Endonura turkmenica, Smolis, Adrian, Shayanmehr, Masoumeh, Kuznetsova, Nataliya & Lafooraki, Elham Yoosefi, 2017

Smolis, Adrian, Shayanmehr, Masoumeh, Kuznetsova, Nataliya & Lafooraki, Elham Yoosefi, 2017, Three new remarkable species of the genus Endonura Cassagnau, 1979 from the Middle East and Central Asia (Collembola, Neanuridae, Neanurinae, Neanurini), ZooKeys 673, pp. 135-151 : 135

Endonura turkmenica sp. n. Figs 20-34, Table 3a

Type material.

Holotype: male on slide, Turkmenistan, south-western part of the country (Balkan velayat), Magtymguly (previously Kara-Kala) Area, foothills of the southern slope of the Kopet Dag mountain range, near village Juvankala, right tributary of Sumbar river, leaf litter under elm Ulmus spp, 4.II.1977, leg. A. Babenko, A. Uvarov, T. Zheltikova (MSPU). Paratype: juvenile on slide, same data as holotype (DIBEC).

Etymology.

The name turkmenica is derived from Turkmenistan, the name of the country where the species was found.

Diagnosis.

Habitus typical of the genus Endonura . Dorsal tubercles present and well developed. 2+2 pigmented eyes. Buccal cone relatively long, labrum ogival. Head with chaetae A, B, C, D and E. Chaeta O absent. Tubercles Cl and Af separate. Tubercles Dl and (L+So) on head with six and eight chaetae respectively. Tubercles Di on Th I absent. Tubercles De on Th II and III with three and four chaetae respectively. Tubercles L on Abd III and IV with three and six chaetae respectively. Abd IV and V with eight and three tubercles respectively. Claw without inner tooth. Tibiotarsi with chaetae B4 and B5medium size.

Description.

General. Body length (without antennae): 0.50 (juvenile) to 1.45 mm (holotype: 1.45 mm). Colour of the body bluish-grey. 2+2 large black eyes, in a typical arrangement for the genus (Fig. 31).

Chaetal morphology. Dorsal ordinary chaetae of five types: long macrochaetae, short macrochaetae, very short macrochaetae, mesochaetae and microchaetae. Long macrochaetae relatively thin, straight, narrowly sheathed, serrated, apically pointed (Fig. 29). Macrochaetae Mc and Mcc morphologically similar to long macrochaetae, but much shorter (Fig. 27). Mesochaetae similar to ventral chaetae, thin, smooth and pointed. Microchaetae similar to mesochaetae, but apparently short (Fig. 28). S–chaetae of tergites thin, smooth and short, shorter than nearby macrochaetae (Figs 26, 31, 32, 34).

Antennae. Typical of the genus. Dorsal chaetotaxy of Ant III–IV as in Fig. 20 and Table 3b. S–chaetae of Ant IV of medium length and thickened, S5 and S6 slightly longer and thicker than others. Apical vesicle distinct, multilobate (Figs 21, 22). Ventral chaetotaxy of Ant III–IV as in Fig. 23 and Table 3b.

Mouthparts. Buccal cone long with labral sclerifications ogival (Fig. 25). Labrum chaetotaxy: 0/2, 4 (Fig. 30). Labium with four basal, three distal and four lateral chaetae, papillae x absent. Maxilla styliform, mandible thin and tridentate.

Dorsal chaetotaxy and tubercles. Head without chaetae O, So2 and L3 absent (Fig. 31). Tubercles Di on Th I not differentiated (Fig. 31). On Th and Abd, chaetae De2 and De3 not free (Figs 31, 32), chaetae De3 notably short and hard to detect. On Abd I–III, the line of chaetae De1-chaeta s non perpendicular to the dorsomedian line. Cryptopygy absent, Abd VI visible from above.

Ventral chaetotaxy. On head, groups Vea, Vem and Vep with 3, 4, 4 chaetae respectively. Group Vi on head with six chaetae. On Abd IV, furca rudimentary without microchaetae. On Abd IV, group L without free chaeta (Fig. 24). On Abd V, chaetae Vl and L’ present.

Legs. Chaetotaxy of legs as in Table 1a. Claw without internal tooth. On tibiotarsi, chaeta M present and chaetae B4 and B5 relatively long and pointed (Fig. 33).

Remarks.

Endonura turkmenica sp. n. seems to be the closest E. ceratolabralis Smolis et al., 2016 recently described from western part of Iran ( Smolis et al. 2016a). They differ in a number of characters: maximum length of body without antennae (in turkmenica 1,45 mm, in ceratolabralis 2,55), location of chaeta E on head (in turkmenica free, in ceratolabralis connected with tubercle Af), labral formula of chatotaxy (in turkmenica : 0/2,4; in ceratolabralis : 0/2, 2), number of chaetae (L+So) on head (in turkmenica eight, in ceratolabralis nine) and presence/absence of tubercle Di on Th I (in turkmenica absent, in ceratolabralis present). Additionally, chaetae De3 on Th III and Abd I-III are very minute and can be easily overlooked in turkmenica (in ceratolabralis well visible and slightly shorter than De2).