Brachydesmus (s. str.) pigmentatus Attems, 1951

Golovatch, Sergei, Evsyukov, Aleksandr & Reip, Hans, 2016, The millipede family Polydesmidae in the Caucasus (Diplopoda: Polydesmida), Zootaxa 4085 (1), pp. 1-51 : 16

Brachydesmus (s. str.) pigmentatus Attems, 1951

Fig. 8 , Map 3

Brachydesmus pigmentatus Attems, 1951: 407 (D).

Brachydesmus pigmentatus— Golovatch, 1981b: 426 (D); Enghoff and Moravvej, 2005: 69 (R).

Brachydesmus pereliae Golovatch, 1976: 1567 (D), syn. n.

Brachydesmus pereliae— Lokšina and Golovatch, 1979: 384 (M); Golovatch, 1979: 1323 (M); Read and Golovatch, 1994: 65 (M).

Material examined. 1 male (ZMUM), AZERBAIJAN, Talysh Mts, Farm Azerbaijan ca 10 km SE of Lerik, 550 m a.s.l., Quercus , Carpinus , Acer etc. forest along stream, litter and rotten wood, 12.X.1983; 4 juv. (ZMUM), Talysh Mts., Lerik Distr., Zuvand, foot of Mt Kyumyurkey, Oranchay Valley, xerophytous montane grassland, 2100 – 2200 m a.s.l., under stones, 9.X.1983, all leg. S. Golovatch; 1 juv. (ZMUM), Istisu SW of Astara, Quercus, Parrotia , Carpinus , Acer etc. forest, X.1978, leg. A. Druk; 1 male (ZMUM), Lenkoran Distr., Hyrcan Nature Reserve, forest, rotten wood, 19.III.1971, leg. N. Loginova; 1 male (ZMUM), Lenkoran Distr., Hyrcan Nature Reserve, litter, 26.I. – 4.II.1985; 2 males, 2 females (ZMUM), same locality and data, all leg. A. Druk; 1 female (ZMUM), Azerbaijan, Lenkoran Distr., Hyrcan Nature Reserve, near Alekseevka, 21.IV.1985; 1 male, 2 females (ZMUM), same locality, Khan-Bulan River, 22.IV.1985; 1 female (ZMUM), same locality, Avrora, lowland forest, 21.IV.1985, all leg. E. Kupriyanova; 1 female (ZMUM), same locality, forest, litter, 26.I. – 4.II.1985, leg. A. Druk; 1 female, 2 juv. (ZMUM), same locality, 50 m a.s.l., Quercus, Parrotia , Carpinus etc. forest, 13.X.1983; 4 males (ZMUM), same locality, 8 km SW of Alekseevka, Apo, Quercus , Acer , Carpinus, Parrotia etc. forest, litter, under stones and bark, 16.X.1983; 4 females (ZMUM), same locality, Apo ca 6 km SW of Alekseevka, Quercus , Acer , Carpinus, Parrotia etc. forest, litter, under stones and bark, 14 and 16.X.1983; 1 female (ZMUM), Lenkoran Distr., Avrora, Moscow Forest, 50 m a.s.l., 1.VI.1996; 1 female (ZMUM), Lenkoran, Apo below Bilasar, 350 m a.s.l., 8 – 9.VI.1996, all leg. S. Golovatch.

Descriptive notes. Length ca 13 – 21 mm, width of midbody metazonae 1.2 – 2.1 mm (male, female), but the above samples ranging between 13 and 16 mm in length, and 1.8 and 2.1 mm in width; metazonite to prozonite width ratio <1.6 ( Fig. 8 A – 8 D ). Live coloration usually uniformly grey-brown to brown, in alcohol sometimes faded to light brown ( Fig. 8 A ).

All characters as in B. assimilis ( Fig. 8 ), except as follows. Paraterga subhorizontal to poorly declivous, mostly only slightly rounded laterally; caudolateral corner obtuse-angled only until segment 6, pointed or nearly pointed and increasingly well drawn behind rear tergal margin starting with segment 8 or 9 ( Fig. 8A – 8D ). Fore margins of paraterga mostly straight, anterolateral corner usually angular. Tergal setae a little longer, largely pointed. Male prefemora strongly bulging laterad. Gonopod ( Fig. 8E, 8F ) subfalcate, bipartite, with a long, very simple, fingershaped, ventrad only slightly and regularly curved, apically acuminate exomere (ex), this being tightly appressed ventrally to a similar, also finger-shaped, but somewhat shorter endomere (en), the latter at base carrying a small, medioventral spine (k); en representing a solenomere devoid of a hairy pulvillus; a small tooth (t) located medioventrally at base of femorite.

Remarks. This species has hitherto been considered as subendemic to Hyrcania within N and NW Iran alone (Elburs and Zagros mountains) ( Attems 1951; Golovatch 1981b). The above records are thus new to the fauna of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in general also to that of the Caucasus.

Given such a considerable range of variation in body size in B. pigmentatus , we do not hesitate to formally synonymize here this species with B. pereliae Golovatch, 1976 , the latter taxon known from the W Kopetdagh Mountains, SW Turkmenistan. Indeed, the holotype of B. pereliae was said to be 10 mm long and 1.17 mm wide, whereas the gonopods of B. pigmentatus and B. pereliae have been noted as being virtually identical ( Golovatch 1976). Hence the new synonymy advanced: B. pigmentatus Attems, 1951 = B. pereliae Golovatch, 1976 , syn. n.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Brachydesmus pigmentatus Attems, 1951, males from Hyrcan Nature Reserve, Azerbaijan. A: habitus, entire body, dorsal view. B: anterior part of body, dorsal view. C: right half of metatergite 10, dorsal view. D: posterior part of body, dorsal view. E: gonopods in situ, ventral view. F: right gonopod, mesal view. Designations: en, endomere; ex, exomere; k, spine at base of endomere; t, tooth near base of femorite. Pictures A and E by K. Makarov, taken not to scale. Line drawings B – D by S. Dashdamirov, scale bar: 1.0 mm (B – D), 0.3 mm (F).