Eurygyrus peloponnesius, Stoev & Enghoff, 2004

Stoev, Pavel & Enghoff, Henrik, 2004, The first indigenous species of the millipede genus Eurygyrus C. L. Koch, 1847 from the European mainland, with remarks on E. nicarius (Verhoeff, 1901) and E. euboeus (Verhoeff, 1901), and a key to the species of the genus (Diplopoda: Callipodida: Schizopetalidae), Zootaxa 419, pp. 1-8 : 2-5

Eurygyrus peloponnesius sp. n.

Figs 1–6 .

Material examined: Holotype: adult male; broken into pieces, 48 pleurotergites + telson, Greece, Pelopónnisos [Peloponnese] Taïetos [Taygetos] Mts , 950–1 800 m, 15– 19.05.1990, Zool. Mus. Copenh. Exp. ( ZMUC) . Paratype: adult male, broken into pieces, 49 pleurotergites + telson, same region and mountain, near Anogia, 1 000–1 500 m, spruce­pine forest, 24.05.1998, O. Martin leg. ( NMNHS) .

Etymology. After Peloponnese, the type locality.

Description. Length: ca. 75–80 mm, Maximum width ca. 5.0 mm, 48–49 pleurotergites + telson. Pleurotergites (PTs) slightly higher rather than wide.

Body color: dark brown­grayish. Collum unevenly brown, middle part lighter. Dorsum with yellowish spot, beginning from second pleurotergite, merging with the next and forming a narrow yellow band on the middle and posterior pleurotergites. Metazonites darker than prozonites; laterally light brown­grayish. A lighter spot around ozopore. Head and antennae brown; legs yellowish, postfemur, tibia and tarsalia darker. Frontal part of head strongly concave, densely covered with dark setae. The edge between the dorsal face and

1. One more species, E. ochraceus C.L. Koch, 1847 , is known from the European mainland. It was originally described from Sardes in Turkey, and subsequently reported from Bulgaria (Verhoeff, 1926 sub Brölemannia (Bulgaropetalum) bulgaricum ; synonymy proposed by Hoffman, 1972: 96). In Bulgaria it is known only from the park of Euxinograd, former Royal Summer Residence on the coast of Black Sea. Thus, it is likely to represent an introduction through plants or soil from its area of origin. the frontal concavity dark brown; along the posterior margin of the head narrow band of dark color, but not so dark as the edge mentioned above. Stipes, cardo and dorsal face of the head marbled brown­yellowish. Labrum dark brown. Ocellaria in triangle composed of ca. 35–40 black ocelli in 7 rows. Tömösváry organs brown, the size of an ocellus, or slightly bigger, placed between ocellaria and antennal base. Antennae moderately long, extending beyond the posterior edge of the fifth pleurotergite when folded backward ( Fig. 1 ).

Crests on anterior PTs flattened, on middle and posterior PTs more pronounced. About 18 crests between ozopores on 7 th pleurotergite. Ozopores are lying in the middle of a crest. Setal pattern: Table 1 (the setae of the sixth and following pleurotergites are too damaged in both specimens to be counted).

First and second leg­pairs markedly shorter, third slightly shorter than subsequent legs. Tarsus of 1 st –3 rd leg­pair single; bi­articulated from 4 th to ultimate pair. Postfemur, tibia and tarsalia of 1–7 th leg­pair with well­developed, stout pads, which get thinner towards the ultimate legs. Coxa of 7 th leg­pair swollen mesally ( Fig. 2 ). Hypoproct single, undivided (unique in the genus) bearing 6 macrosetae. Anal valves densely setose. Spinnerets short, with long macroseta on the tip ( Fig. 3 ).

Male gonopods ( Figs 4–6 ): Sternum heavily calcified, perpendicular to telopodites. Posterior coxal process (p) 2/3 as long as femoroid, curved anteriad, broad at base and middle part, rapidly tapering towards tip, tip of p with small tooth (n), directed caudad. Basal part of femoroid heavily enlarged, overlapped by anterior setiferous coxal process (a). Main stem of femoroid with three black teeth ca. at mid­length (one mesal (m) and two lateral (l )), a similar black tooth (d) more distally, no proximal tooth. Lateral teeth joined at the base. Distal tooth broadened along its length. Linomerite (li): emerging at about 1/4 femoroid length from femoroid basis and half as long as femoroid length; thin at the base and gradually widening, its apical part strongly enlarged and medially slightly incised. Terminal part of telopodite broadened as a shield, ending with the solenomere (s). A large and pointed process (b) pointing in the same direction as the solenomere emerging at the shield base; below the shield and on terminal part of femoroid stem two denticles (r & y). Solenomere bifid, seminal groove (sg) ending at its upper branch; parasolenomere (ps) attached to the solenomere and pointing in a different direction.

Female: unknown.

Remarks: According to the shape of gonopods, this species belongs to the group of species characterized by the broadened, somewhat bifurcated apical part of the linomerite, namely E. turcicus , E. africanus and E. lohmanderi . However, it is easily distinguished from all of these by the long process of the terminal femoroidal shield (b), the slightly incised (vs. strongly incised, with a subterminal branch) linomerite, and the comparatively thin posterior coxal process. It differs from the geographically closest congeners, E. nicarius and E. euboeus , chiefly by having more flattened crests on anterior pleurotergites; as well as having 48–49 (vs. 46) pleurotergites; 6 (vs. 4) macrosetae on hypoproct; and generally more grayish body color (vs. light brown­yellowish). E. pelopennesius differs from all its congeners by the undivided hypoproct. The significance of this difference is uncertain. Both conditions are known from other callipodidans, a three­partite hypoproct being characteristic of most genera, an undivided one, e.g., of Dischizopetalum (Verhoeff 1926– 28: 438, fig. 33).

Though we do not exclude the possibility that the range of Eurygyrus reaches Mt. Olympus in the north (Strasser’s unpublished record), another option also exists. A new, yet undescribed, species of the genus Apfelbeckia has been collected on Mt. Olympus (material in ZMUC). This finding proves the existence of a large callipodid in the mountain, which could easily be mistaken for a Eurygyrus if only juveniles or females are available.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Eurygyrus peloponnesius sp.n.: 1—Head and anterior pleurotergites, lateral view; 2—7th leg, posterior view; 3—telson, posterior view; 4—gonopod, mesal view; 5—gonopod, lateral view; 6—apical part of gonopod, posterior view. Abbreviations, see text.