Rhysida longipes, Pocock, 1891

RHYSIDA LONGIPES View in CoL CLADE

RHYSIDA CRASSISPINA KRAEPELIN, 1903 View in CoL

( FIGS 6, 7)

Rhysida crassispina Kraepelin, 1903: 151 View in CoL fig. 94; Attems, 1930: 188, fig. 236; Jangi & Dass, 1984: 50.

Diagnosis: Eighteen antennal articles; basal four to almost five articles glabrous dorsally. Cephalic plate relatively narrow. Coxosternal tooth-plates longer than wide, with four main teeth, with a small cusp on inner part of innermost tooth fused; median suture on forcipular coxosternum longer than tooth plates, extending ~20% length of coxosternum. Sternites with paramedian sutures along 90–100% of their length. Coxopleuron twice the length of sternite of ultimate leg-bearing segment; coxopleural process with two apical spines only. Leg 1 with two tarsal spurs, legs 2–20 with one.

Material

Holotype: BMNH (E) 200084, from Matheran , Maharashtra, India (The Natural History Museum, London, UK).

Other specimens: CES091396 , CES091397 , from Matheran, Raigad district , Maharashtra; collected by Jahnavi Joshi in August 2008 –2009; locality coordinates in the Supporting Information ( Table S1) .

Description: Length ≤ 70 mm. Eighteen antennal articles, basal 4.5 to five articles glabrous dorsally and five ventrally ( Figs 6A, 7A). Cephalic plate and tergites smooth. Longitudinal median furrow on anterior 10% of cephalic plate. Cephalic plate and T1 brown to dark green, the following tergites brown with dark green-grey transverse band posteriorly; legs pale yellow. Forcipular coxosternal tooth-plates longer than wide, with four main teeth, the outer two teeth distinct, inner two teeth fused with a weak cusp on the innermost tooth; base of tooth-plates defined by oblique sutures diverging at 110° ( Figs 6B, 7B); median suture relatively long, extending 20–25% length of coxosternum. Coxosternum and trochanteroprefemur strongly puncate. Trochanteroprefemoral process bearingoneapicalandonelateraltooth.Tergitessmooth ( Figs 6G, 7F), with paramedian sutures complete from TT 4–5. Tergites fully marginate starting from TT 6–8. Paramedian sutures 90–100% length of sternites ( Figs 6F, 7E); longitudinally ovate median depression in posterior part of sternites. Tergite of ultimate leg-bearing segment ~1.2 times wider than long, with parallel lateral margins, rounded posteromedially ( Figs 6H, 7G). Sternite of ultimate leg-bearing segment slightly shorter than wide; lateral margins nearly straight, moderately convergent posteriorly; weak longitudinal median furrow ( Figs 6C, 7C). Coxopleuron twice the length of sternite of ultimate leg-bearing segment; coxopleural process with two apical spines. Pores dense, with pore-field terminating distinctly beneath dorsal margin of coxopleuron; non-porose area on coxopleural process a narrow strip almost reaching to opposite posterior margin of sternite of ultimate leg-bearing segment ( Figs 6C, 7C). Ultimate legs long, prefemur ≤ 4.9 mm, femur ≤ 3.75 mm, tibia ≤ 3 mm, tarsus 1 ≤ 2.5 mm and tarsus 2 ≤ 1 mm; prefemoral spine formula ventrolateral (VL), ventromedial (VM) and dorsomedial (DM) ( Figs 6H, I, 7G–I). Leg 1 with two tarsal spurs, legs 2–20 with one. Leg 1 with a tibial spur and a femoral spur.

Distribution: This species was recorded from evergreen forests of Matheran (a plateau at 800 m elevation), Maharashtra, in the northern parts of the Western Ghats. The type specimen ( Fig. 6) and two individuals sampled in the present study ( Fig. 7) are from the same locality. Forests there are much more fragmented and isolated than those of the central and southern Western Ghats. It is likely that this species might occur on the other adjacent plateaus and forested areas at similar elevations in the northern parts of the Western Ghats.

Remarks: This species is part of the R. longipes clade, resolved as sister species to the widespread R. longipes and R. konda from the southern and northern Eastern Ghats. It was retrieved as a distinct species by both GMYC and mPTP ( Fig. 2). It is morphologically unique among Indian Rhysida species in the paramedian sutures occupying most of or the entire length of the sternites, a higher number of glabrous antennal articles, confinement of two tarsal spurs to the first one or two leg pairs, relatively long tooth-plates and a longer median suture on the forcipular coxosternum than in other species. It is also unique in its relatively narrow cephalic plate and conspicuous punctae on the forcipular coxosternum.