Pseudotremia contorta, Shear, William A., 2011

Shear, William A., 2011, Cave millipeds of the United States. X. New species and records of the genus Pseudotremia Cope. 2. Species from Virginia, USA (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Cleidogonidae), Zootaxa 3109, pp. 1-38 : 8

Pseudotremia contorta , n. sp.

Figs. 8–14

Types: Male holotype, male paratype and three female paratypes from Mountain Grove Saltpeter Cave, Bath Co., VIRGINIA, collected 16 April 1982 by T. Winbery, D. Derowitsch and G. Tipton. Illustrated parts of the male paratype and one female paratype mounted on SEM stub WS23–7.

Diagnosis: The extraordinarily twisted LAPs, which are much more robust than the MAPs, distinguish this species from all other troglophiles.

Etymology: The Latin adjective contorta means “twisted” and refers to the diagnostic LAPs of this species. Suggested vernacular name: Twisted-gonopod Cave Milliped.

Description: Male holotype about 33 mm long, 3.0 mm wide, third antennal segment 1.75 mm long. Ocelli 25 on each side, pigmented, contiguous (fig. 8). Segmental shoulders moderately high; metazonites conspicuously roughened by low rugae most prominent adjacent to posteriorolateral corners (figs. 9, 10); 12 or 13 lateral striations (fig. 10). Color pale tan, lightly mottled darker purplish brown.

Gonopods (figs.11–13) robust; angiocoxites only slightly diverging, or appressed; MAPs with long, curved subapical spine directed mesally, then turning posteriorly; apical spine absent; LAPs larger, broader than MAPs, divided, ventral branch bent backwards at acute angle to touch MAPs, dorsal branch spirally twisted, directed first mesally, then laterally. Colpocoxites (fig. 14) fused for most of their length, then widely diverging; VCP a blunt rod, DCP absent. Ninth legs (fig. 14) typical of epigean/troglophile species, but with very large basal lobe, coxoprefemur apparently strongly constricted in middle.

Female similar to male.

Additional record: VIRGINIA: Bath Co: Little Mountain Cave, 10 September 1994, D. Hubbard, ff. While no males are in this sample, the locality and appearance of the females makes it extremely likely that they are P. contorta .

Notes: The high ocellus count seems to indicate that this species is probably primarily epigean and occasionally troglophilic. As seen by comparing fig. 13 and fig. 14, during the dissection of the male paratype, the colpocoxites broke free from the gonopods and remained locked in the embrace of the ninth legs (fig. 14), indicating the firmness of this attachment in almost all Pseudotremia males.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. New species of Pseudotremia. Figs. 1 – 7, P. loomisi, n. sp. Fig. 1, ocelli. Fig. 2, metazonite, dorsal view. Fig. 3, diplosegment, lateral view. Fig. 4, gonopods, ventral view. Fig. 5, gonopods, anterior view. Fig. 6, gonopods, lateral view. Fig. 7, left ninth leg, posterior view. Fig. 8, ocelli of P. c o n t or ta, n. sp.

FIGURES 9 – 14. Pseudotremia contorta, n. sp. Fig. 9, metazonite, dorsal view. Fig. 10, diplosegment, lateral view. Fig. 11, gonopods, lateral view. Fig. 12, gonopods, anterior view. Fig. 13, gonopods, ventral view. Fig. 14, legpair 9 with gonopod colpocoxites, anterior view; cc, colpocoxites of gonopods; cxpf, coxoprefemur; L 9, right ninth leg.