Harpagophora Attems, 1909

Vohland, Katrin & Hamer, Michelle, 2013, A review of the millipedes (Diplopoda) of Namibia, with identification keys and descriptions of two new genera and five new species, African Invertebrates 54 (1), pp. 251-251 : 285-286

Genus Harpagophora Attems, 1909

Harpagophora: Attems 1909 a: 41 ; 1914 a: 162; 1928:372; Lawrence 1965: 50; Schubart 1966: 166; Demange 1983: 579; Hamer 1998: 54; 1999: 13; Redman et al. 2003: 210.

Type species: Harpagophora diplocrada Attems, 1909 , designated by Jeekel (1970).

Diagnosis: Two femoral processes on the telopodite, these unequal in length and width ( Figs 64, 65, fp1, fp2); posterior limb of telopodite comprising two branches, the spine branch ( Fig. 64, sb) and the pectinophore ( Fig. 64, pe). Syncoxosternite of first pair of legs with suture or divided.

Distribution: Four species occur in South Africa (Western Cape and Northern Cape) and two in Namibia.

Remarks: Spirostreptus (Nodopyge) spirobolinus Karsch, 1881 , was the first Harpagophora species to be named but the description was based on a female, and only later was a male described from Hantam in the Northern Cape by Attems (1914 a). While spirobolinus was placed in Harpagophora by Attems (1914 a, 1928), Demange (1983) followed Jeekel (1970) in allocating H. diplocrada as the type species of the genus. Redman et al. (2003) subsequently created a new monotypic genus, Metaphora Redman, 2003 , for spirobolina.

Demange (1983) divided Harpagophora into two subgenera on the basis of the structure of the margin of the spine branch. Redman et al. (2003), however, suggested that this character does not show any relationship in its occurrence to the other major taxonomic characters in the genus, including the form of the femoral process and telocoxites, and so the two subgenera were synonymised.