Trichopeltis Pocock, 1894

Likhitrakarn, Natdanai, Golovatch, Sergei I., Srisonchai, Ruttapon & Panha, Somsak, 2017, A new species of Trichopeltis Pocock, 1894 from southern China, with a checklist and a distribution map of Trichopeltis species (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Cryptodesmidae), ZooKeys 725, pp. 123-137 : 124-125

Genus Trichopeltis Pocock, 1894

Trichopeltis Pocock, 1894: 374 (D).

Trichopeltis - Pocock 1895: 789 (K); Attems 1899: 301 (D, K); 1914: 167 (D); 1940: 218 (D, K); Hoffman 1961: 408 (M, K); Golovatch et al. 2010: 71 (D); Golovatch 2015: 156 (M); Golovatch and Akkari 2016: 1 (M); Golovatch and Wesener 2016: 35 (L), Golovatch and VandenSpiegel 2017: 762 (D, M); Liu et al. 2017: 2, 11 (M, D).

Otodesmus Cook 1896: 24 (D). Type species: Trichopeltis watsoni Pocock, 1895), synonymised by Golovatch et al. 2010: 71 (M).

Otodesmus - Attems 1899: 362 (D); Jeekel 1955: 415 (M); Hoffman 1961: 407 (M, K); 1973: 191 (M).

Description.

Superficially, a typical genus of Cryptodesmidae , distinguished from other genera in the following combination of characters, the gonopodal ones being the most important.

Body small- to medium-sized (ca 8-21 mm long, ca. 1.7-5.5 mm wide), with 20 segments. Collum flabellate, much broader than head, fully covering it from above; eleven radii at collum’s fore margin dividing it into 12 (sub)equal sectors; dorsal surface tuberculate to areate. Metaterga distinctly tuberculate to areate, usually setose, with at least two irregular transverse rows of tuberculations extending onto paraterga. The latter very short and very wide, subhorizontal, multilobulate at least at caudal and lateral margins. Ozopores highly variable, usually untraceable, when present then barely visible, located near base of paraterga either entirely dorsally or partly dorsally and mainly ventrally, or entirely ventrally. Only coxae 7 or both coxae 6 and 7 distinctly separated to accommodate tips of gonopods. Gonopod aperture usually subcordiform, edges with little or no elevation.

Gonopods ranging from rather simple to relatively complex (Fig. 4), small, usually foliate and held subparallel to each other; telopodites short to rather short, only slightly longer than coxae; the latter usually either bare or poorly setose, more rarely densely setose. Cannula usual, long, slender and falcate, normally not subtended by a median projection of coxa. Prefemoral (setose) part of telopodite making up 1/3-1/2 of the whole; acropodite either distinctly branched (usually with three branches, including an inconspicuous solenomere) or more or less deeply notched apically, seminal groove running entirely on mesal face to end on a more or less distinct caudo-apical solenomere.

Type species.

Cryptodesmus bicolor Pocock, 1894, by original designation.

Other species included.

T. doriae Pocock, 1895, T. feae Pocock, 1895, T. watsoni Pocock, 1895, T. kometis (Attems, 1938), T. latellai Golovatch, Geoffroy, Mauriès & VandenSpiegel, 2010, T. cavernicola Golovatch, 2016, T. muratovi Golovatch & VandenSpiegel, 2017, T. bellus Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2017, T. intricatus Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2017 and T. reflexus Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2017.