A new species of Seira (Collembola: Entomobryidae: Seirini) from the Northeastern Brazilian coastal region

Abstract

Seira Lubbock, 1869 is the most speciose genus of Collembola in Brazil. Herein, we describe and illustrate a new species of Seira, Seira ritae sp. nov., collected in João Pessoa, state of Paraíba, Brazil, in an urban seaside area. The new species shows many similarities with S. mendoncea Bellini & Zeppelini, 2009 especially in what concerns the dorsal distribution of the macrochaetae of the head, the metathorax, and the first three abdominal segments. However, the two species can be distinguished by the chaetotaxy of the mesothorax and abdominal segment IV. The type locality of the species probably indicates some level of natural resistance to the impacts associated with human activities.

Keywords

• Brazilian collembolan diversity
• chaetotaxy patterns
• Entomobryomorpha
• Seirinae
• systematics