RECORDS OF THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM 83 229–240 (2013) DOI: 10.18195/issn.0313-122x.83.2013.229-240 SUPPLEMENT A new species of Heterolepisma from Barrow Island (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) Graeme Smith Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia. Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT – The silverfish fauna of Barrow Island is discussed and Heterolepisma parva sp.nov. is described from extensive material collected mostly in pitfall traps or Winkler sac leaf litter samples. KEYWORDS: Thysanura, taxonomy INTRODUCTION saccharina Linnaeus (see Laibach 1952) and the superficial damage that occurs between moults Extensive biological survey work on Barrow such as lost scales and setae. Island commencing in 2006 (Callan et al. 2011) collected about 1500 silverfish which were sent to The Barrow Island material also contained a the author for sorting to morphospecies. All except single male specimen belonging to the enigmatic one belonged to the family Lepismatidae, a family endemic genus Anisolepisma Paclt, 1967 (Figure which has received very little attention in Australia, 5), previously only known from a single female with the most recent review of the Australian fauna collected at Northampton, WA by the 1905 by Womersley in 1939. The collection proved to be Michaelsen & Hartmeyer Hamburg University quite rich in species with at least 10 morphospecies South Western Australia expedition (Silvestri 1908). (selected examples Figures 1–8), one of which Originally suspected as being conspecific with (nominally Acrotelsella devriesiana group) certainly Anisolepisma hartmeyeri (Silvestri), re-examination includes more than one species and quite probably of the holotype of the latter has shown the two to several. be separate species. These and other species will The majority of specimens collected during be described, along with a revision of the genus in this survey work belong to the genus Acrotelsella a separate work (Smith & Mendes, in preparation). Silvestri (Figures 1–4). This genus is quite common At least two other genera are represented in Australia, especially in hotter and drier regions. which are probably new; one belonging to the It is also known from South America, Africa, subfamily Ctenolepismatinae and represented the Middle East, South-East Asia into China and by several specimens (Figure 6) and the other various Pacific and Indian Ocean islands such from an extremely small (ca. 2 mm) but probably as the Galapagos, Hawaii, Madagascar and the mature, slightly damaged female from the Seychelles. The author has collected many species subfamily Lepismatinae (Figure 7). The introduced, in Australia and seen many more in museum cosmopolitan Ctenolepisma longicaudata Escherich collections, none of which can be confidently was later collected within buildings on the island. identified due to the complexity of the genus and Work outside the initial biosurvey project the inadequate early descriptions. The genus collected a large female Nicoletiid of the genus requires a great deal of attention for a clear picture of the Australian fauna to be established. Ideally Trinemura Silvestri from a subterranean habitat. Its this morphological work should be accompanied very long ovipositor distinguishes it from other by molecular studies to overcome the difficulties described species of Trinemura however a mature of intraspecific variation associated with the lack male would be required to adequately describe the of a defined adult stage (silverfish may moult more species’ morphology. than twenty times during their life and continue to Surprisingly, no representatives of the Atelurinae, moult after reaching sexual maturity e.g. Lepisma were found among the material provided. Silverfish urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4789C803-2B01-4ECC-B9FF-31C1F0D4D839 230 G. SMITH FIGURES 1–8 Selected Barrow Island morphospecies, all adult, most with antennae and terminal filaments incomplete and only some scales shown: 1, Acrotelsella (devriesiana group); 2, Acrotelsella sp.; 3, Acrotelsella sp.; 4, Acrotelsella sp.; 5, Anisolepisma sp.; 6, Ctenolepismatinae, genus unknown; 7, Lepismatinae, genus unknown; 8, Heterolepisma parva sp. nov. (holotype). All to same scale, scale bar: 1 mm. A NEW HETEROLEPISMA FROM BARROW ISLAND 231 of this subfamily are, to a greater or lesser extent, exacta (Silvestri, 1918) was described from Tanzania. inquilines with ants or termites. Given the In total some 18 species are described, mostly large numbers of ant species collected and the inadequately. excavation of termites nests during the survey Silvestri (1908) described the first Australian work, their presence on the island would be species of Heterolepisma from south-western expected, suggesting there is possibly a sampling Western Australia with H. stilivarians, H. kraepelini, issue with this subfamily. Many inquilines rarely H. michaelseni and H. hartmeyeri (the latter now the travel outside the nest with the worker ants and so type species of Anisolepisma Paclt, 1967). Womersley would have little chance of being caught in pitfall (1939) presented a translation of Escherich’s traps. Being safely ensconced in the host nest they description slightly modified to include Silvestri’s would have avoided suction sampling and most are Australian species, commenting that the four surprisingly agile and quickly disappear from view endemic species described by Silvestri (1908) differ when the nest is disturbed. only in the shape of the metasternite. He reports Finally, large numbers of a single species of finding H. stilivarians to be not uncommon under the genus Heterolepisma Escherich, 1905 were the loose bark of Eucalypts in the Mount Lofty collected in many of the sampled localities. It is a ranges SA, records H. michaelseni at Sou’-West comparatively small species and not much more River on Kangaroo Island and not uncommonly than half the size of other Heterolepisma species so under eucalypt bark at Glenunga, SA and of far described and its description is the subject of frequently taking H. kraepelini from under eucalypt this paper. bark in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Range, Escherich (1905) created the genera Heterolepisma near Adelaide and at Murray Bridge, SA as well (for Lepisma pampeana Silvestri, 1902 and L. andina as Trevallyn in Tasmania. Womersley (1942) also Silvestri, 1902, both from Argentina) and Isolepisma described H. howensis from Lord Howe Island, but (for his new species I. trisetosa from Indonesia). The Wygodzinsky (1961) suggested that H. howensis two genera differed from each other in a number may just be a population of H. zealandica. Many of minor ways including body shape, length of undescribed species have recently been collected urotergite X and the degree rather than the pattern from all Australian states and more species are of the chaetotaxy. Stach (1933) reviewed Escherich’s represented in various museum collections around arrangement, in light of the 10 additional species Australia. Given the now fairly inadequate nature described in the intervening years, concluding of these early descriptions, it would be worthwhile that there was no justification for maintaining re-examining Womersley’s material, challenging Heterolepisma and Isolepisma as separate genera. the identifications and redescribing Silvestri’s He selected Heterolepisma as the generic name original material. This is however beyond the for all species previously included in these two scope of this paper, which will only describe the genera without specifically nominating which of species common on Barrow Island and discuss its the two species described by Escherich was to be morphology in comparison to those species already the type species. Paclt (1967) lists Lepisma pampeana described. Silvestri, 1902 as the type species. In the meantime, Tillyard (1924) had created the genus Notolepisma SPECIMEN SELECTION AND PREPARATION for his new species N. zealandica from New Zealand. Wygodzinsky (1961) examined topotypical Four tubes containing larger specimens were material of this species (the holotype apparently selected as the type series. The preservation of the very poorly preserved), correcting some errors bristles in this material was generally poor however in the description and making Notolepisma a new the insertion points are clearly visible in dissected synonym of Heterolepisma. and slide mounted material. All specimens referred Heterolepisma is considered by various authors to in the description are deposited with the Western (e.g. Mendes 1991, Irish 1990) to be the most Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, plesiomorphic genus of the Lepismatidae. It is a Western Australia 6106. Some of the numerous large widespread genus with a mostly southern other specimens of this species collected on Barrow distribution with many described species occurring Island (not included in the type series) have been in the Australian region. It is also found in South deposited in the entomological collection of the America, on several Pacific and Indian Ocean Australian Museum in Sydney, while the rest will islands (Wygodzinsky 1967) and as far north as the be returned to Curtin University, Kent Street, southern islands of Japan (Uchida 1944 and 1968). Bentley, Western Australia 6102. It is not common in Africa but records exist from Measurement data of whole specimens in alcohol Angola and Mozambique (Mendes 1993) and H. were taken using a 10/100 scale in the 10x ocular 232 G. SMITH of an Olympus CHT stage microscope. Specimens SYSTEMATICS were placed in a Petri