| abstract | Wood (1964) eracted the genus Mnllederia with M. arborea Wood as type spe-cies. This paper describes a new species of this genus collected from Sichuan Province, China. Up to now this genus comprises five species: M. arborea Wood, 1964, M. neomaculata (Meyer et Ryke), 1959, M. centrata Meyer, 1969, M, alveolata Tseng, 1982 and M. sichuanensis sp. nov.
Mulledera sichuanensis sp. nov. (figs. 1-8)
Female Length 313 µ, width 275 µ. Body disc-shaped, dark red in colour, dorsal setae pallid. Dorsum covered with a complete, heavily sculptured plate, on which with a pattern in polygonal network separated each other by thick wall. Dorsal setae ten pairs, (he) and (li) tiny, others spine-like, serrated and borne on distinct tubercles. The second propodosomals (be) the longest (129 µ) and interealaries (li) the shortest (6.6 µ) in all of dorsal setae. With four pairs of hypostomal setae, the distance between the last pair wider than those between the other three. The suranal setae (le, e) similar in length. Palpus with well developed thumb-claw process, palptarsus with seven setae, including a tri-partite sensillum distally and a clubbed sensillum proximaly. The numbers of all setae on legs I-IV as follows: coxae 2, 1, 1, 1; trochanters 1 in each; femora 5, 5, 2, 2(1); genus 2, 0, 0, 0; tibiae 6. 6, 6, 5; tarsi 13, 9, 6, 6. Tarsi and tibiae I-IV each with a solenidia. Each tarsus with a pair of claws and a membranous pad; the empodium consisting of a rod with two pairs of raylets.
Male Length of body 248 µ, width 204 µ. Suranal setae longer than (le). Tarsi I-IV each with 2 solenidia.
Holotype ♀, allotype ♂ and paratypes 21♀♀, V. 17. 1979, Sichuan Province (Mt. Qingcheng, app. 31°N, 103°E), on Viburnum brachybotryum. Other series of para-types 2♂♂, V. 18. 1979 (Mt. Qingcheng) on Rubus lambertianus. 6♀♀, VI. 11. 1979, Sichuan Province (Mt. Emei, app. 29°N, 103°E) on Holboellia sp.. Holotype, allotype and 22 paratypes (20 ♀♀, 2 ♂♂) are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica; 7 paratypes (♀) are deposited in British Museum.
This new speeies differs from M. neomaculata, (Meyer and Ryke) and M. centrata Meyer in all dorsal setae being subequal in length except (he) and (li) and each tarsus with a pair of claws. It also can be separated from M. arborae Wood and M. alveolata Tseng by the spine-like dorsal setae, intercalary setae (li) on dorsum, suranal plate located on posterior margin of body, and by the distance between each pair of hypostomal seta, that of the fourth pair being the widest.
Acknowledgment is extended to Dr. D. Macfarlane for comparing the new species with M. arborale Wood and taking photograohs of them for me. |