Sphaeromimus de Saussure & Zehntner, 1902

Moritz, Leif & Wesener, Thomas, 2017, Integrative description of two new species of Malagasy chirping giant pill-millipedes, genus Sphaeromimus (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida: Arthrosphaeridae), European Journal of Taxonomy 381, pp. 1-25 : 5-7

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5852/ejt.2017.381
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5623723
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/08124C2A-FFF5-FF8E-FE7F-F95EFAA254A4
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Sphaeromimus de Saussure & Zehntner, 1902
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Genus Sphaeromimus de Saussure & Zehntner, 1902

For a recent revision, see Wesener et al. (2014).

Key to the species of Sphaeromimus :

1. Male harp on the anterior telopod with 3 stridulation ribs …………………………………………2

– Male harp on the anterior telopod with 4–6 stridulation ribs ………………………………………7

2. Body length <20 mm. Mid-body legs without a coxal lobe. Endotergum with single row of marginal bristles. Immovable finger of posterior telopod slender, apically strongly curved like a hook. Colour pink or brown ………………………………………………………………………………………3

– Body length> 20 mm. Mid-body legs at least with a weak coxal lobe. Endotergum usually with at least two, rarely only one ( S. titanus Wesener, 2014 ) row of marginal bristles. Immovable finger of posterior telopod at least basally wide. Colour black or brown …………4

3. Colour pink, surface shiny. Process of telopoditomere 2 of anterior telopods in anterior view visible laterally. Littoral forest of Mandena and rainforest of Enato …………………………… …………………………………………………………… S. inexpectatus Wesener & Sierwald, 2005

– Colour light brown, surface dull. Process of telopoditomere 2 of anterior telopods in anterior view not visible. Littoral forest of Sainte Luce, fragment S8 ……………… S. saintelucei Wesener, 2014

4. Body length> 30mm, light brown. Endotergum with single row of marginal bristles. Movable finger of posterior telopod straight ( Fig. 2B View Fig.2 ). Lowland forest of Manombo …… S. titanus Wesener, 2014

– Body length 21–28 mm, black or dark brown. Endotergum with two rows of marginal bristles. Movable finger of posterior telopod curved ………………………………………………………5

5. Mid-body legs with strongly developed coxal process. Tergite surface shiny. Littoral forest of Sainte Luce, fragment S9 ………………………………………… S. splendidus Wesener & Sierwald, 2005

– Mid-body legs with barely developed coxal process. Tergite surface dull …………………………6

6. Endotergum with strongly developed cuticular patterns. Movable finger of posterior telopod without small pits, carrying 20–22 crenulated teeth. Andohahela mountain chain, Manantantely, Malio and Isaka-Ivondro …………………………………………… S. andohahela Wesener, 2014

– Endotergum with weakly developed cuticular patterns. Movable finger of posterior telopod covered with small pits, carrying 23 or 24 crenulated teeth. Inside Grotte d’Andrahomana and in deep ravines N of Ankapaky …………………………………………………… S. andrahomana Wesener, 2014

7. Unique black pattern on orange-reddish basic colour. Harp with 5 ribs. Endotergum with three rows of marginal bristles. Widespread in the SW spiny forest …… S. musicus (Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)

– Colour different, either uniformly black or brown. Rainforest species ……………………………8

8. Harp with 4 stridulation ribs. Endotergum with two rows of marginal bristles, not reaching tergite margin. Operculum well-rounded. Dark brown to black species. Lavasoa Mountain ……… …………………………………………………………………………… S. lavasoa Wesener, 2014

– Harp with 5 or 6 stridulation ribs. Endotergum with one to three rows of marginal bristles …9

9. Harp with 5 stridulation ribs ( Fig. 5D View Fig. 5 ). Movable finger of posterior telopod with one or two membranous lobes. Marginal bristles of endotergum protruding beyond tergite margin ( Fig. 4B View Fig.4 ) …10

– Harp with 6 stridulation ribs ( Fig.9D View Fig. 9 ). Movable finger of posterior telopod with two membranous lobes ( Fig. 9G View Fig. 9 ) ……………………………………………………………………………………11

10. Operculum apically recessed. Medium-sized species. Movable finger of posterior telopod with single membranous lobe and 26 crenulated teeth. Eyes with>60 ocelli. Rudimentary lateral palpi consisting of 3 sensilla. Vevembe-Vatovavy area … S. vatovavy Wesener, 2014

– Operculum well-rounded, typical for genus ( Fig. 6A View Fig. 6 ). Gigantic species (> 50 mm). Movable finger of posterior telopod with two membranous lobes and 30 crenulated teeth ( Fig.5H View Fig. 5 ). Eyes with>80 ocelli. Rudimentary lateral palpi consisting of 4 sensilla ( Fig. 3C View Fig. 3 ). Kalambatritra Rainforest ………………………………………………………………… S. kalambatritra sp. nov.

11. Small, black species, red legs. Endotergum with single sparse row of very short marginal bristles. Posterior telopod with four spines and 36 crenulated teeth. Ivohibe Mountain ………… …………………………………………………………………………… S. ivohibe Wesener, 2014

– Gigantic (> 50 mm), brown species. Endotergum with two dense rows of long marginal bristles ( Fig. 9B View Fig. 9 ). Posterior telopod with two spines and 32 crenulated teeth ( Fig. 9H View Fig. 9 ). Midongy Rainforest … ………………………………………………………………………………… S. midongy sp. nov.