Neanuridae (Collembola) living on the endemic tree Zelkova abelicea in Crete, pp. 333-350 in Zootaxa 5278 (2) on pages 345-347, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5278.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/7906289