Lepidocyrtus pallidus Reuter 1890
- Dataset
- New data clarifying the taxonomy of European members of the Lepidocyrtus pallidus - serbicus group (Collembola, Entomobryidae)
- Rank
- SPECIES
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Arthropoda
- class
- Collembola
- order
- Entomobryomorpha
- family
- Entomobryidae
- genus
- Lepidocyrtus
- species
- Lepidocyrtus pallidus
discussion
Remarks. All specimens have the same color pattern (Fig. 3 b) and match the description previously done for L. pallidus (of the internal basal ungual teeth one tooth much larger than the other, labial chaetotaxy M 1 M 2 rEL 1 L 2, dorsal cephalic and body macrochaetae formula A 0 A 2 a A 2 S 3 Pa 5 / 00 / 0101 + 2, see Figs 4 ‒ 8) with the following differences: specimens from samples LP 362 and LP 540 with abd. IV chaeta F 2 as smooth mesochaeta and located above chaeta E 2 (Fig. 9). Specimens from sample LP 379 with bilateral asymmetries on abd. IV dorsal chaetotaxy, with chaeta F 2 as ciliated macrochaeta (and below E 2, Fig. 6) on one side, and as smooth mesochaeta (and above E 2) on the other side of the body (Fig. 9). Also two specimens from sample LP 362 and one specimen from sample LP 379 bear (asymmetrically) on abd. IV one extra accessory chaeta of trichobotrium T 2 located between chaetae m and a (chaeta m’) (Fig. 10). Discussion. Hüther (1971) described the species L. weidneri as closely related to L. pallidus. He pointed out that the main differences between the two species were the morphology of the internal basal ungual teeth (subequals in L. pallidus and one tooth much larger then the other in L. weidneri), the labial chaetotaxy (with r chaeta strongly reduced or vestigial in L. pallidus, and R chaeta reduced and ciliated in L. weidneri) and the dorsolateral abd. IV chaetotaxy (with chaeta F 2 as ciliated macrochaeta in L. pallidus, and smooth mesochaeta in L. weidneri). Also Hüther gave importance to the relative position of chaetae F 2 and E 2 in abd. IV: F 2 located below E 2 in L. pallidus, and F 2 located above E 2 in L. weidneri. The morphology of the unguis of all the specimens studied is like that of L. weidneri; the variability in the position and shape of chaeta F 2 of abd. IV in the specimens of sample LP 379 is congruent with both the species L. pallidus and L. weidneri; as all specimens have labial chaeta r vestigial, we identified them as L. cf. pallidus. Specimens from samples LP 362 and LP 540 have abd. IV chaetotaxy like L. weidneri and labial chaeta r like L. pallidus; as all specimens have labial chaeta r vestigial, we also identified them as L. cf. pallidus. Besides their morphological similarity, these two species have been found in the same habitat by different authors, and seem to be associated with humanized environments. L. pallidus was originally described from Finland basing on specimens collected in a greenhouse in Helsinki (Reuter 1890), and the subsequent appointments with descriptions have been done also in humanized environments such as flowerpots in a house in Finland, factories of cork agglomerates in Portugal (Gisin 1965), compost and indoor flowerpots in Finland (Fjellberg 2007), garden compost in USA (present paper), plant soil in Norway (present paper), and soil of highly humanized area in China (present paper). L. weidneri was originally described from Hamburg (Germany) basing on specimens collected in compost soils (Hüther 1971), and subsequent descriptions have been done basing on specimens also collected in humanized habitat such as indoor flower pot in Finland (Fjellberg 2007). All the specimens described as L. cf. pallidus in the present paper have been collected in humanized environments too: plant soil and garden compost in Norway, and vegetable cultures in Antarctica. This kind of habitat is shared with L. fimicolus Mari-Mutt, 1988, a non European species morphologically very similar to L. pallidus and L. weidneri, that was originally described from Vieques Island (Puerto Rico) basing on specimens collected under cow dung (Mari-Mutt 1988), and subsequently recorded as domestic infestation in California (Bellinger et al. 1996 ‒ 2017). Described morphological differences between L. pallidus, L. weidneri and L. fimicolus are scarce. The variability of the color pattern on head and body of L. fimicolus (from light violet-gray to almost black, Mari-Mutt 1988) overlap those of described for L. pallidus and L. weidneri (Reuter 1890, Hüther 1971). Soto-Adames (2000) found that only the presence of chaeta Li on abd. II in L. fimicolus separates this species from the other two, while Wang et al. (2003) also noted that macrochaeta m 7 a on abd. III is absent in L. fimicolus, while it is present in L. pallidus and L. weidneri (Hüther 1971). All three species share a differential character within L. pallidus – serbicus group which is the length of the abd. IV chaeta D 1 p (double than length of abd. IV chaeta T 3, Fig. 10, Table 1). Only some specimens of L. arrabonicus have similar length of this chaeta.
materials_examined
Material examined. Eight females on slides from compost in a private garden, Tjöme (Norway), position N 59 º 09 ’ 0760 ” E 10 º 25 ’ 55.57 ”, deposited at the UB (sample LP 362), 6. iv. 2014, Arne Fjellberg leg. Three females on slides from olive plants soil imported from Germany, Oslo (Norway, exact position unknown), deposited at the UB (sample LP 379), 15. v. 2014, Arne Fjellberg leg. Two specimens on slides (unknown sex) from vegetable cultures in Davis Station, Australian Antarctic Territory (Antarctica), position S 68 ° 34 ’ 36 ” E 77 ° 58 ’ 03 ”, deposited at the SAM (sample LP 540).