Description of a new species of Lepidocampa Oudemans, 1890 (Diplura: Campodeidae) from Eastern Himalayan regions and molecular identification of Lepidocampa juradii bengalensis from West Bengal, India

Lepidocampa sikkimensis sp. nov. (Campodeidae) is described from the Eastern Himalayan regions of India. The most recent taxonomic work on Indian Diplura, dating to 1977, is a description of Lepidocampa juradii bengalensis Rani & Mitra, 1977.

The current study also rediscovered this subspecies after decades from two different geographic locations in West Bengal, India. GenBank contains only Lepidocampa weberi Oudemans, 1890 COI sequences; however, sequences of other group members are necessary for drawing the phylogenetic relationships of this crucial evolutionary group. This study provided DNA barcodes for L. juradii bengalensis for the first time from around the globe.

As the scattered nature of information and the unavailability of old bibliographic references complicate the study of Indian Diplura, we provide an updated checklist of Indian Diplura, along with references.