New Australian Paronellidae (Collembola) reveal anomalies in existing tribal diagnoses

Abstract

We describe here two new species, Zhuqinia jingwanae, gen. & sp. nov. and Paronellides praefectus, sp. nov., both from Mount Twynam, New South Wales, Australia. The systematic position of Zhuqinia, gen. nov. in relation to other paronellids is not clear because the new genus possesses pointed, heavily striated scales similar to species of Callyntrurini. However, unlike species in that tribe, it lacks dental scales. Instead, Zhuqinia, gen. nov. is more similar to the unscaled genus Paronellides (Cremastocephalini) in other characters (abundant tergal macrochaetae, 2, 2|1, 2, 2, ?, 3 tergal S-chaetae, moderately long mucro with two teeth, etc.) but body scales are absent in all species of Paronellides. Multilocus phylogeny shows Zhuqinia, gen. nov. clustering with Paronellides rather than Callyntrurini or other Cremastocephalini genera. This study provides new information on the relationships between paronellid taxa, and changes the current higher classification of the family, particularly that of the tribes Cremastocephalini and Callyntrurini. As the new genus is known only from two peaks in the Snowy Mountain range, our data emphasise the role of montane areas as refugia for short-range endemic taxa.