Brunsonia digitata, Shear & Richart & Wong, 2020

Shear, William A., Richart, Casey H. & Wong, Victoria L., 2020, The millipede family Conotylidae in northwestern North America, with a complete bibliography of the family (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Heterochordeumatidea, Conotyloidea), Zootaxa 4753 (1), pp. 1-78 : 41-42

Brunsonia digitata , new species

Figs. 153–158

Types: Male holotype from WASHINGTON: Grays Harbor Co., FS-2153 5.3 mi N of Kelley Road, Canyon River basin, elev. 160 m., 47.3035°N, - 123.5081°W, collected 12 December 2004, by W. Leonard .

Diagnosis: This species is unique among others of Brunsonia due to the lack of femoral knobs on any of the male pregonopodal legs.

Etymology: The species name is an adjective referring to the fingerlike projection on the anterior gonopods.

Description: Male holotype: Length, 9.0 mm. 19–21 ocelli in triangular eyepatch. Metazonites with well-developed shoulders on all trunk segments, on midbody segments shoulders nearly level with midline dorsum, with angular posterior corners, segmental setae quite short, spatulate to clavate. Legpairs three to seven encrassate, prefemora curved, pair three the largest, with conspicuously swollen femora mesally depressed ( Fig. 157 ), only femora 5 with knobs ( Fig. 158 ); legpair 2 smaller than legpair three, but also encrassate, femoral knobs absent. Anterior gonopods ( Figs. 153 , 155 ) upright, parallel, lobe-like, posterior surface wrinkled, with distinctive lateroposterior fingerlike branch. Posterior gonopod coxites ( Figs. 154 , 156 ) complex, mesally with 3 or 4 long, thin pseudoflagella, main body of coxite with deep groove, coxite tip with two recurved teeth. Legpair 10 enlarged, with glands, legpair 11 prefemora with dorsally directed stout processes.

Females not collected.

Distribution: WASHINGTON: Grays Harbor Co., same as type locality except 13 October 2003. Jefferson Co., Queets River Road 5.8 mi E of US-101, elev. 90 m., 47.5724°N, - 124.1356°W, 13 February 2005, W. Leonard, C. Richart, from the litter and woody debris of a mixed forest including Alnus rubra , Tsuga heterophylla , and Polystichum munitum , m.

Notes: Most of the usual processes posterior on the posterior gonopod coxite seem to be absent in this species; the labelling of the figures reflects speculations about process identity. The anterior gonopod is also unusual, but taking all things under consideration, Brunsonia seems to be the best placement for this species.

Figures

FIGS. 144–154. Brunsonia spp. Figs. 145–152. Brunsonia pulchra. Figs. 144–146.Anterior gonopods. Fig. 144. Anterior view. Fig. 145. Posterior view. Fig. 146. Mesal view. Fig. 147. Left posterior gonopod coxite, posterior view. Figs. 148–152. Male legs 3–7, respectively. Figs. 153, 154. Brunsonia digitata. Fig. 153. Left anterior gonopod, posterior view. Fig. 154. Left posterior gonopod coxite, posterior view.

FIGS. 155–158. Brunsonia digitata. Fig. 155. Left anterior gonopod, posterior view. Fig. 156. Right posterior gonopod coxite, posterior view. Fig. 157. Male leg 3. Fig. 158. Detail of male leg 7.