Neobisium (Neobisium) courtiali, Gardini, 2024

Gardini, Giulio, 2024, Neobisium (Neobisium) courtiali, a new pseudoscorpion species from France (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones, Neobisiidae), Fragmenta entomologica 56 (1), pp. 85-88 : 86-87

Neobisium (Neobisium) courtiali n. sp.

Figs 1–8

Type material. FRANCE: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: Holotype ♂, Puy-de-Dôme, commune de Chastreix, Puy de Chabane (45°31’54.77”N 2°47’56.62”E), 1687 m a.s.l., 15–28.X.2021, C. Courtial leg., Barber trap in alpine meadow ( MHNG).

Diagnosis (♂). A small, epigean Neobisium (Neobisium) from central France (Puy-de-Dôme) that differs from oth- er species of the subgenus in the following combination of characters: posterior margin of carapace with 10 setae, both eyes with convex lens and tapetum; chaetotaxy of tergites I–IV: 9:11:14:14; cheliceral palm with 6 setae, rallum with 7 blades; pedipalpal femur weakly granular in the proximal half, 0.485 mm length (3.23 ×); patella smooth, short and globose, 0.405 mm length (2.31 ×), ratio X/Y = 0.97; chelal hand moderately granular in the distal half; fixed and movable chelal fingers regularly homodentate, with 45 and 41 contiguous teeth, respectively; movable chelal finger 0.46 mm length, ratio between movable finger and hand of chela with pedicel 1.09; trichobothrium it just proximal to et, trichobothrium ist almost halfway the fixed chelal finger; trichobothrium st very close to t; trichobothrium sb halfway between b and st.

Etimology. Species named after the collector Dr Cyril Courtial, arachnologist from Orcines, France.

Description of adult (♂, ♀ unknown). Chelicerae, pedipalps and palpal coxae red-brown, carapace and tergites brown; pedipalpal femur and hand partially granular, pedipalpal patella smooth, pleural membrane granular. Carapace (Fig. 1) 1.29 times as long as broad, with four eyes with tapetum; both anterior and posterior eyes with slightly convex lens (diameter 0.035 mm), distance from anterior eyes to anterior margin of carapace 0.035 mm, distance from anterior to posterior eyes 0.015 mm; anterior margin of carapace with triangular epistome, apically rounded; chaetotaxy 5:6:5:10(26). Chaetotaxy of tergites I–X: 9:11:14:14:14:14:15:11:10:9. Chaetotaxy of sternites II–X: 7:(2)11+10 along the genital opening(2):(2)10(2):15:17:16:17:13:12, lateral genital sacs tubular, median genital sac pyriform, reaching half sternite V. Chelicera (Fig. 2) 1.74 times as long as broad, palm with 6 setae; fixed finger with 13 subequal teeth, movable finger with 12 teeth, some of which are more prominent just distally gs; gs ratio 0.66; spinneret slightly prominent and broadly rounded; rallum with 7 blades, the distal one briefly serrate-pinnate and isolated on a prominence, the second one serrate, the successive ones smooth, the proximal one very short.. Coxal setae: pedipalp 8–9, I 8–9, II 8–9, III 6–7, IV 12–12; manducatory process with 4 setae; anterolateral process of coxa I squat, anteromedial process broadly rounded with evident denticles (Fig. 3). Pedipalp (Figs 4–7): trochanter 1.93 times as long as broad, dorsally indistintly granular; femur 3.23 times as long as broad, weakly granular in the proximal half; patella smooth, 2.31 times as long as broad, ratio between club and pedicel 2.0, ratio X/Y = 0.97, pedicel dorsally with 4 glandular pores; chela with pedicel 3.57 times as long as broad; chelal hand moderately granular distally, 1.78 times as long as broad (with pedicel), with oval profile and its greatest width in the proximal third (dorsal view) (Fig. 5); fixed chelal finger homodentate (Fig. 6), with 45 contiguous teeth, a little pointed apically; nodus ramosus subterminal; movable chelal finger with 41 low, apically flattened contiguous teeth (Fig. 6), except the distal 10, which are longer; all teeth with dental canals; apex of movable chelal finger with deep antiaxial hollow (Fig. 7); sensillum closer to st than sb; trichobothria as in figs 5–6; relative position of trichobothria along chelal axis: it 0.32/ et 0.31/ est 0.37 / ist 0.54/ isb 0.68/ ib 0.80/ esb 0.84/ eb 0.89/ t 0.415/ st 0.50/ sb 0.66/ b 0.84; trichobothrium it just proximal to et, trichobothrium ist almost halfway the fixed chelal finger; trichobothrium st very close to t, trichobothrium sb halfway between b and st; ratio between movable finger and hand of chela with pedicel 1.09; ratio between pedipalpal femur and movable finger 1.05; ratio between pedipalpal femur and carapace 1.01. Leg IV (Fig. 8): trochanter 2.00 times as long as deep, femur + patella 3.13 times as long as deep, tibia 4.11 times (TS = 0.46), basitarsus 2.66 times (TS = 0.18), telotarsus 3.83 times as long as deep (TS = 0.41), ratio between basitarsus and telotarsus 0.69, subterminal seta furcate, claws with a very small dorsal tooth.

Measurements (mm). Body length 1.87. Carapace 0.48 × 0.37 anteriorly. Chelicera 0.305 × 0.175; movable finger length 0.205. Pedipalp: trochanter 0.280 × 0.145; femur 0.485 × 0.15; patella 0.405 × 0.175; chela with pedicel 0.840 × 0.235 (depth 0.235); hand with pedicel length 0.420; movable finger length 0.460. Leg IV: trochanter 0.22 × 0.11; femur + patella 0.47 × 0.15; tibia 0.37 × 0.09; basitarsus 0.16 × 0.06; telotarsus 0.23 × 0.06.

Remarks. Neobisium (N.) courtiali n. sp. can be placed among the epigean species of Neobisium from Western Europe ( Portugal, Spain, France and Italy) which show the following combination of characters: small body and stubby pedipalps; posterior margin of carapace with about 10 setae; carapace and pedipalpal femur approximately of the same length; notch on the median side of pedipalpal patella reaching to middle of the club length; fixed chelal finger with trichobothrium ist halfway between ib and it, just proximal to the middle of the finger.

These characters are present in Neobisium (N.) bernardi franzi Beier, 1955 from Portugal and Spain, N. (N.) geronense Beier, 1939 from Spain and France, N. (N.) pauperculum Beier, 1959 from Spain and N. (N.) ruffoi Beier, 1958 from Italy ( Beier 1963; Mahnert 1985; Zaragoza 2007; Zaragoza et al. 2007). The most evident character that distinguishes Neobisium (N.) courtiali n. sp. from these species is the presence of graininess on the pedipalpal femur and hand, which is smooth in all the above species ( Beier 1963). It also differs from N. (N.) bernardi franzi , N. (N.) geronense and N. (N.) ruffoi in having significantly smaller sizes.

Neobisium (N.) courtiali n. sp. is very similar to N. (N.) pauperculum , described upon a male (“Type”) from Unquera (Cantabria, Spain) and two females (“ Paratypen ”) from Nueva and La Moria, both near Llanes (Asturias, Spain). Neobisium (N.) courtiali n. sp. shares with N. (N.) pauperculum [whose description and morphometric data were mostly based on the specimen which I believe to be the male holotype and whose left palp was drawn by Beier (1959: 118, fig. 1)] its small size, but differs from the latter in having pedipalpal femur and hand partially granular and more slender pedipalps [the pedipalpal ratios of N. pauperculum were recalculated based on the enlargement of the fig. 1 from Beier (1959)]: pedipalpal femur 3.23 times as long as broad in N. (N.) courtiali n. sp., 2.72 × in N. (N.) pauperculum ; patella 2.31 times as long as broad in N. (N.) courtiali n. sp., 1.86 × in N. (N.) pauperculum ; hand with pedicel 1.78 times as long as broad in N. (N.) courtiali n. sp., 1.45 × in N. (N.) pauperculum ; chela with pedicel 3.57 times as long as broad in N. (N.) courtiali n. sp., 2.85 × in N. (N.) pauperculum . Furthermore, the hand of the palps in dorsal view is oval in N. (N.) courtiali n. sp., subglobose in N. (N.) pauperculum ; the trichobothrium isb is halfway between ib and ist in N. (N.) courtiali n. sp., while isb is almost at the level of ib in N. (N.) pauperculum ; trichobothria est-et-it are closer to each other in N. (N.) courtiali n. sp., further apart in N. (N.) pauperculum (Figs 5–6 and Beier 1959: 118, fig. 1).

Acknowledgements – Helpful comments on the manuscript were made by Pietro Gardini (Sapienza Rome University) and Carlo Giusto (Genoa) who also provided invaluable expertise in digitizing drawings.