Validifemur radispinipes Han, Pei, Ma, Li & Li, 2022

Han, Yuhang, Pei, Sujian, Ma, Huiqin, Li, Yaojun & Liu, Yinfeng, 2022, A new species of Validifemur Ma, Song & Zhu, 2007 (Lithobiomorpha, Lithobiidae) from northwest China, Biodiversity Data Journal 10, pp. 81849-81849 : 81849

Validifemur radispinipes Han, Pei, Ma, Li & Li sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Pei Su-jian; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; Taxon : scientificName: Validifemur radispinipes; kingdom: Animalia ; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Chilopoda ; order: Lithobiomorpha ; family: Lithobiidae ; genus: Validifemur ; taxonRank: species; taxonomicStatus: species; Location : continent: Asia ; country: China; stateProvince: Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region ; county: Jingyuan ; locality: Wolong Mountain Park ; verbatimElevation: 1958 m; verbatimCoordinates: 35°29'32.19''N 106°21'7.84''E; decimalLatitude: 35.492274; decimalLongitude: 106.352178; georeferenceProtocol: label; Identification: identifiedBy: Ma Hui-qin; dateIdentified: 2021; Record Level: collectionCode: myriapoda; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Ma Hui-qin, et al.; individualCount: 39; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; Taxon : scientificName: Validifemur radispinipes; kingdom: Animalia ; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Chilopoda ; order: Lithobiomorpha ; family: Lithobiidae ; genus: Validifemur ; taxonRank: species; taxonomicStatus: species; Location : continent: Asia ; country: China; stateProvince: Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region ; county: Jingyuan ; locality: Wolong Mountain Park ; verbatimElevation: 1958 m; verbatimCoordinates: 35°29'32.19''N 106°21'7.84''E; decimalLatitude: 35.492274; decimalLongitude: 106.352178; georeferenceProtocol: label; Identification: identifiedBy: Ma Hui-qin; dateIdentified: 2021; Record Level: collectionCode: myriapoda; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Ma Hui-qin, et al.; individualCount: 45; sex: male; lifeStage: adult

Description

Body (Fig. 1 a). 10.9-15.0 mm long, cephalic plate 1.3-1.5 mm long, 1.3-1.7 mm wide.

Colour. Antennae pale chestnut-brown, the pale chestnut-brown gradually becomes yellow-brown at the end of articles 4-5, terminal article yellow brown; tergites yellow-brown, cephalic plate, TT 1, 14 and 15 darker; pleural region grey; sternites pale yellow-brown; distal part of forcipules dark brown; basal and proximal parts of forcipules and forcipular coxosternite grey-brown; SS 14 and 15 yellow-brown with greyish hue; all legs pale grey-brown with pale yellowish hue; tibia more yellow, tarsus 2 pale yellow-brown on all legs.

Antennae. 20-24 articles; usually 20+20 articles, few 20+21, 20+24 articles. Length of first antennal article slightly longer than width of the base, length of the remaining articles obviously larger than wide, the distalmost articles still significantly longer than wide, 2.7-3.5 times as long as wide; abundant setae on the antennal surface, fewer on the basal articles, gradual increasing in density to approximately the sixth article, then more or less constant.

Cephalic plate. Smooth, convex, slightly wider than long; tiny setae emerging from pores scattered very sparsely over the whole surface; frontal marginal ridge with shallow anterior median furrow; short to long setae scattered along the marginal ridge of the cephalic plate; lateral marginal ridge discontinuous, posterior margin continuous, almost straight, evidently wider than lateral marginal ridge (Fig. 1 b).

Ocelli. 1+6 to 1+7, commonly 1+7, oval to rounded ocelli on each side, arranged in two irregular rows, the posterior ocellus the largest. Ventral ocelli slightly smaller than the dorsal, domed, translucent and usually darkly pigmented (Fig. 1 e).

Tömösváry’s organ (Fig. 1 e). Close to the ocelli, situated at anterolateral margin of the cephalic plate, the surrounding sclerotised area narrow, moderately larger than the adjoining ocelli.

Coxosternite. Subtrapezoidal (Fig. 1 c), anterior margin narrow, lateral margins slightly longer than medial margins; median diastema moderately deep, a slightly wider V-shape; anterior margin with 2+2 acute triangular teeth; porodonts slightly thicker, almost transparent, just posterolateral and separated from the lateral tooth, with slight bulge at base (Fig. 1 c and d); long scattered setae on the ventral side of coxosternite, longer setae near the dental margin.

Tergites. Smooth, without wrinkles, dorsum slightly convex; short to long tiny setae emerging from pores scattered sparsely over the entire surface, near the margin with few long setae; TT 1 and 3 narrower than the cephalic plate, T 3 wider than the T 1. T 1 narrower postero-laterally than antero-laterally, generally inverted trapezoidal; lateral marginal ridges of all tergites continuous, TT 3-5 slightly long setae scattered sparsely over the surface. Posterior margin T1 almost straight, posterior margin of TT 3 and 5 slightly concave, posterior margin of TT 8, 10, 12 and 14 concave, posterior margin of TT 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13 straight (Fig. 1 a). Posterior marginal ridge of TT 1 and 3 continuous, posterior marginal ridge of TT 5, 8, 10, 12 and 14 discontinuous. Posterior angles of all tergites rounded, without triangular projections. The width of TT 8 and 10 are nearly equal, but T 10 is the widest. From short to long, but miniscule setae scattered very sparsely over the surface.

Sternites. Posterior side of sternites narrower than anterior, generally inverted trapezoidal, smooth; setae emerging from sparsely scattered pores on the surface and lateral margin, very few short setae scattered sparsely amongst them; one pair of approximately symmetrically-arranged long setae on middle parts of anterior part of each sternite; with 3-5 very long setae in the anterior angles and with 1-3 very long setae in the posterior angles.

Legs. Relative robust, tarsi fused on legs 1-13, well-defined on legs 14-15. All legs with moderately long curved claws; legs 1-13 with anterior and posterior accessory spurs, anterior accessory spurs moderately long and slender, forming a moderately small angle with the claw, posterior accessory spurs slightly more robust, forming a comparatively large angle with the claw; lacking accessory spurs of legs 14 and 15, the closer to the rear of the body, the thicker the anterior accessory spurs. From short to long setae sparsely scattered over the surface of coxa, trochanter, prefemur, femur and tibia of all legs, more setae on the tarsal surfaces, especially in the ventral; setae on the dorsal and ventral surfaces slightly longer than the anterior and posterior; some thicker setae arranged in one row on the ventral surfaces of tarsi of legs 1-13, with setae significantly reduced on legs 14 and 15. Legs 14 and 15 thicker than the anterior legs in both of the female and male, male legs 15 thicker and stronger than those of the female, forming obvious secondary sexual characteristics (Fig. 1 j and k; Fig. 2 a and b). Ta2 3.6-5.8 times longer than wide, Ta2 65.5%-73.5% length of Ta1 on legs 15 in female; Ta2 3.9-5.4 times longer than wide, Ta2 65.1%-79.9% length of Ta1 on legs 15 in male. Leg plectrotaxy given in Table 1 and Table 2 .

Coxal pores. 3-4 in a row, usually 4-4-4-3, few 3-4-4-3 in female, usually 4-4-4-1, few 4-4-5-1, 4-4-3-1, 3-4-5-4-1 or 4-4-4-2 in male; slightly oval or round, commonly round, size of coxal pore from small to large; coxal pore field set in a relatively shallow groove, the coxal pore-field fringe with a slight prominence and moderately long setae sparsely scattered over the surface.

Female. S15 anterior margin broader than posterior, generally an inverted trapezoid, postero-medially straight. Moderately long setae sparsely scattered on S15 surface. Surface of the lateral sternal margin of genital segment well chitinised, posterior margin of genital sternite deeply concave between condyles of gonopods, except for a small, median tongue-shaped bulge. Relatively long setae very sparsely scattered over ventral surface of the genital segment, slightly more setae on posterior part, especially along the posterior edge. Gonopods: first article fairly broad, bearing 18-22 moderately long setae arranged in four irregular rows, the setae on the edges are longer; with 2+2 small coniform spurs (Fig. 1 f), inner spur slightly smaller than the outer; second article with 9-11 moderately long setae arranged in three irregular rows, 7-9 robust spines arranged in two irregular rows lying dorsally on the posterior part of the external margin; third article with 2-3 moderately long setae arranged in one irregular row, 3-4 robust spines arranged in two irregular rows lying dorsally on the posterior part of the external margin, with a tridentate apical claw, the largest in the middle, both sides of the dorsal and ventral sides are small and blunt. (Fig. 1 g and h).

Male. S 15 posterior margin narrower than anterior, postero-medially straight, generally an inverted trapezoid, sparsely covered with long setae, the setae on the edges are longer, with a shallow nearly heart-shaped depression on the surface; sternite of genital segment evidently smaller than the female, usually sclerotised; posterior margin deeply concave between the gonopods, without medial bulge. Short to long setae equally scattered on the ventral surface of the genital segment. Gonopods short and wide, flat, with 1-2 long setae, apically slightly sclerotised (Fig. 1 i). Legs 15 prominently shorter and thicker than the anterior legs, especially the coxa, trochanter, prefemur, femur and tibia; the prefemur and femur shorter and thicker, the middle dorsal spine of prefemur is almost vertical to the longitudinal axis of the body; in ventral view of femur, the anterior has a developed vesicular protuberance, the anterior surface of the protuberance is full of long bristles and the posterior of the protuberance is raised, the terminal is highly sclerotised, forming a rough spine pointing to the posterolateral side. Between of the prefemur and the femur protuberance, the femur with a finger-like protuberance and the ventral of the protuberance with 12 spurs arranged in two rows. The anterior of the tibia with a protuberance, there is an obvious depression behind the protuberance, the terminal of the protuberance is flat and has 6 radial spines; there is a longitudinal groove in the centre of the dorsal side of the tibia. The setae on the inner of the longitudinal groove are significantly thicker and longer and the density is significantly increased, the ventral of the anterior of the tibia is significantly depressed and the end of the depression is an obviously bulge and the surface is almost uniformly covered with thicker long setae (Fig. 2 c-h).

Habitat. The specimens here studied were collected under the deciduous leaves of locust trees around the mountain road.

Figures

Figure 1. Validifemur radispinipes sp. n. a habitus, dorsal view, male holotype; b cephalic plate, dorsal view, male holotype; c forcipular coxosternite, ventral view, male holotype; d forcipular coxosternite, ventral view, male holotype; e. ocelli and Toemoesvary's organ (To), lateral view, female paratype; f posterior segments and gonopods in female paratype, ventral view; g tridentate apical claw of gonopods in female paratype, ventral view; h tridentate apical claw of gonopods in female paratype, dorsal view; i posterior segments and gonopods in male holotype, ventral view; j male legs 15 th, holotype, dorsal view; k prefemur, femur and tibia of male legs 15 th, holotype, dorsal view.

Figure 2. Validifemur radispinipes sp. n. a male legs 15 th, holotype, ventral view; b prefemur, femur and tibia of male legs 15 th, holotype, ventral view; c prefemur, femur and tibia of the right male legs 15 th, holotype, left view; d prefemur, femur and tibia of the right male legs 15 th, holotype, close to dorsal view; e prefemur, femur and tibia of the right male legs 15 th, holotype, close to ventral view; f prefemur, femur and tibia of the left male legs 15 th, holotype, right view; g prefemur, femur and tibia of the left male legs 15 th, holotype, close to dorsal view; h prefemur, femur and tibia of the left male legs 15 th, holotype, close to ventral view.