Mecistocephalus insularis (Lucas, 1863)

Dyachkov, Yurii V., Ali Al-Yacoub, Ghassan A. & Mohammed Al-Khazali, Azhar M., 2023, A preliminary annotated checklist of Chilopoda from Iraq, Ecologica Montenegrina 63, pp. 59-78 : 64-65

Mecistocephalus insularis (Lucas, 1863)

Type locality: [ Reunion Island, S21°06'52", E55°31'57"] “Ile de la Réunion” ( Bonato et al. 2016) .

Figs 2–3 .

Lamnonyx insularis – Silvestri 1919: 55.

Mecistocephalus insularis – Attems 1929: 134; Matic 1972: 244; Dobroruka 1973: 830; Lewis & Wranik 1990: 68; Lewis 1996: 149; Bonato & Minelli 2004: 23.

Material. 8 ♂♂, 15 ♀♀ (UTQ), Iraq, TQ, Ur district , left bank of the Euphrates River, 4 km SE Al- Nasiriya city, N31°01'40", E46°18'04", wet agricultural land, in the soil under palm trees, 5 m, 11.III.2022, coll. AY ; 3 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀ (UTQ), Al- Aziraj village , 15 km NE Al-Nasiriya city, N31°09'00", E46°15'59", wet agricultural land, in the soil under palm trees and in leaf litter, 9 m, 11.III.2022, coll. AY ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀ (UTQ), Islah district , NE Al-Nasiriya city, N31°16'52", E46°31'57", agricultural land, in the soil under palm trees, 11 m, 4.XI.2022, coll. AY ; 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (UTQ), MA, Al- Salam district , on Batira river, 47 km SE Amara city ,

N31°32'23", E46°58'56", wet agricultural land, in the soil under palm trees, 20 m, 11.XI.2022, coll. AY; Previous records. Absent. Distribution. Tropical Africa and neighboring islands ( Silvestri 1919; Attems 1929; Matic 1972;

Dobroruka 1973), Yemen, Saudi Arabia ( Lewis & Wranik 1990; Lewis 1996), and Iraq (new). Remarks. This species is new to the fauna of Iraq. All records outside the Western part of the Indian Ocean require critical evaluation ( Bonato et al.

2016).

Figures

Figures 2–3. Mecistocephalus insularis (Lucas, 1863), female, ventral view: 2, head and forcipular segment; 3, terminal body part.