Amphientulus sinensis, Xiong & Xie & Yin, 2005

Xiong, Yan, Xie, Rongdong & Yin, Wenying, 2005, First Record Of The Genus Amphientulus Tuxen, 1981 (Protura: Berberentulidae) From China, With Description Of A New Species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 53 (2), pp. 183-187 : 183-187

Amphientulus sinensis , new species

( Figs. 1-17 )

Material examined. – Holotype-female (mounted) ( SIE) (P-GD- 020921), from Mt. Dinghu (23°9'N 112°30'E), 290 m alt., Guangdong Province, China, coll. Mr. Qiang Liu, 21 Sep.2002 .

Paratypes – 6 females, 3 males, 2 maturi juniores (mounted) ( SIE) (P-GD-021209) and (P-GD-030225) ; 1 female, 1 male ( ZRC), same locality as holotype, coll. Mr. Qiang Liu, 25 Feb.2003, 9 Dec.2002 ; 1 female ( SIE) (P-HN-021217), Mt. Jianfengling (18°23'N 108°36'E), 340 m alt., Hainan Province, China, coll. Mr. Qiang Liu & Mrs. Yan Xiong, 17 Dec.2002 .

Description. – Adult:

Body length 883.4µm (830-908µm, n=10), width 165.2µm (152-176µm, n=10).

Head – Elliptic, length 94.5µm (88-98µm, n=10), width 66.9µm (59-72µm n=10). Additional setae absent, postpseudocular seta present. Dorsal side of head with 2+2 short and thin sensory setae, ventral side with no differentiated setae. Sensilla of maxillary palpus thin, subequal. Labial palpus reduced to three setae and a claviform sensillum. Pseudoculus almost circular, slightly broader than long, 7-8 X 8-9µm. PR=11.8. Canal of maxillary gland straight and smooth, with heart-shaped calyx, short terminal filament and slightly developed terminal widening. Length 15.6µm (14- 17µm, n=10), as long as half of the branch of fulcrum ( Figs. 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 ).

Thorax – Chaetotaxy on thoracic tergites II-III with two anterior setae (A2 and A4), seta P1a, P2a and P5 very short, less than one-tenth of P 1 in length. P2a nearer to P3 than to P2. Seta P4a on mesonotum, P3a on metanotum.Thoracic sterna without pores ( Figs. 3, 4 ).

Foretarsus length 84.0µm (80-87µm, n=10), claw 26.3µm (24-27µm, n=10), slender, no tooth. TR=3.2; Empodium short, EU=0.15. S-shaped seta subequal to the claw. Dorsal sensillum t-1 claviform, t-2 long and thin, t-3 small, jarshaped, BS=0.4-0.5. Interior sensillum a´ proximal to level of t-1, broad, sword-like; b´ thin and long, its apex surpassing base of δ 5; c´ also thin and long, subequal to b´, its apex surpassing base of δ 6. Seta δ 4 proximally to base of c´, subequal t o β 1. Exterior sensillum a slender and long, reaching almost level of γ 3; b extremely long, reaching base of γ 4; c nearly on level of d, longer than d. Seta e situated nearly level with f, longer, reaching base of γ 5, g shorter, but its apex reaching base of empodium. Length ratio of exterior sensilla as: b>a>e>f>c>d>g ( Figs. 11, 14 ).

Abdomen – Chaetotaxy as shown in Table 1. Abdominal tergite I with two pairs of anterior setae (A1, and A2). Tergites II-VI each with three pairs of anterior setae, A1, 2, and 5, without P3a; accessory seta as thin, hair-like, less than one-fifth of P 1 in length ( Figs 6, 9 ). Tergite VII with A4 and 5, P3a absent; tergite VIII with the central seta Mc, p3a present; tergite IX-X with six pairs of setae, seta 1a shorter than seta 1; XI with 2+2 setae, both short. Pore al dorsally to A5 on tergite II-V, on VI and VII ventrally to it. Sternite VII with no Pc, sternite VIII without posterior setae, sternite IX-XI with 2+2 setae. Pore on sternite VII situated asymmetrically near base of P1a ( Figs. 12, 13, 15, 16 ).

Abdominal legs II-III with two setae each, no terminal vesicle, apical seta shorter than subapical one. On abdominal leg II, the apical seta less than half of the subapical in length, the apical seta less than one-third of the subapical seta on abdominal leg III ( Fig. 10 ). Striate band on abdomen VIII reduced, with undulant faint striae along the proximal margin, comb consisting of 6-8 small, irregular teeth ( Fig. 15 ). Female squama genitalis with pointed acrostyli ( Fig. 17 ).

Etymology. – Named sinensis alluding to China, the place where the species was found.

Remarks. – The new species seems to be similar to Amphientulus durumagi, described by Imadaté (1973) from Korea, but the latter is distinct in having double rows of setae on urosternite VIII and seta A4 on urotergite on VI from the new species. The new species is closely similar in some respects to Amphientulus ruseki from Madagascar (Nosek, 1978). However, they can be distinguished from each other by the relative length and the position of foretarsal sensilla as well as by the chaetotaxy on abdomen. The differences among them are listed in Table 2.

Distribution. – Guangdong and Hainan Province, southern China.

Figures

Figs. 1-10. Amphientulus sinensis, new species. 1, labial palpus; 2, pseudoculus; 3, mesonotum; 4, metanotum; 5, anterior part of head, dorsal view; 6, urotergite VI; 7, filamento di sostegno; 8, head chaetotaxy; 9, urosternite VI; 10, abdominal legs II, III. Scale bar: Figs. 1-2 = 5 µm; Figs. 3-10 = 10µm.

Figs. 11-17. Amphientulus sinensis, new species. 11, foretarsus in interior view; 12, urosternite VII; 13, urotergite VII; 14, foretarsus in exterior view; 15, furotergite VIII-XII; 16, urosternite VIII-XII; 17, female squama genitalis. Scale bar: Figs. 11-17 = 10µm.