Syrioiulus armeniacus, Evsyukov & Golovatch & Antić, 2021

Evsyukov, Aleksandr P., Golovatch, Sergei I. & Antic, Dragan Z., 2021, The millipede genera Amblyiulus Silvestri, 1896 and Syrioiulus Verhoeff, 1914 in the Caucasus, with notes on their distributions (Diplopoda, Julida, Julidae), ZooKeys 1048, pp. 109-143 : 109

Syrioiulus armeniacus sp. nov.

Figs 1F , 13 , 14 , 15F , 16

Material examined.

Holotype ♂ (ZMUM), Armenia, Kafan Distr. , Shikahoh Nature Reserve, Shikahoh, 900-950 m a.s.l., Quercus , Fagus , Carpinus forest by spring, litter, logs and under stones, 28.IV.1983, leg. S. Golovatch. Paratypes: 14 ♂♂, 24 ♀♀ (ZMUM), same collection data as holotype .

Non-type material.

Armenia: 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ (ZMUM), Shikahoh Nature Reserve, Nerkin And, old Platanus stand along river, litter, in rotten wood, under stones, 30.IV.1983; 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (ZMUM), near Kajaran, Megri Mt. Ridge, N of Tashtun Pass, 2000 m a.s.l., Quercus forest on steep slope, litter, logs, 27.IV.1983; 5 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 2 juv. (ZMUM), Megri Distr., SSE of Lichk, Megri River valley, Quercus forest, litter, under stones and in rotten wood, 25.IV.1983; 2 ♂♂, 16 ♀♀, 2 juv. (ZMUM), above Kuris, 1500 m a.s.l., Quercus and Carpinus forest, litter, under bark and stones along spring, 26.IV.1983; 12 ♂♂, 11 ♀♀, 1 juv. (ZMUM), ca. 4 km NNW of Megri, Legvaz, Juglans and Quercus shrub with Paliurus and Rosa, litter and under stones, 1000 m a.s.l., 24-25.IV.1983; 5 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (ZMUM), 6 km N of Shvanidzor, sparse Quercus forest, 1200-1300 m a.s.l., litter, under stones and bark, 24.IV.1983; 5 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀, 2 juv. (ZMUM), environs of Megri, xeriphytous bare canyon, under stones, sparse Juniperus and Paliurus , ca. 1000 m a.s.l., 24.IV.1983, all leg. S. Golovatch; 2 ♀♀ (ZMUM), Odzun W of Alaverdi, 1500-1550 m a.s.l., Quercus , Fagus , Carpinus etc. forest, litter and under stones with ants, 23-24.V.1987, leg. S. Golovatch and K. Eskov; 1 ♀ (ZMUM), Nurkus, 7.VII.1985, leg. V.A. Zakharyan.

Diagnosis.

This new species belongs to the genus Syrioiulus because of the presence of only two apices on the opisthomere. Differs from all regional congeners by the following combination of somatic and gonopodal characters. Head with frontal setae. Collum and metazonae of following body rings without setae. Eyes absent. Solenomere with a pointed process apically. Anterior process rounded on top.

Name.

The new species is named after its terra typica; adjective.

Description.

Holotype: length 25 mm, width 1.2 mm, number of body rings 50+2+T. Paratypes and non-type material: length 17-33 mm, width 1.2-1.6 mm, number of body rings, 50-68+1-2+T (♂♂); or length 20-29 mm, width 1.2-1.6 mm, number of body rings, 46-55+2-3+T (♀♀). Body subcylindrical, metazonae brownish yellow, prozonae brownish grey (Figs 1F , 13A-G ). Head, collum and telson slightly lighter than body rings (Fig. 1F ). Antennae, mouthparts, and legs yellow (Fig. 13A, C-E, G ). Eyes absent. Metazonae with weakly developed, dense, and regular striations, 20-23 striae per quarter of metazonital surface, i.e., that between dorsal axial line and ozopore (Fig. 13D ). Ozopores relatively large, situated between striae in touch with one of them, lying behind suture without touching it (Fig. 13H ).

Antennae relatively long, in situ reaching segment 3. Head with 1+1 frontal, 9+9-10+10 labral and 2+2 supralabral setae (Fig. 13A-C ). Gnathochilarium with three thick setae on each lamella lingualis; stipites with a group of 6-9 setae in medial part and three long setae in anterolateral part (Fig. 13I ). Collum and metazonae without setae (Fig. 13A, B ). Epiproct poorly developed, triangular, with several long setae (Fig. 13E, F ). Hypoproct subtriangular, covered with long setae (Fig. 13G ). Telson and anal valves densely setose.

Male. Mandibular stipites modified, slightly swollen in distal part (Fig. 13A ). Leg pair 1 small, unciform, telopodites directed anteromesad (typical of Julidae ), with a group of setae on coxa and telopodite (Fig. 13J ). Leg pair 2 with small pads on postfemur and tibia (Fig. 13K ). Penes short, bifurcate. Ventral edge of male pleurotergum 7 with wide curved lamellae bordering the gonopodal aperture (Fig. 13L ).

Gonopods (Fig. 14 ) with anterior and posterior parts both equal in height. Promere spoon-shaped, bowl being relatively wide, constricted in basal third; mesal ridge well-developed all along, with a small mesal denticle in apical part; lateral denticle large, rounded on top (Fig. 14B, F ). Mesomeral process simple, flattened, ribbon-shaped, widened apically, with a group of small teeth (Fig. 14A, C, E, G ). Opisthomere bipartite. Solenomere long, slightly curved; its apical part with a fovea and a pointed process (Fig. 14A, C, D, G ). Anterior process as high as solenomere, rounded at tip (Fig. 14D ).

Female. First two leg pairs unmodified. Vulva rounded, operculum higher than bursa (Fig. 15F ). Operculum slightly divided at apical margin. Bursa asymmetric, lateral valve higher than mesal one. Each valve with two rows of long setae. Median field of bursa narrow; emargination of median field elongated and suboval.

Remark.

This species seems to be endemic to the Caucasus Minor within Armenia, but most likely it also occurs in the adjacent parts of eastern Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran (Fig. 16 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Habitus of Amblyiulus and Syrioiulus species, males, lateral views A A. georgicus Lohmander, 1932 from Shnokh, Armenia (ZMUM) B A. hirtus sp. nov., paratype from Bash-Layski, Azerbaijan (ZMUM) C S. adsharicus (Lohmander, 1936) from Adigeni, Georgia (ZMUM) D S. continentalis (Attems, 1903) from Istisu, Azerbaijan (ZMUM) E S. taliscius (Attems, 1927) from Avrora, Azerbaijan (ZMUM) F S. armeniacus sp. nov., paratype from Shikahoh, Armenia (ZMUM). Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

Figure 13. Syrioiulus armeniacus sp. nov., paratype ♂ from Shikahoh, Armenia (ZMUM) A-C anterior part of body, lateral, dorsal and ventral views, respectively D midbody part, lateral view E-G posterior part of body, lateral, dorsal and ventral views, respectively H ozopores on midbody rings, lateral view I gnathochilarium, ventral view J leg pair 1, caudal view K leg 2, caudal view L ventral edge of pleurotergum 7, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (A-G); 0.1 mm (H-L).

Figure 14. Syrioiulus armeniacus sp. nov., paratype ♂ from Shikahoh, Armenia (ZMUM) A, E gonopod, mesocaudal and mesal views, respectively B, E promere, caudal views C, G posterior gonopod, mesal views D end of solenomere, mesal view. Abbreviations: ap anterior process cl caudomesal lamella fo fovea ld lateral denticle md mesal denticle mr mesal ridge ms mesomeral process op opisthomere pr promere sl solenomere. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (A-C); 0.01 mm (D); 0.2 mm (E-G).

Figure 15. Vulvae of Amblyiulus and Syrioiulus species from the Caucasus, caudal views A A. georgicus Lohmander, 1932 from Shnokh, Armenia (ZMUM) B A. hirtus sp. nov., paratype from Bash-Layski, Azerbaijan (ZMUM) C S. adsharicus (Lohmander, 1936) from Adigeni, Georgia (ZMUM) D S. continentalis (Attems, 1903) from Istisu, Azerbaijan (ZMUM) E S. taliscius (Attems, 1927) from Avrora, Azerbaijan (ZMUM) F S. armeniacus sp. nov., paratype from Shikahoh, Armenia (ZMUM). Abbreviations: em emargination of median field lv lateral valve mf median field mv median valve op operculum. Scale bars: 0.03 mm.

Figure 16. Distributions of Amblyiulus and Syrioiulus species in the Caucasus: red circle A. georgicus Lohmander, 1932; green circle A. hirtus sp. nov.; white circle S. adsharicus (Lohmander, 1936); blue circle S. continentalis (Attems, 1903); pink circle S. taliscius (Attems, 1927); brown circle S. armeniacus sp. nov.; yellow square Pachyiulini gen. sp. 1; purple square Pachyiulini gen. sp. 2.