TWO NEW EPIGEAN PSEUDOSCORPIONS ( NEOBISIIDAE , PSEUDOSCORPIONES ) FROM THE MARITIME ALPS , FRANCE

Two species of pseudoscorpions new to science (Neobisium montisageli n. sp. and Roncus peissei n. sp.), collected in Southeastern France, are described, the diagnostic characteristics are illustrated, and their distribution is given. The possible establishment of two species groups of Roncus in Europe is discussed briefly in view of the importance of some of the diagnostic characteristics.


INTRODUCTION
In the present study, material from a single sample of pseudoscorpions collected by one of us (J.-M.L.) in 2008 is examined.The specimens studied belonged to two species new to science: Neobisium mentisageli n. sp. and Roncus peissei n. sp.The epigean taxa described in this paper are probably endemic and relict forms which inhabit habitats in the Maritime Alps in Southeastern France.
All specimens were mounted on slides in Swan's fluid (gum-chloral medium) and deposited in the collection of the Institute of Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.

Figs. 1-8.
Galea of a low hyaline convexity (Fig. 7).Fixed cheliceral finger with six setae, movable finger with one seta (Fig. 7); galeal seta inserted just below the level of large teeth on the movable cheliceral finger.Fixed cheliceral finger with 11 triangular teeth which are gradually replaced by lower, smaller, close-set teeth.Movable cheliceral finger with seven distal teeth and four or five elevations which diminish basally (Fig. 7).Flagellum eight-bladed; only two distal blades are pinnate along their anterior margins.Other flagellar blades smooth and acuminate, decreasing from distal to proximal (Fig. 3); the two or three proximalmost blades are the smallest.
Apex of pedipalpal coxa (manducatory process) with five long and acuminate setae.Pedipalpal trochanter with two small tubercles, chelal palm slenderly ovate.Chelal finger slightly longer than chelal palm.Pedipalpal femur with interior and dorsal granulations (Fig. 1), other articles smooth; femur longer than chelal finger (Table 1).Fixed chelal finger with 63 small teeth which are triangular, pointed, retroconical and contiguous, not reaching the level of ib (Fig. 8).Movable chelal finger with 49 small and contiguous teeth which do not reach the level of b; the teeth are gradually replaced by rounded teeth and eventually by smaller, narrower, triangular and pointed teeth which reach as far as the level of b-sb (Fig. 8).
Disposition of trichobothria (Fig. 8): eb, esb, ib, and isb on the base of the finger; et, it, and est on proximal finger half, ist somewhat closer to est than to ib.Seta sb closer to b than to st, st closer to t than to sb.Distance b-sb longer than t-st.Distance sb-st less than twice as long as b-sb and more than twice as long as b-sb (Fig. 8).
Anterior and median rim of coxa I with few chitinous and transparent points.Pedal tactile setae: tibia with one elongated sensitive seta, basitarsus IV with one long seta, and tarsus IV with a single sensitive seta (Fig. 4).Subterminal tarsal setae furcate, each branch with few spinnules.
Morphometric ratios and linear measurements are presented in Table 1.
Diagnosis.-The new species (N.montisageli n. sp.) is easily distinguished from all Neobisium species known to date from France (Heurtault, 1985).From its phenetically closest congeners it is easily recognized by its trichobothriotaxy, pedipalpal granulations, the form of the pedipalpal articles, and many morphometric measurements and ratios (Figs. 1 and 8; Table 1).It is probably phenetically close to some congeners inhabiting epigean habitats in Monaco and/or Italy.
Distribution.-Mons Agel, Maritime Alps, France, epigean.Possibly distributed in Monaco and the adjoining Italian regions.
Remarks.-This is probably an endemic and relict pseudoscorpion species.The presence of granulations on its pedipalpal femur points either to its closeness to some Serbian (N.fuscimanum C. L. Koch), Bulgarian, and Turkish species of the genus or to the possibility of the original parallelism in the occurrence of the characteristics mentioned (Ćurčić, 1977).
Galea of an inconspicuous elevation of the finger margin (Fig. 16).Cheliceral palm with six setae, movable finger with one seta; galeal seta inserted at the level of the largest teeth of the movable cheliceral finger (Fig. 16).Fixed cheliceral finger with 10-12 small distal and apically rounded teeth, which are followed by some tiny interspaced teeth which diminish in size proximally.Movable cheliceral finger with seven or eight small distal and rounded teeth which decrease in size from distal to proximal (Fig. 16).Flagellum of eight blades; seven distal blades of almost equal size and one small blade proximally.All flagellar blades are pinnate along their anterior margins (Fig. 15).
Manducatory process with four long and acuminate setae.Trochanter with a small tubercle, pedipalpal articles slightly elongated.Pedipalpal femur granulated interiorly and laterally, with a single exterior and lateral tubercle (Fig. 12).Chelal palm ovate (dorsal view), chelal fingers slender.Fixed chelal finger with 53-60 small, contiguous, and asymmetrically pointed teeth, reaching as far as the level of ib; only a few proximal teeth are somewhat rounded.Movable chelal finger with 52-55 teeth; only a few distal teeth are asymmetrically pointed, and these are gradually replaced by lower, close-set, square-topped or rounded teeth which reach the level of b.Chelal finger longer than chelal palm (Table 1); pedipalpal femur only slightly longer than chelal fingers.Trichobothriotaxy: eb, esb, ib, and isb on the base of the finger, esb slightly basal to eb; it equidistant from et and est.Seta ist slightly closer to est than to isb.Seta ist closer to ib than to the finger tip.Setae b and sb inserted in the proximal and st and t in the distal finger half (Fig. 9).Distance sb-st somewhat longer than b-sb, and almost 1.5 times as long as t-st.
Coxa I: anterior and median rim with few chitinous points.Trochanteral foramen small.Pedal tactile setae: tibia IV, basitarsus IV, and telotarsus IV each with a single tactile seta.Subterminal tarsal setae furcate, each branch with a few spinnules.
Morphometric ratios and measurements as in Table 1.
Diagnosis.-The newly discovered species, Roncus peissei n. sp., clearly differs from its congener R. drescoi Heurtault, 1985 in the shape and granulation of the pedipalpal articles, the disposition of trichobothria and in many morphometric measurements and ratios (Heurtault, 1985).
With regard to a single diagnostic characteristicpresence/absence of microsetae (proximal to eb and esb) -it should be noted that this feature is present in R. lubricus L. Koch, and virtually absent in R. pannonius Ćurčić, Dimitrijević, and Karamata, 1992.However, these setae are probably missing in R. peissei n. sp., since a single microseta is present but only between eb and esb, and not proximal to these trichobothria (Ćurčić, 1992a, 1992b; Ćurčić et al., 1992, 1993).It is possible that the presence or absence of this characteristic may be useful in distinguishing between representatives of the two species' groups which we designated elsewhere as "West-European" (R. lubricus) and "East-European" (R. pannonius).The taxonomic position of R. peissei n. sp. is probably an intermediary one, hence further studies on the French Roncus species are inevitable.
Distribution.-Peisse, Maritime Alps, France, epigean.One of us (JML) collected the species of Neobisiidae, which is new to science; it was found in the Maritime Alps, north of Monaco and was collected from under stones and leaf-litter.
Remarks.-The pseudoscorpions in France, both cave-dwelling and epigean, are scarcely known (Harvey, 1990).This is particularly due to the fact that they have been neglected during faunistic studies, and that pseudoscorpionologists in France are diminishing in number in an exponential manner.Moreover, the names of a number of these arachnids are synonyms.