The dorsal chaetotaxy of first instar Trogolaphysa jataca, with description of twelve new species of Neotropical Trogolaphysa (Hexapoda: Collembola: Paronellidae).

Abstract

Adult members of tribe Paronellini are characterized by a substantially reduced idiochaetotaxy and as a result chaeta homology determination is often ambiguous. To evaluate previous hypotheses of chaetae homology in adult Trogolaphysa, a complete description of the dorsal chaetotaxy of first instar Trogolaphysa jataca (Wray, 1953b), supplemented with observations on first instar Trogolaphysa paracarpenteri sp. nov., is presented. It is showed that first instar Trogolaphysa carries an almost complete set of dorsal chaetae and that the reduction in adult idiochaetotaxy is secondary. In addition, the organization of primary chaetae in T. jataca points to a closer relationship with genera in subfamily Entomobryinae than to Orchesellinae. Based on chaetae correspondence between first instar and adult T. jataca it is established that the inner median chaetae on adult head corresponds to M1 instead of S1, the mesothorax p3 complex includes chaetae p1-p4, and on the fourth abdominal segment, anterior macrochaeta on column A corresponds to A3, and the secondary bothriotrix corresponds to D3p. In addition, T. relicta (Palacios-Vargas, Ojeda & Christiansen, 1985) is re-described based on a paratype, and 12 new species are described: from Mexico, T. stannardi sp. nov., T. dimorphica sp. nov., T. laterolineata sp. nov., T. marieloiseae sp. nov., T. clarencei sp. nov., T. ocellata sp. nov., T. paracarpenteri sp. nov., T. palaciosi sp. nov., T. octosetosa sp. nov., and T. trioculata sp. nov.; from Jamaica, T. balteata sp. nov.; and from Argentina, T. entreriosensis sp. nov.