Squamatinia Mendes & Reboleira

Reboleira, Ana Sofia P. S., Gonçalves, Fernando, Oromí, Pedro & Mendes, Luis F., 2012, Squamatinia algharbica gen. n. sp. n., a remarkable new Coletiniinae silverfish (Zygentoma: Nicoletiidae) from caves in southern Portugal, Zootaxa 3260, pp. 33-46 : 35-36

Squamatinia Mendes & Reboleira gen. n.

Coletiniinae. Large specimens. Body elongate, parallel-sided, with scales and setae; pigment absent. Scales round, with few and inconspicuous longitudinal rays on the cephalic capsule and covering the body, lacking on the cephalic appendages, and only present on the ventral surface of coxae of the legs; minute, more elongated and strongly striated scales scattered sporadically among the larger round scales. Macrochaetae and spines caramelcoloured, abundant, apically simple or bifid.

Head wider than long, with scales, setae, spines and macrochaetae. Antennae thin and elongate, symmetric, in the male with a distal, dorsal, inner pedicellar apophysis. Mandibles asymmetrical, with well developed incisive and molar areas. Maxillae without special features, the lacinia and galea equally elongate, the former with a well developed prostheca with a small number of macrochaetae; galea with 2 apical conules. Maxillary palp typical, robust and elongate. Posterolateral areas of labium rounded, smooth. Labial palp typical, elongate.

Thorax longer than wide; nota scaled, with setae, some setae short and spiniform, and macrochaetae. Legs robust with numerous macrochaetae and with short spines on the dorsal coxae, scales restricted to the ventral surface of the coxae; tarsi 4-articled, the praetarsi simple and complete; empodium smooth, similar to the tarsal claws but smaller.

Urotergites scaled as on the nota, with thin spiniform setae and macrochaetae. Urotergite X with a deep apical notch, less excavated in the female, in the male with ventral and dorso-lateral, marginal sclerotized pegs. Urosternites with scales and setae, II–VIII (male) or II–VII (female) entire, I divided into one median sternite plus 1+1 lateral coxites; coxites IX of male and VIII and IX of female free. Abdominal stylets present on urosternites II–IX, vesicles on II–VI, pseudovesicles on VII. Parameres subcylindrical, elongated, penis large with longitudinal opening. Subgenital plate of the female well developed. Ovipositor without peculiar characteristics, with thin setae only; gonapophyses IX with the spinulated inner distal area developed.

In the male, basal inner area of cerci and dorsal basal median area of paracercus with sclerotized pegs; female without cercal specializations.

Type-species. Squamatinia algharbica sp. n.

Etymology. After the Latin squama: scale, and after the last syllables of the name of one of the closest related genus, Coletinia . Gender feminine.

Discussion. Squamatinia gen. n. is a typical coletiniine and it shares the presence of scales with only two other genera of the subfamily, a characteristic utilised in the identification keys of Wygodzinsky (1980): Lepidospora Escherich, 1905 —with two subgenera, Lepidospora s.str. and Brinckina Wygodzinsky, 1955 —and Lepidina Silvestri, 1949 . Two other genera of the family, the Atelurinae excluded, are known to have scales but belong to the New World Cubacubaninae : Texoreddellia Wygodzinsky, 1973 and Squamigera Espinasa, 1999 . Cubacubaninae differs from Coletiniinae mainly in the most conspicuous diagnostic features of the subfamily: presence of a glandular area in the antennal pedicel of males, subdivision of the urosternites II–VIII into one central sternite plus 1+1 lateral coxites, and fused coxites IX in males ( Espinasa 1999, Espinasa et al. 2007, Mendes 1988).

Among the scaled Coletiniinae, Squamatinia gen. n. is distinguished from Lepidina by the number of abdominal stylets (8 pairs, II–IX in the new genus, 7 pairs, III-IX, in Lepidina ). It is separated from Lepidospora (Brinckina) by the presence of scales on the cephalic capsule. Otherwise, it seems distinct from both subgenera of Lepidospora by the type of scales, which are different from those of all other described scaled Nicoletiidae , Cubacubaninae included, where the scales are generally more elongate and always show quite conspicuous rays usually surpassing their free border.

In general morphology Squamatinia gen. n. is quite similar to Coletinia but that genus lacks scales.