Australonura Cassagnau, 1980

Queiroz, G. C. & Deharveng, L., 2014, New Australonura Cassagnau 1980 (Neanuridae: Neanurinae) from Brazil, Journal of Natural History 48 (37 - 38), pp. 2293-2305 : 2294

The genus Australonura Cassagnau, 1980

The genus Australonura belongs to the ‘lignée blasconurienne’ (blasconurian lineage) sensu Cassagnau (1983), which was later formalised as tribe Paleonurini by Cassagnau in 1989. Paleonurini are characterised by the absence of hypodermic blue pigment, reduced mouthparts, subequal S-chaeta on Ant. IV, presence of 2 + 2 unpigmented eyes and chaeta Di1 of abdomen V not shifted towards De.

Diagnosis (completed and corrected from Greenslade and Deharveng 1990)

Colour white in ethanol. Eyes 2 + 2, not pigmented. Tubercles on the head and the tergites well developed, marked by a tertiary granulation differentiated as strong papillae or bosses more or less raised above the integument, at least laterally and posteriorly. Schaetae formula 2 + ms,2/1,1,1,1,1 by half tergite from.II to Abd. V, no supplementary S-chaeta on the tergites; labral chaetotaxy 2,4 [2,2 in Australonura wellingtonia ( Womersley 1936) according to Yosii (1966)]. S-chaetae of Ant.IV subequal. Maxilla styliform; mandible head narrow, bi- or tridentate. Cephalic tubercles An and Fr fused. Lateral cephalic area with 2 tubercles (DL and L + So). Posterior cephalic chaetotaxy of the crossed type (‘ type croisé’ of Deharveng 1983) when Di2 and De2 are present (absent in Australonura quarta Greenslade and Deharveng 1990 ); tubercle Di fused along the midline of the posterior part of the head into a single unpaired tubercle carrying 1 + 1 chaeta and isolated from tubercle De. Tubercle Di on abdomen V usually fused along the midline of the body forming a single unpaired tubercle (very thinly separated in the new species A. gili ). Tibiotarsus I, II, III with 18, 18, 17 chaeta respectively, claw without inner tooth; chaeta M absent on the tibiotarsus.