Typhlocharis josabelae, Ortuño & Gilgado, 2011

Ortuño, Vicente M. & Gilgado, José D., 2011, Historical perspective, new contributions and an enlightening dispersal mechanism for the endogean genus Typhlocharis Dieck 1869 (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae), Journal of Natural History 45 (19 - 20), pp. 1233-1256 : 1239-1244

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00222933.2011.566944
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/DE41C31C-7753-4547-FE57-4E52D8593A0C
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Typhlocharis josabelae
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Typhlocharis josabelae View in CoL sp. nov. Ortuño and Gilgado ( Figures 2–4 View Figure 2 View Figure 3 View Figure 4 ) Holotype

One ♂, Collado del Llamp (SW slope), 910 m above sea level, Mount Ponoig, T . M. Benimantell, Marina Baixa region (Alicante, Spain); UTM: 30SYH47; 30 November 2009; V. M. Ortuño and J.D. Gilgado leg.

Paratypes

One ♀, Idem, 05 April 2005; V. M. Ortuño and J. Belliure leg. 1 ♂ and 1♀, Collado del Llamp (NE slope), 910 m above sea level, Mount Ponoig , T. M. Polop, Marina Baixa region (Alicante, Spain); UTM: 30SYH47 ; 05 April 2005; V.M. Ortuño and J. Belliure leg. The type series is deposited in the collection of V. M. Ortuño in the Deptartment of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, Alcalá University, Spain .

Diagnosis

Body long, parallel and flattened. Length: 1.27–1.33 mm for males and 1.27–1.30 mm for females. Anophthalmous. Integument brownish-yellow, microreticulated, with scattered pubescence. Elytron with 7 (4+3) marginal umbilicate setae. Apical edge slightly sinuate without conspicuous teeth (males and females). Trochanters, femora and tibiae inermous in both sexes. Abdominal sternum II without special characters. Aedeagus with median lobe sickle-shaped, and basal lamina arcuate; internal sac with one small sclerite; parameres with two setae, left paramere subtriangular and right paramere narrow, unusually long and slightly sclerotized. Female genitalia with gonocoxite unguiform: a trait present in the T. monastica group (see Zaballos and Wrase 1998).

Description

Head lenticular, slightly narrower (0.26–0.27 mm) than pronotum ( Figure 2 View Figure 2 ). Frontal sulci divergent. Microsculpture of cephalic disc polygonal, mostly isodiametric except in a small central area where microsculpture is lessened (no striated surface is observed). Antennae moniliform ( Figure 2 View Figure 2 ), with noticeably setulated antennomeres. Labrum rectangular. Mandibles sharpened. Labium transverse, with a notch that is armed with a conspicuous tooth (blunt) that does not exceed the anterior end of the epilobe ( Figure 3A View Figure 3 ). Prebasilar is separated from labium by a transverse suture ( Figure 3B View Figure 3 ). Labial and maxillary palps have typical shape and chaetotaxy of genus.

Cephalic chaetotaxy ( Figures 2 View Figure 2 , 3A View Figure 3 ): on dorsal surface there are a series of large setae on each side of symmetry plane (a couple on the supraocular region, a seta near lateral carina, a seta on frontal sulcus, and two setae on clypeus); six setae on labrum, the longest lateral, a seta in the mandibular scrobe, two large setae inserted beside basal part of tooth in labium, and there is a pair of setae (one long and one very short) in middle region of each epilobe. The basilar has a pair of setae on both sides of plane of symmetry (the basal one is considerably longer).

Pronotum trapezoidal ( Figure 2 View Figure 2 ), longer (0.34–0.35 mm) than wide (0.32–0.33 mm). Proximal margin nearly as wide as distal margin. Posterior angles indicated by a small tooth preceded by marginal edge, which is slightly wavy ( Figure 3B View Figure 3 ). The microsculpture is polygonal and isodiametric.

Pronotal chaetotaxy ( Figures 2 View Figure 2 , 3B View Figure 3 ): disc with numerous setae, distal and proximal margins with rows of short setae, lateral margin with pair of long setae, one inserted near first quarter and the other next to the angular tooth.

Elytra (from shoulder to apical edge) almost twice as long as wide (length: 0.62– 0.64 mm, width: 0.32–0.33 mm)..Longitudinal carina parallel to lateral margin of elytra, which runs from humeral region to subapical region. Elytral margin finely serrulated, diminishing towards apex. Rounded apex, showing no conspicuous teeth. Isodiametric polygonal microreticulation.

Elytral chaetotaxy ( Figure 2 View Figure 2 ): numerous setae on disc, although some are somewhat longer than others, such as scutellar pore seta, and three or four discal setae, longitudinally aligned parallel to longitudinal carina. Setae of umbilicate series, whose formula is (4+3), stand out because of their large size.

Legs of males and females do not exhibit sexual dimorphism, so there are no special structures. However, it is interesting to note a relevant structure that has only been cited in Ortuño (2005) and Andújar et al. (2008) for Typhlocharis gonzaloi and Typhlocharis martini , respectively: the clip seta of the protibial antennal cleaner. As in other species of the genus, it has a spatuliform shape ( Figure 3C View Figure 3 ), which is substantially different from other Anillini .

Abdomen with two long setae in males and four in females in last sternite,. Apodemal ring elliptical ( Figure 4E View Figure 4 ). Median lobe of aedeagus ( Figure 4A,B View Figure 4 ) is 174 µm in length. It is slightly curved and the apex points downward slightly compared with basal lamina. Internal sac is small and resembles the Greek letter ‘gamma’. Parameres with two setae, left one with a normal, subtriangular appearance, and right one narrow, abnormally long and hyaline ( Figure 4C,D View Figure 4 ).

Female genitalia ( Figure 4F,G View Figure 4 ) trimmer and slightly sclerotized. It has unguiform gonocoxites, with a seta inserted along external edge and a long seta in a fovea located on ventral surface. Sub-oval gonosubcoxite. Joint line with the gonocoxite almost imperceptible. Rhombus-shaped lateroterguite IX, generally smaller, in relation to gonocoxites and gonosubcoxites, than in Carabidae .

Spermathecal complex ( Figure 4H View Figure 4 ) with membranous canal that is 86 µm in length and 3.5 µm in diameter, expanding (6.8 µm) at distal end. Spermatheca is pyriform and very sclerotized, with a diameter between 5 and 15 µm. There is a short membranous tube on this structure that expands gradually towards the end in a sclerotic and fusiform section that matches the spermathecal gland of other Carabidae .

Etymology

This new species is named after Dr Josabel Belliure from the Department of Ecology at Alcalá University ( Spain), who worked on the first exploration of the endogean environment of the Ponoig mountain range.

Habitat and biology

Typhlocharis josabelae sp. nov. was found in the “Collado del Llamp” (Llamp Pass), a small mountain pass located 930 m above sea level on the northwest slope of Mount Ponoig. The lithology of this mountain is mainly limestone. The characteristics of this soil type, limestone marl, allow the infiltration of water in the form of precipitation. The vegetation is thermophilic and shows adaptations to the characteristic xeric conditions of the Mediterranean forest. In addition to abundant grasses, the following plant species are dominant: Pinus halepensis Mill. , Quercus coccifera L., Cystus albidus L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Coronilla minima L. and Thymus vulgaris L. However , it should be noted that the T. josabelae sp. nov. specimens were collected at the head of a seasonal watercourse, so the substrate they inhabit maintains relatively high humidity and a lower temperature than other regions. The temperature of the soil was 14.4 ◦ C at the time of collection at a depth of 15 cm, compared with 22–24 ◦ C outside.

Other endogean beetles have been found in the same locality where T. josabelae sp. nov. was collected, including Microtyphlus sp. (Carabidae) , Leptotyphlinae (Staphylinidae) and Scydmaenidae . They are also accompanied by other soilendogean arthropods such as Protura, Campodeidae and Japygidae Diplura, Symphyla, Pauropoda , and numerous small oribatid mites and Chilopoda Geophilomorpha.