A Highly Troglomorphic New Genus of Sminthuridae (Collembola, Symphypleona) from the Brazilian Semiarid Region

Here, we describe the highly troglomorphic Troglobentosminthurus gen. nov. from Água Clara cave system, Caatinga domain, Bahia, Brazil. Troglobentosminthurus luridus gen. nov. sp. nov. has remarkably long antennae, legs and furca, and lacks body pigments, except for small orange eye patches which al...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-07, Vol.13 (7), p.650
Main Authors: de Souza, Paolla Gabryelle Cavalcante, Medeiros, Gleyce da Silva, Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes, Souza-Silva, Marconi, Bellini, Bruno Cavalcante
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdomen
Analysis
Antennae
Appendages
Caves
Elongation
Ethanol
Identification keys
Morphological diversity
Morphology
Neotropical Region
New genera
New species
Pigments
Predators
Semi arid areas
Semiarid lands
Sminthuridae
Sminthurinae
Sminthuroidea
Taxonomy
Temeritas-group
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Here, we describe the highly troglomorphic Troglobentosminthurus gen. nov. from Água Clara cave system, Caatinga domain, Bahia, Brazil. Troglobentosminthurus luridus gen. nov. sp. nov. has remarkably long antennae, legs and furca, and lacks body pigments, except for small orange eye patches which also show a reduction in the number of eyes (5 + 5) and lens sizes. The overall morphology of the genus, with long and highly sub-segmented antennae, resembles other Sminthurinae of the Temeritas-group, especially Temeritas Richards and Galeriella Ćurčić and Lučić. However, it is unique, especially in the combination of the number of antennae IV subsegments and eyes, frontal head chaetotaxy and empodial complex morphology. Two type specimens have remnants of a mite and another specimen from the new species in their gut contents, supporting the species may be occasional predators and even cannibals. We also provide identification keys and comparative tables to the subfamilies of Sminthuridae and the Temeritas-group of genera.
ISSN:2075-4450
2075-4450
DOI:10.3390/insects13070650