Lepidocyrtus bilobatus Mateos, 2008, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Mateos, Eduardo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Entognatha
Collembola
Entomobryidae
Lepidocyrtus
Lepidocyrtus bilobatus

description: Lepidocyrtus bilobatus sp. nov.
Figs 2–20, Tab. 1
Type material. Spain, Salamanca (LOC139, see Tab. 1 and Fig. 1), on herbaceous vegetation along the Alayón river, 2.viii.2007, E.Mateos coll. Holotype: female (CRBA 1272) on 1 slide, paratypes: lot LP175 (unpigmented specimens) composed by 11 specimens prepared on slides and 80 specimens in alcohol, lot LP176 (pigmented and unpigmented specimes) composed by 4 specimens mounted on slides and 16 specimens in alcohol. Holotype and 7 paratypes mounted on slides deposited at the Centre de Recursos de Biodiversitat Animal, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona (http://www.crba.ub.edu): Slide CRBA 1341 with one pigmented specimen, slides CRBA 1342 and CRBA 1343 with one unpigmented specimen each, slide CRBA 1344 with two pigmented and two unpigmented specimens. Other paratypes deposited in the E. Mateos collection.
Etymology. The species name refers to the bilobed morphology of the ant. IV apical bulb, which is a diagnostic character for the new species within the European Lepidocyrtus fauna.
Description. Holotype body length (without head nor furca) 1 mm, paratypes 0.7–1.0 mm. Holotype body unpigmented; paratypes body color highly variable with yellow-white (form A) and purple (form B) specimens present in the same population (Figs 2–3); all specimens with purple pigment on anterior region of the head and ant. II–IV. Ocular areas densely black pigmented. Antenna, legs, and dorsal side of manubrium without scales. Body dorsoventrally compressed; mesothorax not projecting over the head.
Ratio antenna:cephalic diagonal = 1.5 for holotype, for paratypes 1.4–1.7; ant. I:II:III:IV = 1:1.9:2.1:3.6. Basis of ant. I dorsally with three microchaetae arranged in triangle. Ant. III organ as in Fig. 4. With bilobed nonretractile ant. IV apical bulb (Fig. 5). 8+8 eyes of equal size.
Smooth prelabral and labral setae in typical number 4/554; prelabral setae ciliated; the four labral setae of the third row are shorter, more curved, and with more developed insertion than setae of the other two rows; inverted U-shaped labral apical intrusion; with four rounded labral papillae (Fig. 6). Subapical seta of outer maxillary palp smooth and slightly longer than or subequal to apical seta, with three smooth setae on sublobular plate (Fig. 7). Outer differentiated seta of labial appendage curved, tip almost reaching the apex of the papilla (Fig. 8).
Labium anterior row (a1–a5) formed by smooth setae; posterior row formed by ciliated setae (M2R*EL1L2), with R half in length on seta M2 (marked as R*) (Fig. 9). Ventral cephalic groove with 3+3 ciliated macrochaetae and 2+2 scales.
The dorsal macrochaetae formula is R0R1R2STSo/10/0301+3, with a pair of supplementary macrochaetae R1s between R0 and R1 (Fig. 10). Maximum number of macrochaetae A on the head 9+9 (Fig. 11). Interocular chaetotaxy with s, t, r, q, p ciliated setae, without scales (Fig. 12). The th. II dorsal macrochaeta correspond to p3 (Fig. 13). Abd. II–III chaetotaxy as in Figs 14–15; abd. II setae a2, m3 and m3e ciliated macrochaetae, seta a2p absent; abd. III seta m7a acuminate thin ciliated macrochaeta. Abd. IV chaetotaxy as in Fig. 16 -A; trichobothrium T2 without accessory seta s; seta D1p ciliated and double in length than other setae of the trichobothrial complex (Fig. 17); seta Fe4 can be thin ciliated macrochaeta or smooth mesochaeta depending on the specimens (Fig. 16 -B). Bilateral asymmetries can be observed in some specimens in which Fe4 is thin ciliated macrochaeta on one side and smooth mesochaeta on the other; without correlation between the morphology of seta Fe4 and other characters like size, color pattern nor locality. Three posterior smooth mesochaetae on abd. IV present. All setae associated with the trichobothria on abd. II–IV are acuminate and strongly ciliate, except pi and pe on abd. IV which are fan-shaped.
V-shaped trochanteral organ formed by 6–8 smooth straight setae (Fig. 18). Unguis with basal pair teeth at 46 % of the inner edge, and with two inner teeth at 66 % (the bigger) and 83 % of the inner edge respectively; unguiculus lanceolate with finely serrated outer margin; spatulate tibiotarsal tenent hair (Fig. 19).
Ratio manubrium: dens: mucro = 23:21:1. Manubrial plate with 2 inner setae and 4–5 external setae (Fig. 20).
Ecology and distribution. All the individuals were obtained beating the herbaceous vegetation along the Alayón river.
Discussion. The bilobed antennal apical bulb is a diagnostic character that separates L. bilobatus sp. nov. from all other European species. The new species is very close to L. lusitanicus and L. selvaticus, from which it can be differentiated by abd. IV chaetotaxy: In L. bilobatus sp. nov. setae E1, De1 and E4p are ciliated macrochaetae (Fig. 16), whereas in the other two species are smooth mesochaetae (Fig. 27). The new species also differs from L. selvaticus by the presence of labial seta R (absent in L. selvaticus) and by having 3+3 ciliated setae along ventral cephalic groove (2+2 ciliated and 1+1 smooth in L. selvaticus, see: Fig. 29). As L. lusitanicus, the new species has high color pattern variability, with white (L. bilobatus form A) and purple pigmented specimens (L. bilobatus form B) living in the same population. The fact that specimens with different color pattern live together in the same population, suggests that body pigment distribution cannot be considered a good subspecific character in L. bilobatus sp. nov.; for this reason L. bilobatus form A and form B have been described as color forms and not as subspecies.
description: Published as part of Mateos, Eduardo, 2008, Definition of Lepidocyrtus lusitanicus Gama, 1964 species-complex (Collembola, Entomobryidae), with description of new species and color forms from the Iberian Peninsula, pp. 38-54 in Zootaxa 1917 on pages 39-44, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.184638