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Six New Species of Genus Pedetontus Silvestri, 1911 (Microcoryphia: Machilidae), from Southern China †
1
College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
2
Key Laboratory of Wildlife Biotechnology, Conservation and Utilization of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Zoobank Link: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:98F98919-E673-4C0A-8FE7-11CCCD2AF8BE; urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:7B7D8D89-1579-40FA-A1EB-04C3B6DEB877; urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4C21B2F2-5BD0-4D46-BD78-7A78A941DCA0; urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4D83A441-4098-4384-B529-75E5B3D303A4; urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D809BC47-4BED-4B63-993D-31267071EE31; urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8C07BFC0-2BB3-4053-A2AB-23B08DA13180.
Insects 2025, 16(9), 916; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects16090916
Submission received: 17 July 2025
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Revised: 23 August 2025
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Accepted: 29 August 2025
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Published: 1 September 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Insect Systematics, Phylogeny and Evolution)
Simple Summary
Bristletails (Microcoryphia), due to their remote habitats and cryptic lifestyles, have long remained among the least studied insect groups. Research on these insects, which retain numerous ancestral morphological traits, is of significant importance for understanding the early origins and evolutionary pathways of insects. Through the examination of specimens collected in southern China, we identified six previously undescribed species within the genus Pedetontus Silvestri, 1911. Utilizing dissections and high-resolution imaging under a stereomicroscope, this study provides comprehensive color documentation of various morphological structures, greatly surpassing the quality and detail of earlier records, which were largely confined to monochromatic line drawings and incomplete color images.
Abstract
Bristletails (Microcoryphia) represent a relatively understudied group of class Insecta. These wingless hexapods, which retain numerous plesiomorphic structures, remain less well understood compared to most other insect lineages. Through detailed morphological examination of specimens collected from southern China, we describe six new species (Pedetontus (Verhoeffilis) elegans sp. n. from Zhejiang; P. (V.) hezhouensis sp. n., P. (V.) jinxiuensis sp. n., and P. (V.) nanningensis sp. n. from Guangxi; and P. (V.) shenzhenensis sp. n. and P. (V.) xanthospilus sp. n. from Guangdong) of subgenus Verhoeffilis Paclt, 1972. This subgenus is distinguished from other members of the Petrobiinae by several diagnostic features: paired ocelli shoe-shaped (fusiform-shaped) and submedian; two pairs of retractile vesicles on abdominal segments II–V; parameres restricted to coxite IX; penis opening small and apical; male genitalia not exceeding coxite IX; and ovipositor of primary type. The new species can be distinguished from known species and each other by the morphology of the compound eyes, maxilla, labial palps, legs, and genitalia; here, we provide detailed illustrations, tables, and descriptions. Furthermore, we sequence the COX1 gene to construct a phylogenetic tree of Microcoryphia. This contribution increases the total number of reported Pedetontus species in China to seventeen.
Keywords:
Microcoryphia; Archaeognatha; Pedetontus; China; taxonomy; morphology; COX1
