Abstract
Two new species of the families Polyxenidae and Synxenidae, are described from Table Mountain National Park, South Africa. Propolyxenus squamatus sp. n. (Polyxenidae) has tergites I–X mostly covered by scale–shaped trichomes directed caudally, a character previously known only in Synxenidae. The structure of scale–shaped dorsal trichomes is different to that of the scales in Phryssonotus and Condexenus species. Phryssonotus brevicapensis sp. n. (Synxenidae) is the only known species of the genus Phryssonotus having 11 tergites, (including collum and telson) and 15 pairs of legs, as in Condexenus biramipalpus Nguyen Duy–Jacquemin, 2006. These two species therefore appear to occupy an intermediate position between Phryssonotus (12 tergites) and Polyxenoidea (maximum of 11 tergites).
Highlights
Two new species of Penicillata from Table Mountain National Park, South Africa, belonging to two different families, were collected in the same biotope: leaf litter of felled pine and fynbos.The first species, represented by five specimens, belongs to the family Polyxenidae and the genus Propolyxenus Silvestri, 1948, created for P. aegeus Silvestri, 1948 from Rhodes (Pelecano) (Silvestri 1948)
There are two types of trichomes: the trichomes of the three rows are wider and flatter than the trichomes of the lateral tufts, pleurites and head, and their shape and structure are different, being observed in the family Polyxenidae for the first time. They can be compared to the scale–shaped trichomes of Synxenidae: the trichomes of the rows are all directed caudally and cover the posterior half of tergites II–X and their internal structure is reinforced by differently distributed chitinous elements (Figs 5C–E)
It is remarkable that the barbate trichomes of P. squamatus sp. n. show a progressive transformation into scale–shaped trichomes in the posterior row of the tergite, representing a transition between the two types of trichomes as if, during the course of evolution, the former trichomes had changed into scale–shaped trichomes
Summary
Two new species of Penicillata from Table Mountain National Park (near Cape Town), South Africa, belonging to two different families, were collected in the same biotope: leaf litter of felled pine and fynbos. The first species, represented by five specimens, belongs to the family Polyxenidae and the genus Propolyxenus Silvestri, 1948, created for P. aegeus Silvestri, 1948 from Rhodes (Pelecano) (Silvestri 1948). Later on, Silvestri (1923) transferred to this genus Polyxenus platycephalus Lucas, 1846, from North Africa, Spain and Italy (Rasnitsyn and Golovatch 2004), and described Synxenus capensis Silvestri, 1923 from southern Africa (Stellenbosch) and Synxenus novaehollandiae Silvestri, 1923 from Australia (Mt Lofty, South Australia). Short and Huynh (2006) redescribed P. novaehollandiae and observed 11 ocelli from larva VI to adults. This was an improvement to Silvestri’s key which still concerned only four species.
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