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Megalothorax perspicillum

Megalothorax perspicillum

Schneider & D'Haese, 2013

GBIF:212419405

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ABOUT

Descriptions(3)

Description. As in Schneider and D’Haese (2013), with new specimens up to 400 µm body size, and labral a 1 chaetae with external tooth.
Schneider, Clément, Panina, Ksenia (2023): Revision of Megalothorax incertus Börner, 1903 reveals it to be another widespread Palearctic species of the genus (Collembola, Neelidae). Zootaxa 5318 (4): 474-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5318.4.2, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5318.4.2
Comments. Papáč & Kováč (2013) reported some specimens identified as M. cf. perspicillum, differing from the original description by having serrated labral a 1 chaetae (vs smooth in the original description). In the novel specimens examined here, those chaetae are serrated. We confirmed that the original specimens have at least faintly serrated labral a 1 chaetae, and we consider the possible variation to be within the species boundary.
Schneider, Clément, Panina, Ksenia (2023): Revision of Megalothorax incertus Börner, 1903 reveals it to be another widespread Palearctic species of the genus (Collembola, Neelidae). Zootaxa 5318 (4): 474-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5318.4.2, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5318.4.2
New material. Two females, one male and one juvenile on slides (SMNG-APT-AA 00029 – 32), Italy, Sicily, Palermo, botanical garden, 14 Nov. 2014, 38.1126 ° N, 13.3742 ° E, soil below humid litter under Ficus watkinsiana F. M. Bailey, leg. C. Schneider, original collection code: CS. 007. IT. Six females, (SMNG-APT-AA 00033 – 38), Italy, Sicily, Scopello, Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro, 22 Nov. 2014, 38.0995 ° N, 12.7969 ° E, mosses with its substrate on side of the coastal path, leg. C. Schneider, original collection code: CS. 036. IT. Five females and two males on slide, Russia, Krasnodar, 28 April 2021, 45.0644 ° N, 38.8144 ° E, upper layer of soil (up to 10 cm) with mulch, leg. K. Panina. Two females on slide, Russia, Stavropol Region, Mikhailovsk, 27 April 2021, 45.1278 ° N, 42.0574 ° E, upper layer of soil (up to 10 cm) with mulch, leg. K. Panina. Molecular data. One individual from CS. 007. IT, two individuals from CS. 036. IT (Genbank accession number in Table 1). Vouchers have not been recovered.
Schneider, Clément, Panina, Ksenia (2023): Revision of Megalothorax incertus Börner, 1903 reveals it to be another widespread Palearctic species of the genus (Collembola, Neelidae). Zootaxa 5318 (4): 474-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5318.4.2, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5318.4.2

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CLASSIFICATION

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Source Information

Revision of Megalothorax incertus Börner, 1903 reveals it to be another widespread Palearctic species of the genus (Collembola, Neelidae)

checklist

This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Schneider, Clément, Panina, Ksenia (2023): Revision of Megalothorax incertus Börner, 1903 reveals it to be another widespread Palearctic species of the genus (Collembola, Neelidae). Zootaxa 5318 (4): 474-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5318.4.2, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5318.4.2

Abstract

Megalothorax incertus B̂rner, 1903 is the second species of Megalothorax to have been discovered. The brevity of the original description left the species insufficiently defined.

In this work, we redescribe M. incertus from topotypes (Sicily) and describe a new species of the incertus -group: M. boerneri sp. nov. (France). We report the presence of M. incertus sensu nov. in France and Russia and validate a previous record from China based on molecular data. New records are also provided for a third species of the incertus - group, M. perspicillum Schneider & D’Haese, 2013. Novel DNA data (28S rDNA, 16S rDNA, COI) are provided for the three species. The interactive key of the Megalothorax species of the world is updated.

The three species are distinguished on subtle morphological characteristics and are found to be well-separated on the molecular based phylogenetic tree.

Megalothorax incertus sensu nov. joins M. perspicillum, M. minimus Willem, 1900 and M. willemi Schneider & D’Haese, 2013 in the club of widespread Megalothorax species in the Palearctic, and can be found in co-occurrence with them. Thus, the ecological distinction between those species remains unprecise.

Schneider C, Panina K, plazi (2023). Revision of Megalothorax incertus Börner, 1903 reveals it to be another widespread Palearctic species of the genus (Collembola, Neelidae). Plazi.org taxonomic treatments database. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/qbjyxp accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-06-19.

CC0Published 7/21/2023View dataset
GBIF Usage Key
212419405
Dataset Key
3c1eedbd-6795-4560-a147-fd1320d5da1a
Origin
source
Backbone Key
10274579
Taxon ID
03FC6644DC492C7BFF79F9EB6FC7FEEA.taxon
Last Crawled
6/18/2026
Last Interpreted
6/18/2026