Anoplodesmus aspinosus, Chen, Chao-Chun & Chang, Hseuh-Wen, 2010

Chen, Chao-Chun & Chang, Hseuh-Wen, 2010, The millipede genus Anoplodesmus Pocock, 1895, recorded in Taiwan for the first time, with descriptions of two new species (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae: Sulciferini), Zootaxa 2399, pp. 20-30 : 24-28

Anoplodesmus aspinosus sp. nov.

Figs. 17–33 .

Material examined: Holotype male (NMNS-6190-001), Taiwan, Hsinchu County (), UFong Township (!), GuanU ("#), 2000 m a.s.l., 12 August 2002, leg. C. C. Chen, Y. H. Lin, J. N. Huang. Paratypes: 2 males, 6 females (NMNS-6190-002), same locality and collectors as holotype. 5 males, 4 females ( TFRI), Taipei County ($%), ULai Township (&), FuShan ('(), 726 m a.s.l., 19–26 June 2001, leg. W. B. Huang. 1 male, 1 female, 4 juveniles (NSYSUB), Taipei County ($%), ULai Township (&), NeiDong (), 500 m a.s.l., 16 August 2002, leg. C. C. Chen & Y. H. Lin. 1 female (NSYSUB), Nantou County ()), LuGu Township (*+), FengHuangGu (,-+), 734 m a.s.l., 24 July 1996, leg. W. H. Chou. 2 females (NSYSUB), Ilan County (./), JiaoXi Township (0 1), Experimental Forest Plantation of National Ilan University, 200 m a.s.l., 24°47'15"N, 121°40'12"E, 7 September 2009, leg. W. J. Wen.

Diagnosis: Differs from congeners in the absence of a distofemoral process of the gonopod, coupled with an especially complex solenophore, as well as with evidently oblong traces of paraterga and a subtruncate sternal lamina between male fourth coxae.

Description: Adult body 20–21 mm long and 2.0 mm wide (male), 18–22 mm long and 2.05–2.5 mm wide (female). Holotype about 20 mm long and 2.0 mm wide.

General coloration of adults usually dark blackish-brown to light brown in both sexes, sometimes faded to nearly whitish; pattern same as in A. spiniger sp. nov.

Body subcylindrical, non-moniliform, slightly higher than wide. Postcollar constriction very faint, particularly in female; width of head = collum <segments 2=4 <5=16, thereafter body gradually tapering towards telson ( Fig. 23 ). All other peripheral characters as in A. spiniger sp. nov., except as follows. Paraterga nearly wanting, expressed as very faint, mainly oblong bulges only on pore-bearing segments ( Figs 17 , 24 – 27 ). Pleurosternal carinae very well developed, like very evident, arcuated ridges on segments 2–16 (male) ( Figs 17 & 26 ) or 2–14/15 (female), onward missing; caudal corner of most of carinae in male like a distinct rounded tooth. Epiproct long, conical, tip subtruncate or slightly emarginate in dorsal view; pre-apical papillae rather faint, placed close to apex ( Fig. 28 ).

Sterna like in A. spiniger sp. nov., but cones a little smaller ( Fig. 29 ); sternal lobe between male coxae 4 subtrapeziform ( Fig. 18 ). Male legs with prefemora evidently incrassate dorsally and very densely setose ventrally, nearly all male tibiae and tarsi except several posteriormost ones with clear brushes ( Figs 17 , 26 & 27 ).

Gonopods ( Figs 19 – 22 , 30–33 ) very complex. Coxite elongate but relatively stout, subcylindrical, with only two setae distoventrally. Telopodite falcate; femorite evidently expanded both near base (lo) and distad, about as long as solenophore, with a clear oblique impression on medial face and a similar longitudinal impression on lateral face; solenophore (sph) distinctly set off from femorite by a lateral sulcus, twisted, with both a lamina medialis and, especially, a lamina lateralis well-developed and fringed, ending up in a large, complex, membranous structure, sheathing much but far from all of an extremely long solenomere (sl).

Name: To emphasize the absence of a distofemoral spine on the gonopod.

Remarks: A. aspinosus sp. nov. seems to populate only Taiwan’s northern and central parts, likely being a mid-montane species ranging between 500 and 2000 m a.s.l., as opposed to A. spiniger sp. nov. which has only been found in lowlands in the southern part of the island (Map).

MAP. Distribution of Anoplodesmus species in Taiwan. Triangle, Anoplodesmus spiniger sp. nov. Square, Anoplodesmus aspinosus sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 17 – 22. Anoplodesmus aspinosus sp. nov., male paratype from GuanU. 17, segment 10 (lateral view); 18, sternal lobe between coxae 4 (subventral view); 19 – 22, left gonopod (medial, ventral, lateral and dorsal views, respectively). Scale bar = 1.0 mm for figures 17 & 18; 0.5 mm for figures 19 – 22.

FIGURES 23 – 29. Anoplodesmus aspinosus sp. nov., paratypes from GuanU. 23, habitus of male and female (dorsal view); 24, anterior part of male body (dorsolateral view); 25 & 26, middle part of male body (dorsal and lateral views, respectively); 27, caudal part of male body (lateral view); 28, telson (dorsal view); 29, sternal region of male midbody segments. Scale bar = 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 30 – 33. Anoplodesmus aspinosus sp. nov., right gonopod of male paratype from FuShan (dorsomedial, medial, ventral and lateral views, respectively). Scale bar = 0.5 mm.