Scolopocryptops capillipedatus ( Takakuwa, 1938 )

Le, Son X., Schileyko, Arkady A. & Nguyen, Anh D., 2023, A review of Vietnamese Scolopocryptops Newport, 1844 (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha), with a description of S. hoanglieni n. sp. and the updated generic list of species, Zootaxa 5228 (4), pp. 441-447 : 424-426

Scolopocryptops capillipedatus ( Takakuwa, 1938)

Figs 8–10

Otocryptops capillipedatus Takakuwa, 1938: 297 ;

Scolopocryptops capillipedatus: Chao, 2002: 33 ;

Scolopocryptops capillipedatus: Chao & Chang, 2008: 14 ;

Scolopocryptops capillipedatus: Qiao, Xiao & Di, 2021: 28 ;

Scolopocryptops capillipedatus: Jonishi & Nakano, 2022: 3 .

Material. CAO BANG Province, Phia Oac — Phia Den NP: 1 spm (SVR. PO.002), natural forest, 22.60047°N 105.88313°E, 1325m a.s.l., 09.07.2017, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.005), natural forest, 22.59875°N 105.89417°E, 1452m a.s.l., 10.07.2017, col. Le X. Son.

VINH PHUC Province, Tam Dao NP: 1 spm (SVR. TD.002), bamboo forest, 21.45378°N 105.6491°E, 1029 m a.s.l., 08.6.2018, col. Nguyen D. Hung ; 2 spms (SVR. TD.008, SVR. TD.009), bamboo forest, 21.45758°N 105.6523°E, 977 m a.s.l., 08.8.2018, col. Nguyen D. Hung.

NGHE AN Province , Pu Hoat NR:2 spms(SVR. PH.011, SVR. PH.012), natural forest, 19.75372°N 104.78836°E, 985 m a.s.l., 16.05.2019, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PH.048), natural forest, 19.75542°N 104.78569°E, 1079 m a.s.l., 19.05.2019, col. Le X. Son.

Diagnosis. 2 basal antennal articles sparsely setose; cephalic plate marginate laterally; tergal paramedian sutures absent, ultimate tergite with complete lateral margination; LBS 7 lacks spiracles; ultimate legs with the distal articles densely setose and femur setose, ultimate prefemur with two typical (larger ventral and smaller dorsomedial) spinous processes.

Description of adult SVR. PH.048.

Body length 34.4 mm, the width of LBS 10 ca 3.27 mm.

Antennae composed of 17 articles, of them 2 basal ones sparsely setose, following articles densely covered by minute setae ( Figs 8 AB).

Cephalic plate ( Fig. 8A ) nearly round, not setose, definitely punctate and marginate laterally, lacking posterior margination. Forcipular segment ( Fig. 8B ): coxosternite, trochanteroprefemora and the basal part of tarsungulae coarsely and sparsely punctate. Coxosternite with a median suture which reaches its middle; some transverse sutures cross the median one at anterior third of coxosternite. Anterior margin of coxosternite strongly sclerotised and is definitely divided by a median diastema into two very low lobes; process of trochanteroprefemur small with a distinct basal suture; tarsungulum long, pointed.

Tergites ( Figs 8A, C , 9A ) lacking paramedian sutures, not punctate, anterior margin of tergite 1 slightly covered by cephalic plate ( Fig. 8A ), tergite 2 very short, as long as 1/3–1/2 of tergite 3. Lateral margination incomplete on tergites 5–22, tergite 23 marginate completely. Tergite 23 ( Fig. 9A ) nearly as long as wide, its posterior margin much convex in the middle.

Sternites ( Figs 8B, D , 9C ) lacking paramedian sutures, 2–17 ones sparsely punctate; sternites 2–19 with several transverse sutures. Sternite 23 ( Fig. 9C ) wider than long, tongue-shaped, its posterior margin slightly concave.

Coxopleuron ( Figs 9 BC) densely covered by irregularly located pores; coxopleural process pointed and comparatively short, slightly extending over the posterior margin of tergite 23.

Legs ( Figs 8B–D , 9C ) 1–21 with one tarsal spur, 1–19 with two tibial spurs, 20–21 with one tibial spur; leg 1–22 with two pretarsal accessory spines.

Ultimate legs ( Fig. 9D ): prefemur and femur sparsely setose, tibia and tarsus densely setose; prefemur with two typical spinous processes—the larger ventral and the smaller dorso-medial.

Variability. Studied eight specimens show no visible variations.

Range. This species was originally described from Korea by Takakuwa (1938), and recorded from Japan ( Miyoshi 1982) and Taiwan ( Chao 2002; Chao & Chang 2003); this is the first record of S. capillipedatus from Vietnam ( Fig. 10 ).

Remarks. The studied IEBR specimens fit well with Taiwanese material described by Chao (2002); however, this species is extremely close to S. spinicaudus in all morphological aspects except for the presence of “dense” (vs “sparse” in S. spinicaudus ) setae on the ultimate both tibia and tarsus. It should be noted, that some (not all) specimens of S. spinicaudus (kept in both ZMMU and IEBR) have ultimate tarsus, tibia and (rarely) femur densely setose ( Fig. 6E ), sharing the main diagnostic character of S. capillipedatus . This fact deletes any real (i.e. morphological) differences between these two species except for the presence (vs. the virtual absence) of the sparse setae at two basal antennal articles in S. capillipedatus and the slight difference in shape of the ultimate sternite (tongue-shaped vs. trapeziform in S. spinicaudus ). Thus, the recent identificational Scolopocryptops keys ( Chao 2002, Chao & Chang 2003, 2008, Qiao et al 2021, Xiao et al 2021) do not allow to distinguish reliably “ S. capillipedatus ” from S. spinicaudus . Summing up, we consider S. capillipedatus as questionable (“molecular”) species with validity not supported reliably by morphology (see couplet 5 in the key below). At the moment we kept S. capillipedatus as a valid name because of shortage of the investigated material, but the further analyses will highly likely show its identity to S. spinicaudus .

Figures

FIGURES 6A–F. Scolopocryptops spinicaudus Wood, 1862; SVR.PO.202 A LBS 23 and right ultimate leg, laterally; B LBS 21–23 and ultimate legs, ventrally; C right ultimate leg, medially; Rc 7497 (ZMMU) D LBS 7 and 8, laterally; Rc 7225 (ZMMU) E left ultimate leg, dorsally; Rc 7497 (ZMMU) F LBS 13–16, dorsally.

FIGURES 8A–D. Scolopocryptops capillipedatus (Takakuwa, 1938); SVR.PH.048 A head + LBS 1–3, dorsally; B head, forcipular segment and LBS 1–4, ventrally; C LBS 5–10, dorsally; D LBS 14–18, ventrally.

FIGURES 9A–D. Scolopocryptops capillipedatus (Takakuwa, 1938); SVR.PH.048 A LBS 21–23, dorsally; B LBS 21–23, laterally; C LBS 20–23, ventrally; D left ultimate leg, medially.

FIGURE 10. Distribution of Scolopocryptops capillipedatus in Vietnam