Szeptyckitheca andrzeji Medeiros, Bellini & Weiner, 2023

Bellini, Bruno Cavalcante, Oliveira, Mariana Fernandes De, Weiner, Wanda Maria, Nunes, Rudy Camilo & Medeiros, Gleyce Da Silva, 2023, Revisiting Szeptyckitheca Betsch & Weiner (Collembola, Symphypleona, Sminthuridae): new species, updated diagnoses, and a key, ZooKeys 1186, pp. 139-174 : 139

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1186.111837
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DFE94B36-1F6A-4490-8484-FB75BAA2BA7E
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/35417D56-6F55-4B77-A90F-576C05A36816
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:35417D56-6F55-4B77-A90F-576C05A36816
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Szeptyckitheca andrzeji Medeiros, Bellini & Weiner
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Szeptyckitheca andrzeji Medeiros, Bellini & Weiner sp. nov.

Figs 1 View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 , 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 , 6 View Figure 6

Type material.

Holotype male on slide, Brazil, Piauí state, Altos municipality, "Floresta Nacional de Palmares" (5°3'12.53"S, 42°35'36.95"W), in sandy soil, Cerrado biome, 06/IV/2022, Mesquita C.P. col., pitfall traps. Paratypes on slides: one male, two females, one juvenile, with the same data as the holotype.

Diagnosis.

Ground color pinkish, with purple spots on head, dorso-anterior large abdomen, and dorsal small abdomen. Ant. IV with 11 subsegments, with five capitate chaetae; Ant. III with 19 chaetae other than the sensory clubs, two of them clearly longer than the others; Ant. II subdivided, with 13 chaetae, three of them clearly longer than the others; Ant. I with six chaetae. Eyepatches lacking interocular chaetae. Head vertex with a total of 14 large spines, two of them unpaired; unpaired chaeta A1 absent; secondarily reduced chaetae near the spines present. Trochanters I-III with 2,1,1 spines, respectively, trochanter I spines capitate, II and III spines blunt; trochanter III with five regular chaetae other than the spine. Ungues with one internal tooth, with tunica and weak pseudonychia; unguiculus I without the internal tooth; unguiculus III filament thin and reaching the tip of the unguis III. Large abdomen dorsally with 15+15 long capitate mac. Female with a short subanal appendage (not reaching the apex of the ventral anal valves), spoon-like, and apically serrated on both faces. Manubrium with 7+7 dorsal chaetae; dens ventral chaetotaxy formula from the apex to the base as: 3 … 1, dorsal chaetotaxy with 17 chaetae; mucronal notch discrete.

Description.

Body (head + trunk) length of the type series ranging between 900 µm and 1400 µm, holotype with 900 µm, male average size = 900 µm, female average size = 1300 µm, entire type series average size = 1100 µm. Ground color pinkish, with purple spots on head, Ant. I-III, dorso-anterior large abdomen and dorsal small abdomen. Ant. IV, legs, and dens uniformly purplish (Fig. 1A View Figure 1 ).

Head (Figs 1B View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 ). Antennae length 433 µm in the holotype. Holotype antennal segment ratio I:II:III:IV as 1:1.7:2.1:4.2. Ant. IV with 11 subsegments, subsegment I with two, II with four, III with two, IV with four or five, V with seven, VI with nine, VII-X with ten each, and XI with ~ 24 chaetae, respectively; subsegment I with two, subsegment II with three capitate chaetae respectively, some of them basally barbed (Fig. 2A View Figure 2 ). Ant. III with 19 chaetae other than the sensory rods, two of them clearly longer than the others and basally barbed, 11 reduced to some extent, one baso-ventral oval organ, sensory rods inside distinct shallow cavities (Fig. 2B View Figure 2 ). Ant. II subdivided, basal subsegment with eight, apical with five chaetae, respectively, basal subsegment with three enlarged chaetae, two of them basally barbed, Ant. II with seven chaetae reduced to some extent (Fig. 2C View Figure 2 ). Ant. I with six small chaetae, two of them ventral (Fig. 2D View Figure 2 ). Eyes 8+8, interocular chaetae absent, head capsule normal (not elongated) (Fig. 2E View Figure 2 ). Clypeal area a - f lines with 7/7/5-6/6(+1)/6(+1)/4 dorsal + ventral chaetae, respectively, e1 chaeta present, 2+2 zones without cuticular granulation next to f line (Fig. 2E View Figure 2 ). Interantennal area α and γ lines with 1/2 chaetae, respectively, 1+1 spine-like, plus 1+1 oval organs; frontal area A - E lines with a total of 12 large smooth spines, chaetotaxy following the formula: 1/2/1(+1)/2(+1)/2, respectively, D and E lines with secondarily reduced spines, A1 chaeta absent (Figs 1B View Figure 1 , 2E View Figure 2 ). Labial basomedian field with four, basolateral field with five chaetae, respectively; cephalic groove with 1+1 surrounding chaetae from a line (Fig. 2F View Figure 2 ). Maxillary outer lobe with apical chaeta basally barbed, longer than the basal chaeta, sublobal plate with four chaeta-like appendages (Fig. 2G View Figure 2 ). Labial palp with seven proximal chaetae, formula of the guards: H (2), A (0), B (5), C (0), D (4), E (6) plus the lateral process (Fig. 2H View Figure 2 ). Six prelabral chaetae present (Fig. 2E View Figure 2 ); labral p, m, and a lines with 5, 5, 4 chaetae, respectively, p2 longer than the others, labral intrusions present, labral papillae absent, labrum apically toothed (Fig. 2I View Figure 2 ). Mandibles normal (not elongated), with 5+4 incisive apical teeth (Fig. 2K View Figure 2 ). Maxilla capitulum spherical, without any clear modification (Fig. 2J View Figure 2 ).

Trunk (Figs 1C-E View Figure 1 , 3 View Figure 3 ). Large abdomen: male blunt chaetae on dorsal large abdomen and all chaetae of the parafurcal area shorter than in females. Thorax continuous with the abdomen, without segmentations. Th. II with one a small chaeta and three blunt spines on papillae on m line; Th. III with one a, two m and one p blunt spines; Abd. I with one a, one m, and one p short blunt chaetae; Abd. II bothriotricha A, B, and C slightly misaligned, all short, with four a, five m, and five p chaetae of different shapes near the bothriotricha, Abd. II with four long capitate mac. Abd. III-IV with one unpaired dorsal chaeta plus four main lines of chaetae above the bothriotrichum C: dI-1 with four, dII-1 with four, dIII-1 with two, and dIV-1 with two chaetae, respectively, 11 of them as four long capitate mac (Figs 1C View Figure 1 , 3A View Figure 3 ). Parafurcal area with four rows of chaetae, with three, three, two and seven chaetae, respectively, neosminthuroid chaeta present (Figs 1D View Figure 1 , 3A View Figure 3 ). Small abdomen: including Abd. V-VI in both sexes. Abd. V chaetae smooth, with bothriotrichum D surrounded by three small blunt plus two long chaetae, a blunt chaeta above bothriotrichum D elongate in females, short in males (Figs 1E View Figure 1 , 3B, D View Figure 3 ), Abd. VI chaetae discretely serrated (not represented in the drawings). Female Abd. VI: dorsal anal valve with as2 - 4, ms1 - 4, mps1 - 3, and ps1 - 2 chaetae, ms1 and ps1 unpaired, ams3 as an oval organ; each ventral anal valve with aai1 - 2, ai1 - 6, ami1 (as an oval organ), mi1 - 5, mpi1 - 3, and pi1 - 3 chaetae, mi5 as the subanal appendage, short (not reaching the apex of the ventral anal valves), spoon-like, and apically serrated on both faces (Fig. 3B View Figure 3 ). Female genital plate with 3+3 ventral chaetae (Fig. 3C View Figure 3 ). Male Abd. VI: dorsal anal valve with as2 - 4, ms1 - 4, mps1, and ps1 - 2 chaetae, ms1 and ps1 unpaired; each ventral anal valve with ai1 - 5, ami1 (as an oval organ), mi1 - 5, mpi2, and pi1 - 3 chaetae (Fig. 3D View Figure 3 ). Male genital plate with 13+13 chaetae (Fig. 3E View Figure 3 ).

Abdominal appendages (Fig. 4A-D View Figure 4 ). Ventral tube with 1+1 chaetae on the lateral flaps, sacs long and warty. Tenaculum ramus with three teeth each plus an apically rounded basal appendix, corpus with 2+2 chaetae. Manubrium with 7+7 dorsal chaetae (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ); dens dorsally with two basal rounded appendages and 17 dorsal (posterior) chaetae (Fig. 4B View Figure 4 ); dens ventrally (anteriorly) with four chaetae, following the formula from the apex to the basis: 3...1 (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ). Mucro short, apically split, external lamella serrated (with 10-17 serrations), internal smooth, ending in a discrete tooth-like apical notch (Fig. 4D View Figure 4 ). Manubrium:dens:mucro ratio of the holotype = 1.1:2.5:1.

Legs (Figs 4E-G View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 ). Leg I: epicoxa and coxa with one chaeta each, subcoxa without chaeta; trochanter with two capitate spines plus two capitate and one reduced acuminate chaetae (Fig. 4E View Figure 4 ); femur with one oval organ, one acuminate spine and 11 regular chaetae; tibiotarsus with five oval organs and 49 chaetae, ten of them in the apical whorl (Fig. 5A View Figure 5 ); pretarsus with one anterior and one posterior chaetae with similar sizes, unguis with one internal and one dorsal teeth, lateral teeth absent, with tunica and weak pseudonychia, unguiculus without tooth, apical filament thin and not reaching the tip of the unguis (Fig. 5B View Figure 5 ). Leg II: epicoxa and subcoxa with one chaeta each, coxa with three chaetae, one of them capitate; trochanter with one thick blunt spine plus one oval organ and four regular chaetae (Fig. 4F View Figure 4 ); femur with one oval organ, one acuminate spine and 12 or 13 regular chaetae; tibiotarsus with five oval organs and 47 chaetae, 10 of them in the apical whorl (Fig. 5C View Figure 5 ); pretarsus with one anterior and one posterior chaetae with similar sizes, unguis with one internal and one dorsal teeth, lateral teeth absent, with tunica and weak pseudonychia, unguiculus with an internal tooth, apical filament thin and reaching the tip of the unguis (Fig. 5D View Figure 5 ). Leg III: epicoxa and subcoxa with one chaeta each, coxa with four chaetae; trochanter with one thick blunt spine, one oval organ and five regular chaetae (Fig. 4G View Figure 4 ); femur with one oval organ, two reduced and 10 regular chaetae; tibiotarsus with five oval organs and 50 chaetae, ten of them in the apical whorl (Fig. 5E View Figure 5 ); pretarsus with one anterior and one posterior chaetae with similar sizes, unguis with one internal and one dorsal teeth, lateral teeth absent, with tunica and weak pseudonychia, unguiculus with one internal tooth, apical filament thin and reaching the tip of the unguis (Fig. 5F View Figure 5 ); tibiotarsi oval organs without reduced inner chaetae. Ratio of ungues I-III in the holotype = 1:1.08:1.19.

Etymology.

The species honors Dr. Andrzej Szeptycki for his important contributions to the taxonomy and systematics of springtails.

Habitat.

Specimens of Szeptyckitheca andrzeji sp. nov. were collected in the National Forest of Palmares, a small federal conservation unit, with a total area of 168.21 hectares, and altitudes ranging between 154 m and 250 m, located in Altos municipality, Piauí state, close to Teresina, the state’s capital (Fig. 6 View Figure 6 ). The conservation unit is inserted in the Parnaíba River Sedimentary Basin, within the limits of the Cerrado biome, with influence of the Caatinga e Amazon biomes (ICMBio 2022). The vegetation of the region consists of a seasonal semideciduous forest, locally known as "Forest Cerrado" or “Cerradão” ( Miranda et al. 2005), with a tree layer of medium to large size, reaching ~ 15-20 meters in height.

The climate in the region, according to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, is Aw, megathermic tropical with a long dry season and rainy summer, with high temperatures throughout the year ( Kottek et al. 2006). Between 1991 and 2020, the average annual temperature was 28-30 °C, with the minimum between 22-24 °C and the maximum between 33-35 °C, with an average annual insolation of 2800-3000 hours. The average annual precipitation was 1400-1600 mm, with February, March, and April as the rainiest quarter and July, August, and September as the driest one. The annual potential evapotranspiration was 2400-2600 mm, with a marked water deficit, which is typical of this Brazilian region (INMET 2023). The soil in the site where the specimens were collected is of the Latosol type, deep and well evolved, with some gravel on the surface, coming from nearby slopes, where young, shallow, and rocky soils predominate (ICMBio 2022).

Remarks.

Szeptyckitheca andrzeji sp. nov. is unique among the Neotropical taxa due to its reduced ventral dens chaetotaxy, with only four chaetae distributed in two transversal rows, following the formula from the apex to the basis: 3...1. All other Neotropical Szeptyckitheca species have three transversal lines of dental ventral chaetae. Also, this is the only species of the genus with a short subanal appendage, not reaching the apex of the ventral anal valves (Tables 1 View Table 1 , 2 View Table 2 ). The new species is somewhat similar to S. kac Zeppelini, Lopes & Lima, 2018 in color pattern, Ant. III chaetotaxy, and absence of interocular chaetae, but differs in the above-mentioned features, Ant. I chaetae (6 in the new species, 7 in S. kac ), absence of lateral mac on f line on S. andrzeji sp. nov. (vs presence), shape of the trochanteral spines and number of regular chaetae on trochanter III (5 vs 3) and on dorsal dens (17 vs 15). Further comparisons are presented in Tables 1 View Table 1 and 2 View Table 2 .