Chaleponcus vandenspiegeli, Enghoff, 2014

Enghoff, Henrik, 2014, A mountain of millipedes I: An endemic species-group of the genus Chaleponcus Attems, 1914, from the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Odontopygidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 100, pp. 1-75 : 46-48

Chaleponcus vandenspiegeli sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:A2C22BA2-915D-47DC-A49C-9EE26F52F8D9

Figs 9 , 23

Diagnosis

Medium-sized. Gonopod coxa ( Fig. 9 ) without a lateral process; metaplical shelf-spine long. Telomere with an anterior lamella ending in two short, parallel processes and a posterior lamella with serrate margin.

Etymology

The name honours Didier VandenSpiegel in recognition of his taxonomic work on Afrotropical millipedes.

Material studied (total: 1 ♂)

Holotype

TANZANIA: ♂, Iringa Region, Iringa District, New Dabaga / Ulangambi FR, 08°05’ 34.5” S, 35°55’ 31.5” E, montane, 1800–1900 m asl, plot 16, casual, 15–16 Nov. 2000, Frontier Tanzania leg. ( ZMUC).

Type locality

TANZANIA: Iringa Region, Iringa District, Udzungwa Mts, New Dabaga/Ulangambi FR, 08°05’ 34.5” S, 35°55’ 31.5” E, 1800–1900 m asl.

Description (male)

DIAMETER. 2.0 mm, 44 podous rings.

COLOUR. After 14 years in alcohol generally straw-yellow, with a broad, light middorsal stripe formed by an hourglass-shaped spot on each body ring; stripe flanked by dark paramedian zones.

ANAL VALVES. Each with a small dorsal and a very small ventral denticle; mesal margin raised, setiferous tubercles not on ravelins.

LIMBUS. With slender triangular lobes; lobes ca. twice as long as broad.

TARSAL SETATION. Normal.

GONOPOD COXA ( Figs 9 , 23 ). About 3½ × as long as broad. Metaplical flange ending in rounded, projecting lobe (mfp); metaplica with large rounded process (mp) just basal to arculus. Metaplical shelf (ms) relatively small. Metaplical shelf-spine (mss) medium-long, directed mesad, bent at ca. 120° at midlength.

GONOPOD TELOPODITE ( Fig. 23 ). Solenomere with a medium-long proximal spine (ps). Telomere distally

with two branches which both bend anteriad:

• a relatively simple anterior lamella (al) with a number of lobes etc. along its margin, including two short, parallel processes (alp1, alp2),

• a strongly convoluted posterior lamella (pl) which because of its bending over is largely visible in anterior view; margin of pl strongly serrate.

Distribution and habitat

Known only from Udzungwa Mts, New Dabaga/Ulangambi FR. Altitudinal range: 1800–1900 m asl. Habitat: montane forest.

Coexisting species

C. gracilior sp. nov., C. netus sp. nov. and C. termini sp. nov. were found in the same sample as C. vandenspiegeli sp. nov. In addition, C. dabagaensis , C. krai sp. nov., C. malleolus sp. nov., C. mwabvui sp. nov., C. nectarinia sp. nov., C. teres sp. nov. and C. vilici sp. nov. occur in New Dabaga/Ulangambi FR.

Note

The gonopods of C. vandenspiegeli sp. nov. somewhat resemble those of the much bigger species C. krai sp. nov. The two processes of the anterior telopodal lamella in C. vandenspiegeli sp. nov. are in almost the same position in relation to the rest of the gonopod as the two parallel lobes on the posterior telopodal lamella in C. ibis sp. nov.

Figures

Fig. 9. Chaleponcus spp., outline of coxite of left gonopod, posterior view. (The ’transverse’ plane of the gonopod is usually slightly at angles with the exact transverse plane of the millipede, so it may be necessary to tilt the gonopod slightly in order to obtain the view shown on the drawings.) The stippled lines indicate the place where the telopodital basomere emerges from the coxal cavity. Not to scale.

Fig. 23. Chaleponcus vandenspiegeli sp. nov., left gonopod. A. Anterior view. B. Mesal view. C. Tip of telomere and part of solenomere, ventral view. D. Posterior view. al = anterior lamella of telomere, alp1 and alp2 = processes from al, mfp = metaplical flange process, mp = mesal metaplical process, ms = metaplical shelf, mss = metaplical shelf-spine, pl = posterior lamella of telomere, ps = proximal spine of solenomere. Scales 0.1 mm.