Material Examined

HOLOTYPE: Female, BRAZIL: Paraiba, Mamanguape, Biological Reserve Guaribas, Barro Branco river, 09-IV-2011, coll. R. A. Brito, deposited at Museu Nacional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (MNUFRJ) number 2389.

PARATYPES: 3 females and 6 males, same data label as Holotype, deposited at MNUFRJ number 2389.

Other material: 1 female and 1 male, Brazil: Bahia, Juazeiro, Ilha de Nossa Senhora and Ilha do Fogo, 09-1-2011. coll. R.A. Brito. 1 male, Brazil, Paraiba, Serra Branca, 15-V-2011 coll. Zeppelini, Dias, Callado and Mota, kept at Laboratório de Sistemática de Collembola e Conservação, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba.

Description. Body length ∼0,20 mm, body parts measurements see Table 1, Habitus Sminthuroid (Fig. 1A). Eyes 4+4 in dark blue patches (Fig. 1B). Color varying from light purple to pink over dorsal great abdomen and antennae, head sparsely mottled, ventral body, legs and furca pale white (Fig. 1A). Some specimens from “Ilha do fogo” white with pigments on eye patches. Ant/CD as 1:1.35, Ant IV apex bearing a hook-like seta narrowed at the distal third (Figs. 2A and 3), with a sensillum in the shape of a bulb in a short stalk (Figs. 2B and 3). Ant IV not subdivided or partially subdivided into 5 subsegments, 1 sensillum present on second third, apical third bears bristles and short setae at the tip, apical bulb absent, hooked microseta present (Fig. 3). Apical organ of Ant III with 2 sense rods in separate pits, Aai thin, short and acuminated, Ape slender bristlelike (Fig. 4). Cephalic setae short, posterior cephalic M1, M4 and M5 absent (Fig. 5), clypeal-labral setae 6-2/5/4 (Fig. 6). All subcoxae with one small seta. Trochanteral setae short and stout (Figs. 7–9), trochanteral organ in circular sockets (Figs. 8 and 9). Internal/external setae of femora I–III as 2/4:2/5:0/5, one seta on first femur spinelike (Figs. 10–12). All ungues with tunica, all unguiculi with apical filament exceeding unguis tip, corner tooth absent (Figs. 13–15) first unguis with a small inner tooth. Trichobothria A-B-C on great abdomen arranged almost in a straight line (Fig. 16), a small acuminated finger shaped sensillum present dorsad to trichobothria A (Fig. 17). Trichobothria D short, capitate, acuminated and inserted in a clear papilla, 2 small acuminated sensilla present posterior to trichobothria D (Figs. 1C and 16). Basal part of collophore cylindrical, distal part paired with 1+1 seta at the apex. Corpus tenaculum with 1 seta, rami tridentate with 1 basal process. Furca base complex with 1 neosminthuroid and 5 normal setae each side on ventral surface (Fig. 18). Dens dorsal chaetotaxy L1- 2 and E2 somewhat spinelike, D1–2 present, E1, E3 and E4 normal (Fig. 19), ventral setae ve1… ve5 as 3..:1 (Fig. 20). Mucro narrow, gutterlike, both edges serrated (Fig. 21). Anal valve seta C16 and C8–9 swollen, subanal appendages thick, rodlike and smooth, inserted in a prominent irregular papilla (Figs. 1D), chaetotaxy as Fig. 22.

Etymology

The species was named brasilis as the first Collophora species described from Brazil. Terra Brasilis is among the ancient Latin names given to Brazil.

Distribution and Habitat

Good's Biogeographic Zone 27 (Good 1974). The species is distributed in Northeastern Brazil, in Atlantic Forest remnants, semi-deciduous Forest and extending westward to Caatinga semiarid forest. The specimens studied were collected in Paraiba State at coordinates S 6°42′40.3′ W -35°10′40.3″, S 6°48′ 12.7″W -35°06′ 27″ and S 7° 28′ 58″ W -36° 39′ 54″, and in Bahia State at coordinates S 9° 24′ 23.4″ W -40° 30′ 9.2″ and S 9° 24′ 49.4″ W-40° 28′ 42.3″.

The species inhabits on leaf litter in forest grounds from wet littoral zone to semi-arid (rainy winter, less than 500 mm/year), dwelling riparian environments associated to plant debris and moisture. Climate according to Köppen's system is As (Koppen 1936; Shear 1966).

Remarks

Collophora brasilis sp. nov. can be recognized from all known species of the genus by the reduced number (1/1/1) of seta on trochanter (3/2/2 in C. africana, C. remanei and C. sudanica), having small abdomen seta C swollen instead of winged, small abdomen Al and B3 smooth, and lacking the corner tooth in all unguiculi. In addition, the number of clypeolabral setae (6:2:5:4) separates the new species from C. mysticiosa (6:2:3:4) and C. sudanica (6:5:5:4). The new species presents a sensillum at the dorsal surface of great abdomen each side of the body, aligned with trichobothria A, the same sensillum is present in C. sudanica.

The 2 special sensilla posterior to trichobothria D (Bretfeld 1994) present in C. brasilis sp. nov., is similar to those seen in C. africana (Delamare Deboutteville & Massoud 1964b), described as short trichobothria with the same structure, but completely transparent, placed near the base of each trichobothria D.

Hüther (1967) presents an identification key to all the 6 previously known species. The revised chaetotaxy (Bretfeld 1994) re-defined the genus, although detailed chaetotaxy of great abdomen and anal valve remains undescribed for most named species of Collophora. Most species need to be re-described, as original descriptions are too incomplete to allow clear diagnosis for the genus and to recognize the real limits of species. Therefore updates to the identification key are useless until the genus is revised.