Palacios-Martinez Iñigo
Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology; Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC); Madrid; Spain; Department of Evolutionary Ecology; Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC); Madrid; Spain.
Zootaxa. 2024 May 13;5448(3):417-429. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5448.3.5.
This study describes a new species of jumping bristletail, Neomachilellus mercurialis sp. nov., discovered during a research expedition at the Los Amigos Biological Station in Madre de Dios, Peru. The specimens could not be morphologically assigned to any known species within the genus Neomachilellus s. str. Wygodzinsky 1953. Morphological examination revealed distinct differences in various characters, morphometric measurements, and pigmentation patterns compared to other species. The new species exhibits submedian, widened, oval-shaped ocelli, pigmentation on articles I‒VII of the maxillary palpi, and strong pigment on the femora, tibiae, and tarsi of the legs. Notably, femora and tibiae lack spines or prominent spiniform setae, while the tarsi feature spine-like setae characteristic of the nominal subgenus. The newly discovered species shares a close relationship with other taxa of Neomachilellus, specifically belonging to the muticus-group of species. Urgent taxonomic revision and molecular studies are warranted for this genus, emphasizing the ongoing challenges in understanding Archaeognatha.
本研究描述了一种新的跳虫，即新种秘鲁新马氏跳虫（Neomachilellus mercurialis sp. nov.），它是在秘鲁马德雷德迪奥斯的洛斯阿米戈斯生物站的一次研究考察中发现的。这些标本在形态上无法归入狭义新马氏跳虫属（Neomachilellus s. str. Wygodzinsky 1953）内的任何已知物种。形态学检查发现，与其他物种相比，该新种在各种特征、形态测量和色素沉着模式上存在明显差异。新种表现出位于亚中线、加宽的椭圆形单眼，在上颚触须的第I至VII节上有色素沉着，以及在腿部的股骨、胫骨和跗节上有强烈的色素沉着。值得注意的是，股骨和胫骨没有刺或突出的刺状刚毛，而跗节具有名义亚属特有的刺状刚毛。新发现的物种与新马氏跳虫的其他分类群关系密切，特别属于muticus物种组。对该属进行紧急分类修订和分子研究是必要的，这凸显了在理解石蛃目方面持续存在的挑战。
