Otostigmus Porat, 1876

Vu, Ha T., Nguyen, Hung D., Le, Son X., Eguchi, Katsuyuki, Nguyen, Anh D. & Tran, Binh T. T., 2020, A review and notes on the phylogenetic relationship of the centipede genus Otostigmus Porat, 1876 (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae) from Vietnam, Zootaxa 4808 (3), pp. 401-438 : 405

Genus Otostigmus Porat, 1876

Type species: Otostigmus carinatus Porat, 1876 , by subsequent designation (Pocock, 1891a: 229).

Remarks. Edgecombe & Bonato (2011) stated that the genus is recognized by the sensilla coeloconica on clypeal part of epipharynx organized as a pair of lateral clusters; spiracles round or ovate, their long axis generally oriented vertically; floor of spiracular atrium usually raised into humps; border between labral and clypeal part of epipharynx strongly curved forwards; forcipular coxosternite with tooth-plates; leg tibia and tarsi with spurs, the latter sometime in pairs; testicular vesicles oriented oblique to central deferens duct. Most importantly, this genus is distinguished from other its congeners by the leg-bearing segment 7 lacking spiracles.

The genus is currently divided into three subgenera distinguished by the presence ( Otostigmus ) or absence (Dactylotergitius and Parotostigmus ) of spines on the ultimate leg prefemur. About 120 Otostigmus species have been described and are widely distributed worldwide (Edgecombe & Bonato in Minelli 2011).

The subgenus Otostigmus comprises 58 species ( Lewis 2010) or 60 (Edgecombe & Bonato in Minelli 2011) distributed in Africa and the Indo-Australian region. The subgenus Otostigmus is distinguished from the two other subgenera by having spines on the ultimate leg prefemur and coxopleural process with apical spines. All currently known species in Vietnam belong to the subgenus Otostigmus .