Vol. 63-42, 2024
The Cryptic Diversity of the Terrestrial Microarthropods, Ptenothrix Börner (Collembola: Dicyrtomidae) from Taiwan: New Species Plus the Lectotype Designation for Ptenothrix denticulata(Folsom, 1899)
Hsin-Ju Cheng
Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
Bruno Cavalcante Bellini
Department of Botany and Zoology, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal 59072-970, RN, Brazil.
Frans Janssens
Evolutionary Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium.
Taizo Nakamori
Department of Environment and Natural Sciences, Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Chih-Han Chang
Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Communicated by Benny Kwok Kan Chan
This is the first taxonomic study of Collembola in Taiwan integrating morphological and molecular evidence to investigate the Taiwanese species in the genus Ptenothrix Börner. We discovered that specimens previously identified as Ptenothrix denticulata (Folsom, 1899) actually consist of several cryptic species, of which we described two species new to science. Our data revealed that, although these species are remarkably similar to each other, they can be distinguished by color patterns, chaetotaxic characters and DNA barcoding (COI). We also designated one of the syntypes of Ptenothrix denticulata (Folsom, 1899) as its lectotype, and treated Dicyrtoma denticulata (Salmon 1964) as a synonym of Ptenothrix denticulata (Salmon 1964) (syn. nov.). Lastly, our study suggests that the diversity of Collembola in Taiwan is still poorly understood, with a high potential for new studies focusing on these microarthropods.
Keywords
Soil fauna, Systematics, Genetic diversity, Phylogeny, Ptenothricinae
