Biodiversity Data Journal :
Taxonomic Paper
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Corresponding author: Sujian Pei (peisujian@126.com), Huiqin Ma (mahuiqin008@126.com)
Academic editor: Stylianos Simaiakis
Received: 08 Feb 2022 | Accepted: 08 Apr 2022 | Published: 18 Apr 2022
© 2022 Yuhang Han, Sujian Pei, Huiqin Ma, Yaojun Li, Yinfeng Liu
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Han Y, Pei S, Ma H, Li Y, Liu Y (2022) A new species of Validifemur Ma, Song & Zhu, 2007 (Lithobiomorpha, Lithobiidae) from northwest China. Biodiversity Data Journal 10: e81849. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.10.e81849
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The myriapod fauna of China is still poorly known and very little attention has been paid to the study of Lithobiomorpha, with only more 100 species/subspecies hitherto known from the country, amongst which are only three species of Validifemur. Here we are describing a new species from northwest China.
A new lithobiid species, Validifemur radispinipes sp. n., is described and illustrated from Wolong Mountain Park, Jingyuan County, Guyuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China. The new species is compared with V. pedodontus Ma, Song & Zhu, 2007 from Shaanxi Province, China. Type specimens are deposited in the Institute of Myriapodology, School of Life Sciences, Hengshui University, Hengshui, China.
Lithobiomorpha, Validifemur, new species, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China
Validifemur was originally proposed as a genus of Lithobiidae in the Lithobiomorpha by Ma et al. and it accommodates only three species, all distributed in open and mixed coniferous-broadleaved forests, 550 m a.s.l., from northwest China (
Specimens were collected by hand under leaf litter or stones and preserved in 75% ethanol. Illustrations and measurements were produced using a ZEISS SteREO Discovery.V20 microscope equipped with an Abbe drawing tube and an ocular micrometer and Axiocam 512 colour. The colour description is based on specimens fixed in 75% ethanol. The body length is measured from the anterior margin of the cephalic plate to the posterior end of the postpedal tergite. The terminology of the external anatomy follows
Body (Fig.
Validifemur radispinipes sp. n. a habitus, dorsal view, male holotype; b cephalic plate, dorsal view, male holotype; c forcipular coxosternite, ventral view, male holotype; d forcipular coxosternite, ventral view, male holotype; e. ocelli and Tömösváry’s organ (To), lateral view, female paratype; f posterior segments and gonopods in female paratype, ventral view; g tridentate apical claw of gonopods in female paratype, ventral view; h tridentate apical claw of gonopods in female paratype, dorsal view; i posterior segments and gonopods in male holotype, ventral view; j male legs 15th, holotype, dorsal view; k prefemur, femur and tibia of male legs 15th, holotype, dorsal view.
Colour. Antennae pale chestnut-brown, the pale chestnut-brown gradually becomes yellow-brown at the end of articles 4–5, terminal article yellow brown; tergites yellow-brown, cephalic plate, TT 1, 14 and 15 darker; pleural region grey; sternites pale yellow-brown; distal part of forcipules dark brown; basal and proximal parts of forcipules and forcipular coxosternite grey-brown; SS 14 and 15 yellow-brown with greyish hue; all legs pale grey-brown with pale yellowish hue; tibia more yellow, tarsus 2 pale yellow-brown on all legs.
Antennae. 20–24 articles; usually 20+20 articles, few 20+21, 20+24 articles. Length of first antennal article slightly longer than width of the base, length of the remaining articles obviously larger than wide, the distalmost articles still significantly longer than wide, 2.7–3.5 times as long as wide; abundant setae on the antennal surface, fewer on the basal articles, gradual increasing in density to approximately the sixth article, then more or less constant.
Cephalic plate. Smooth, convex, slightly wider than long; tiny setae emerging from pores scattered very sparsely over the whole surface; frontal marginal ridge with shallow anterior median furrow; short to long setae scattered along the marginal ridge of the cephalic plate; lateral marginal ridge discontinuous, posterior margin continuous, almost straight, evidently wider than lateral marginal ridge (Fig.
Ocelli. 1+6 to 1+7, commonly 1+7, oval to rounded ocelli on each side, arranged in two irregular rows, the posterior ocellus the largest. Ventral ocelli slightly smaller than the dorsal, domed, translucent and usually darkly pigmented (Fig.
Tömösváry’s organ (Fig.
Coxosternite. Subtrapezoidal (Fig.
Tergites. Smooth, without wrinkles, dorsum slightly convex; short to long tiny setae emerging from pores scattered sparsely over the entire surface, near the margin with few long setae; TT 1 and 3 narrower than the cephalic plate, T 3 wider than the T 1. T 1 narrower postero-laterally than antero-laterally, generally inverted trapezoidal; lateral marginal ridges of all tergites continuous, TT 3–5 slightly long setae scattered sparsely over the surface. Posterior margin T1 almost straight, posterior margin of TT 3 and 5 slightly concave, posterior margin of TT 8, 10, 12 and 14 concave, posterior margin of TT 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13 straight (Fig.
Sternites. Posterior side of sternites narrower than anterior, generally inverted trapezoidal, smooth; setae emerging from sparsely scattered pores on the surface and lateral margin, very few short setae scattered sparsely amongst them; one pair of approximately symmetrically-arranged long setae on middle parts of anterior part of each sternite; with 3–5 very long setae in the anterior angles and with 1–3 very long setae in the posterior angles.
Legs. Relative robust, tarsi fused on legs 1–13, well-defined on legs 14–15. All legs with moderately long curved claws; legs 1–13 with anterior and posterior accessory spurs, anterior accessory spurs moderately long and slender, forming a moderately small angle with the claw, posterior accessory spurs slightly more robust, forming a comparatively large angle with the claw; lacking accessory spurs of legs 14 and 15, the closer to the rear of the body, the thicker the anterior accessory spurs. From short to long setae sparsely scattered over the surface of coxa, trochanter, prefemur, femur and tibia of all legs, more setae on the tarsal surfaces, especially in the ventral; setae on the dorsal and ventral surfaces slightly longer than the anterior and posterior; some thicker setae arranged in one row on the ventral surfaces of tarsi of legs 1–13, with setae significantly reduced on legs 14 and 15. Legs 14 and 15 thicker than the anterior legs in both of the female and male, male legs 15 thicker and stronger than those of the female, forming obvious secondary sexual characteristics (Fig.
Legs |
Ventral |
Dorsal |
||||||||
C |
Tr |
P |
F |
Ti |
C |
Tr |
P |
F |
Ti |
|
1 |
mp |
amp |
am |
mp |
ap |
a |
||||
2-11 |
mp |
amp |
am |
mp |
ap |
ap |
||||
12-15 |
m |
amp |
amp |
am |
a |
amp |
p |
p |
Legs |
Ventral |
Dorsal |
||||||||
C |
Tr |
P |
F |
Ti |
C |
Tr |
P |
F |
Ti |
|
1 |
(m)p |
amp |
am |
mp |
ap |
a |
||||
2-11 |
mp |
amp |
am |
mp |
ap |
ap |
||||
12 |
amp |
amp |
am |
amp |
p |
ap |
||||
13-15 |
m |
amp |
amp |
am |
a |
amp |
p |
p |
Letters in brackets indicate variable spines.
Validifemur radispinipes sp. n. a male legs 15th, holotype, ventral view; b prefemur, femur and tibia of male legs 15th, holotype, ventral view; c prefemur, femur and tibia of the right male legs 15th, holotype, left view; d prefemur, femur and tibia of the right male legs 15th, holotype, close to dorsal view; e prefemur, femur and tibia of the right male legs 15th, holotype, close to ventral view; f prefemur, femur and tibia of the left male legs 15th, holotype, right view; g prefemur, femur and tibia of the left male legs 15th, holotype, close to dorsal view; h prefemur, femur and tibia of the left male legs 15th, holotype, close to ventral view.
Coxal pores. 3–4 in a row, usually 4-4-4-3, few 3-4-4-3 in female, usually 4-4-4-1, few 4-4-5-1, 4-4-3-1, 3-4-5-4-1 or 4-4-4-2 in male; slightly oval or round, commonly round, size of coxal pore from small to large; coxal pore field set in a relatively shallow groove, the coxal pore-field fringe with a slight prominence and moderately long setae sparsely scattered over the surface.
Female. S15 anterior margin broader than posterior, generally an inverted trapezoid, postero-medially straight. Moderately long setae sparsely scattered on S15 surface. Surface of the lateral sternal margin of genital segment well chitinised, posterior margin of genital sternite deeply concave between condyles of gonopods, except for a small, median tongue-shaped bulge. Relatively long setae very sparsely scattered over ventral surface of the genital segment, slightly more setae on posterior part, especially along the posterior edge. Gonopods: first article fairly broad, bearing 18–22 moderately long setae arranged in four irregular rows, the setae on the edges are longer; with 2+2 small coniform spurs (Fig.
Male. S 15 posterior margin narrower than anterior, postero-medially straight, generally an inverted trapezoid, sparsely covered with long setae, the setae on the edges are longer, with a shallow nearly heart-shaped depression on the surface; sternite of genital segment evidently smaller than the female, usually sclerotised; posterior margin deeply concave between the gonopods, without medial bulge. Short to long setae equally scattered on the ventral surface of the genital segment. Gonopods short and wide, flat, with 1–2 long setae, apically slightly sclerotised (Fig.
Habitat. The specimens here studied were collected under the deciduous leaves of locust trees around the mountain road.
The new species is morphologically close to V. pedodontus Ma, Song & Zhu, 2007 from Shaanxi Province, SW China, with which it shares 2+2 prosternal teeth, distal claw of the female gonopods tridentate, legs 15 in male prominently thicker than the anterior legs. However, the new species can be distinguished from V. pedodontus easily by the following characters: 12 spurs on the femur and 6 spines on the tibia in male legs 15 vs.just11 thorns on the tibia in male legs 15 of V. pedodontus. T 10 is the widest of all tergites vs. TT 8 and 10 are the same length and are the widest of all tergites in V. pedodontus; having 7–9 robust spines arranged in two irregular rows lying dorsally on the second article of female gonopods vs. just 1 robust spines lying dorsally on the second article of female gonopods in V. pedodontus.
The new species can be distinguished from V. zapparolii Ma, Song & Zhu, 2007 from Shaanxi Province, China easily by the following characters: the femur with 12 spurs arranged in two rows, the tibia having 6 spines arranged radially in male legs 15 vs. the tibia having 10 rostriform thorns, three of them separated individually, the other thorns arranged into 2 rows in V. zapparolii. T 10 is the widest of all tergites vs. TT 8 and 10 are the same length and are the widest of all tergites in V. zapparolii; having 7–9 robust spines lying dorsally on the second article of female gonopods vs. having 3 robust spines arranged in one irregular row on the second article in V. zapparolii.
The new species can be distinguished from V. digitatus Ma, Song & Zhu, 2007 from Henan Province, China easily by the following characters: the femur with 12 spurs arranged in two rows, the tibia having 6 spines arranged radially in male legs 15 vs. the tibia having 10 sclerotised rostriform spines, forming a rough semicircle, encircling the femur in V. digitatus; the ocelli arranged in two irregular rows other than arranged in three irregular rows in V. digitatus.
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC grant no. 31572239) and the project of Hengshui University (no. 2019GC15) and the Key Discipline of Zoology of Hengshui University. We are grateful to Dr Gregory D Edgecombe (London), Dr Pavel Stoev (Sofia) and Dr Marzio Zapparoli (Viterbo) for their hospitality and valuable assistance during our research.