Plutogeophilus, Bonato & Ferreira, 2023

Bonato, Lucio & Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes, 2023, Assessing troglomorphic and phylogenetically informative traits in troglobionts: a new cave-dwelling centipede illuminates the evolution of a soil-dwelling lineage (Chilopoda: Geophilidae), Organisms Diversity & Evolution (New York, N. Y.) 23 (4), pp. 833-856 : 840-841

Plutogeophilus gen.n. ( Figs. 2 , 3 , and 4)

Diagnosis. Geophilidae with cephalic capsule about as long as wide or slightly elongate. Antennae slender. Clypeus with a medial clypeal area. Intermediate part of labrum relatively wide and bearing tubercles. Lateral parts of labrum distinctly outlined, far apart from each other and fringed with bristles. First maxillae with entire coxosternite and biarticulated telopodite. Second maxillary coxosternite remarkably shortening mid-longitudinally, the anterior margin deeply angulated and the intermediate part weakly sclerotized, without anterior projections and without statuminia or other distinctly sclerotized elements. Second maxillary telopodite composed of three articles, with pretarsus in shape of an elongate, subconic, slightly bent claw. Forcipular tergite subtrapezoidal, with lateral margins distinctly converging forward, about as wide as the cephalic plate and only slightly narrower than the subsequent tergite. Forcipular coxosternite distinctly wider than long, with chitin-lines, without denticles. Coxopleural sutures complete, entirely ventral, sinuous, and diverging forward. Forcipule composed of relatively stout trochanteroprefemur, distinct intermediate articles, elongate and uniformly curved tarsungulum, with a basal denticle. Leg-bearing trunk depressed, uniformly wide for most part and slightly narrowing backward. Trunk metasternites without “carpophagus ” pits, with a posterior sub-elliptical transverse pore field, which may be separated into two paired fields. Leg claws simple, with a pair of accessory spines. Ultimate leg-bearing segment with entire pleuropretergite, without sulci. Coxopleura swollen in both sexes. Coxal pores sparse from the ventral to the dorsal sides. Metasternite of the ultimate leg-bearing segment distinctly narrower and shorter than the penultimate, subtrapezoid, distinctly more elongate in the female than in the male. Ultimate telopodite comprising 6 articles and a claw-like pretarsus in both sexes. Additional short dense setae on the ventral side of the ultimate legs and on the posterior part of the coxopleura and relevant metasternite, in both sexes. No anal pores.

Etymology: from the ancient Greek “Ploutōn,” who was the ruler of the underworld in classical mythology.

Type species: Plutogeophilus jurupariquibaba sp.n.

Figures

Fig.2 Living specimen of Plutogeophilus jurupariquibaba gen.n. sp.n. in the Areias de Cima cave, 7.IV.2012 (photo by Robson Zampaulo)

Fig.3 Plutogeophilus jurupariquibaba gen.n. sp.n.: a anterior part of body, dorsal view; b–c head and forcipular segment, dorsal and ventral views, respectively; d–e posterior part of body, dorsal and ventral views, respectively. Photos: ♂, ISLA 11879, holotype. Scale bars: 0.4 µm