Siphonophora pubescens Schubart, 1947

Read, Helen J. & Enghoff, Henrik, 2019, Siphonophoridae from Brazilian Amazonia. Part 2 - Two new treeclimbing species of the genus Siphonophora, including one showing pilosity polymorphism (Diplopoda, Siphonophorida), European Journal of Taxonomy 496, pp. 1-26 : 8

Siphonophora pubescens Schubart, 1947

Diagnosis (translated from Schubart 1947)

Body length 5.5–10 mm, width 0.6–0.7 mm. Yellowish brown: the first 10 to 20 tergites more reddish, rostrum and antennae pale yellowish tinted, usually darker prozonites, the ventral side and legs pale. Some specimens very dark. Head covered with fine bristles, rostrum elongated to medium length, reaching almost the end of the antennae. Rostrum with 2 bristles near the base and some short ones on the distal part. Thick antennae; the 7 th antennomere protected by the 6 th. Antennomeres 5 and 6 with fields of sensilla.

Material examined

None.

Remarks

This species was described from Brazil (the state of Pará). The original description is good and includes several clear drawings. The head shape of this species is ‘gradual’, although in dorsal view it is very triangular and does not appear to have a sinuous lateral margin where the antennae are inserted. The posterior gonopods are very simple, similar to those of S. hebetunguis in having a spine partway along, but ending in a reduced claw. The anterior gonopods, however, are quite different, consisting of two parts, which Schubart considered to be a solenomerite and a prefemoral process, which is completely unlike conditions in any of the species described here. Siphonophora pubescens also has setae on the coxae of the anterior gonopods, and the gonopods appear rather differently aligned in relation to the sternum. It is similar in having smooth coxae, as in S. setaepromissa sp. nov., and the pleurite margin is sinuous, with small tubercles and short hairs.

This species is similar to S. portoricensis in the rough shape of the anterior gonopods, which also have a mesal lobe on the mesal side. In addition, the coxae of the first pair of legs have medial projections, as in S. setaepromissa sp. nov.