Coded Taxonomy Applied to Old and New Descriptions of Mucrosomia (Collembola: Isotomidae): A Bibliographic Revision and New Species of the Genus

Abstract

Collembola are minute, wingless hexapods that occur in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems and playing a fundamental role in soil functioning and global carbon cycling. The taxonomy within the family Isotomidae is unclear due to the strong morphological similarity among species, low interspecific variability, and overlapping chaetotaxic patterns that often obscure species boundaries. These challenges highlight the need for standardized approaches that minimize subjectivity in descriptions and enable comparability across taxa. The genus Mucrosomia is a small but significant lineage within Isotomidae, comprising four recognized species distributed across distinct habitats worldwide. In this study, we provide the first comprehensive revision of Mucrosomia using Coded Taxonomy, a framework that translates morphological characters into coded matrices, enabling reproducibility and integration with digital platforms. We describe two new species, Mucrosomia janssensi sp. nov. and Mucrosomia potapovi sp. nov., and attempt to code the previously described species under the new standardized system. Our results establish a robust comparative basis for the genus and demonstrate the potential of coded approaches to advance Collembola taxonomy.

Bibliographic Information