Polydesmida, Leach, 1815

Shelley, Rowland M., 2009, The milliped families Spirostreptidae (Spirostreptida) and Paradoxosomatidae (Polydesmida) in the Middle East; first records of the Diplopoda from Saudi Arabia, Insecta Mundi 2009 (83), pp. 1-6 : 3-4

Polydesmida : Paradoxosomatidae :

Paradoxosomatinae:?Paradoxosomatini

Classifying a female Middle Eastern paradoxosomatid essentially amounts to guess work, but the Saudi individual likely belongs to the Paradoxosomatini, which is represented in the northern Arabian Peninsula by Lohmanderodesmus Schubart, 1934 , and Tetrarthrosoma Verhoeff, 1898 ( Jeekel 1968, Hoffman and Lohmander 1968, Tabacaru 1995, Enghoff 2006). Another possibility is Figure 2. Occurrences of Paradoxosomatidae in the Xanthodesmini, as the general body form conforms Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East south of Turkey. to known individuals of Streptogonopus Attems, Dots , Tetrarthrosoma syriacum ; Squares, T. persicum ; 1914, occurring to the east, in India, Pakistan, Diamonds, T. horticola ; Triangles, T. asproengaeum ; and beyond, and to the west, in Eritrea and Ethio- Stars, Lohmanderodesmus galeatus ; Star in Dot,

unidentifiable Saudi Arabian female. Some symbols pia ( Hoffman 1980; Golovatch 2000, 2009). As the

denote more than one closely proximate locality; the latter tribe has never been recorded from the

dashed line represents the Tropic of Cancer. Middle East, Paradoxosomatini is more likely, and I assume such for this contribution. I present below localities of regional paradoxosomatinines the most dominant being T. syriacum , the only Israeli paradoxosomatid, along with data for the Saudi specimen, which occurs some 736 km (460 mi) southsouthwest of T. persicum ( Humbert and Saussure, 1869) at Al Amarah, Iraq, the most proximate tribal locality. GMIS denotes localities on the Global Myriapod Information System website (http:// www.gbifev2.mwn.de/GloMyrIS/GloMyrIS_locraw_1.php?val_TaxID=2038718), and locatable records are depicted in Fig. 2.

Lohmanderodesmus galeatus Schubart, 1934

LEBANON. Lebanon in general ( Enghoff 2006). Jabal, Taj (= Jage), Tannourine el Faouqa ( Hoffman and Lohmander 1968).

Tetrarthrosoma asproengaeum Hoffman and Lohmander, 1968

LEBANON. Lebanon in general ( Enghoff 2006). Dekouane, Bkasin (= Bkassine), Tannourine el Faouqa ( Hoffman and Lohmander 1968).

Tetrarthrosoma broelemanni (Verhoeff, 1940) IRAQ. Iraq in general ( Enghoff and Moravvej 2005). No specific Iraqi localities are known.

Tetrarthrosoma horticola ( Attems, 1911)

LEBANON. Lebanon in general ( Enghoff 2006). 10 km (6.3 mi) NE Beyrouth (= Beirut), Grotte de Ghita ; 6 km (3.8 mi) S Trablous (= Tripoli), Grotte Dahr el Ain ( Hoffman and Lohmander 1968).

SYRIA. Syria in general ( Enghoff 2006). Damascus ( Attems 1911, 1926, 1937; Hoffman and Lohmander 1968).

Tetrarthrosoma persicum ( Humbert and Saussure, 1869)

IRAQ. Baghdad; Al Amarah (= Amara) ( Humbert and Saussure 1869; Attems 1898, 1937; Brolemann 1921).

Tetrarthrosoma syriacum ( Humbert and Saussure, 1869)

IRAQ. Iraq in general ( Tabacaru 1995).

ISRAEL. Israel in general ( Tabacaru 1995, Enghoff 2006). Ramleh, Jerusalem, Koulonîyeh ( Porat 1893). Hefa (= Haifa) ( Hoffman and Lohmander 1968, Tabacaru 1995). Yafo (= Jaffa) ( Verhoeff 1920, Moritz and Fischer 1978). Rehovot (= Rehoboth) ( Verhoeff 1923, Tabacaru 1995). Davir (= Davira) ( Golovatch and Wytwer 2009). Mt. Carmel and vicinity, Mt. Gilboa, base of Mt. Hermon, Adolam Nature Reserve, Allone Abba, Allonim, Basmat Tivon, Beit Gurvin, Beit Nir, Bet Oren, Elyakim, Galil, Giveat Ela near Timrat, Giveat Yeshaiahu, Kfar Haruv, Lahav, between Lehavim Junction and Tel Shoket, Mader near Akko, Muhraqa, Nir Banim, Ramot Avishur, Samaria Foothills, Sansan near Mata, Shiqmona, Shoresh, Tel-Aviv University Campus, Tel Junction, Tivon, West Milek, and Zharya ( GMIS).

JORDAN. Jordan in general ( Enghoff 2006). Totes Meer [Dead Sea], Amman (= Hammam Zara) ( Schubart 1934).

LEBANON. Lebanon in general ( Tabacaru 1995, Enghoff 2006). Khalde (around 12 km [7.5 mi] S Beyrouth (= Beirut )), Zabbugha (= Zabboud) ( Hoffman and Lohmander 1968, Enghoff 2006).

SYRIA. Syria in general ( Humbert and Saussure 1869; Attems 1898, 1937; Verhoeff 1914, 1920; Tabacaru 1995; Enghoff 2006). Damascus ( Attems 1926, Hoffman and Lohmander 1968). Tell Halaf ( Schubart 1934). Oasis de Damascus, Ataïbé, Anti-Laban, and Doummar (near Damascus); Qasioun (Attems 1898,1926).

WEST BANK. Dead Sea vicinity ( Schubart 1934, Hoffman and Lohmander 1968, Tabacaru 1995). Ein Prat SW Ariha (= Jericho) ( GMIS).

?Paradoxosomatini, genus and species unknown

SAUDI ARABIA, Ar Riyad Em., Wadi Huraymala , 100 km (67.2 mi) NW Ar Riyad (N25 o, 7', 29"; E46 o, 6', 53"), 770 m (2,526 ft), subadult F, 17 March 1988, C. W. Mills III, Y. N. Aldryhim, A. S. Al- Dawood. New Country Record for the Family, Order, and Class .

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi), “wadi” is an Arabic term for a valley or dry riverbed that contains water only during heavy rains. “Wadi Huraymala” is a densely vegetated agricultural area in central Saudi Arabia just north of the Tropic of Cancer that is surrounded by the Tuwayq Mountains and receives substantial run off water during the rainy season (http:// plantdiversityofsaudiarabia.info/Biodiversity-Saudi-Arabia/Vegetation/Huraimala.htm). The paradoxosomatid was collected around the crowns of understory plants beneath an Acacia arabica tree, the understory consisting of scattered Rhazya stricta and Liycium shawii. It is difficult to envision collection of only one individual if dozens or hundreds were present, so this female would seem to have been alone. In the Namib Desert of southwestern Africa, Cnemodesmus riparius Shelley and Crawford, 1996 ( Polydesmida : Paradoxosomatidae : Cnemodesmini) appears, and in substantial numbers, only after rare floods of the otherwise dry Kuiseb River; when the moisture disappears, so do the millipeds ( Shelley and Crawford 1996). The Saudi collectors probably were not deliberately searching for millipeds, so the situation in Wadi Huraymala may be similar to that in Namibia; perhaps that individual was the only one available because the habitat was too dry at the end of the seasonal rains, which last from January- March in this region of Saudi Arabia. If future collecting efforts are timed to coincide with rains, more individuals may be available including the males necessary to identify the species. Ephemeral abundance and surface activity, as demonstrated by C. riparius , would be an advantageous life history pattern throughout desert regions of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and timing samplings to coincide with infrequent rains is advisable.