Iulidesmus minerus, Romero-Rincon & Golovatch, 2024

Romero-Rincon, Juan & Golovatch, Sergei I., 2024, The millipede genus Iulidesmus Silvestri, 1895 in Colombia (Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae, Catharosomatini), Zootaxa 5415 (1), pp. 56-76 : 61-63

Iulidesmus minerus new species

Figs 4 , 5 , 14

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1D019203-395B-4D49-A521-C465B393CED9

Diagnosis. The new species seems to be particularly similar to I. florezi n. sp., from Bolivar, Colombia, and I. sabaneta n. sp., from Antioquia, Colombia, but it differs from both by the lamina medialis (lm) becoming free whence the solenomere (sl) starts. In addition, this seems to be the only species in the genus with a characteristic spine (k) on the solenophore (sph), similar to such in Catharosoma bilineatum Golovatch, 2005 , but less strongly developed and showing no contiguous lamellar processes ( Golovatch 2005).

Name. The species name is an adjective referring to the type habitat: Calenturitas mine, Cesar, Colombia .

Material examined.

Holotype. COLOMBIA ● ♂; Cesar , El Paso, La Jagua de Ibirico and Becerril , Calenturitas mine (9°38′N, 73°28′W); Octuber 2012; K. Salazar-Niño leg.; (ICN-MD-410).

Description. Length of holotype, 24 mm, width of midbody metazona, 2.1 mm. Coloration in alcohol dark reddish brown 44 to brownish orange 54. Antennae moderate reddish orange 37, only tip of antenna entirely pallid; legs light orange 52, tibiae lighter and femora entirely pallid.

Body strongylosomoid, not too moniliform, with poorly developed paraterga ( Fig. 4 ). Postcollar constriction faint; in width, head <collum <ring 2 = 3 <4 <5 <6 – 15; on rings 16–20, trunk gradually and gently tapering towards telson. Antennae long, claviform, in situ almost reaching the end of ring 4 ( Fig. 4 ); in length, antennomeres 3=4>2>5>6>1=7.

Paraterga set low (at about half midbody height), considerably larger on pore-bearing rings than on poreless ones, never projecting caudally past rear tergal margin, flattened and decreasing in size from ring 13 towards telson. Transverse mid-dorsal sulci present on rings 5–18, faint, thin lines not reaching the bases of paraterga. Ozopores lateral, only slightly visible from above, located inside round to ovoid grooves, lying on poriferous paraterga at ca 1/4 metazonital length off caudal edge. Tegument generally smooth, 2+2 long setae (each ca 0.23 mm long) or their insertion points anteriorly in one transverse row on each postcollar metatergum ( Fig. 4 ).

Sterna largely with slight cross-impressions, poorly setose, sternal cones traceable between coxae 3–7 (male), cones about same in size, small, flattened and with short setae as in coxa 4 of I. garciae n. sp. ( Fig. 3A ). Legs long (ca 1.25 times longer than midbody height), tarsal brushes present, traceable until legs of body ring 14 (holotype with legs on rings 15–17 broken off), legs on ring 18 with tarsi densely setose, but tarsal brushes absent; coxae and prefemora each with a conspicuous long seta ventro-apically in anterior legs. Femora without adenostyles. In length, tarsus> tibia = femur> postfemur> prefemur.

Gonopod ( Fig. 5 ) relatively simple. Coxite (cx) subcylindrical, with a small ventral hump at midway, not too elongate, setose distoventrally at about midlength; cannula (ca) normal, not inflated. Prefemorite (pfe) shorter that femorite (fe), densely setose as usual; fe demarcated clearly basally from pfe and distally by a distofemoral sulcus (su1). sph directed medially, large and long, subcircular, apical lobe (lo) shorter, clearly demarcated by su1 and slightly so by postfemoral sulcus (su2). Lamina medialis (lm) acuminate, short and slender, supporting most of solenomere (sl); lamina lateralis (ll) emarginate, longer and larger, medial distal process imbricate on a small and flattened lamina, medially at about midlength with a small tooth k.

Remarks. This new species clearly falls into group V, subgroup 3c of Jeekel (1963), sharing with the obviously particularly similar I. venezuelanus ( Verhoeff, 1938) (= I. araguanus ( Chamberlin, 1952) , synonymized by Jeekel (2002), from several places near Caracas, Aragua state, Venezuela ( Verhoeff 1938; Chamberlin 1952; Jeekel 2002), the gonopodal sph being curved to form an almost complete circle and its apical part bilobate, but it differs by both lo and pfe being larger and with an evident tooth k in the lateral part of sph. Following Hoffman (1977), we also exclude I. semirugosus (Pocock, 1888) , from Dominica Island, Antilles, from this subgroup.

Distribution. Only known from the type locality ( Fig. 14 ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Iuludesmus garciae n. sp., male holotype (MHN-UPN-MD-220). A. Sternal tubercles between coxae 4–7. B. Leg 4. C. Femur 5. D. Femur 6. E. Femur 7. F. Leg 21. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURE 4. Iulidesmus minerus n. sp., male holotype (ICN-MD-410).A. Habitus in dorsolateral view. B. Habitus in ventrolateral view. Scale bar: 4 mm.

FIGURE 5. Left gonopod of Iulidesmus minerus n. sp., male holotype (ICN-MD-410). A, D. Mesal view. B, E. Ventral view. C, F. Lateral view. Abbreviations: ca: cannula, cx: coxite, fe: femorite, k: spine, ll: lamina lateralis, lm: lamina medialis, lo: apical lobe, pfe: prefemorite, sl: solenomere, sph: solenophore, su1: distofemoral sulcus, su2: postfemoral sulcus. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 14. Distribution map of six new species of Iulidesmus Silvestri, 1895 in Colombia.