Amastigogonus verreauxii (Gervais, 1847)

Mesibov, Robert, 2017, Iulomorphid millipedes (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Iulomorphidae) of Tasmania, Australia, ZooKeys 652, pp. 1-36 : 18-20

Amastigogonus verreauxii (Gervais, 1847) Figs 4G, 8D

Iulus verreauxii Gervais 1847: 175.

Julus Verreauxii Preudhomme de Borre 1884: 62.

" Julus " verreauxii Jeekel 1981: 43.

Amastigogonus verreauxii Mauriès et al. 2001: 585 (new combination), fig. 3. Korsós and Read 2012: 45.

Holotype.

Male, "De la Nouvelle-Hollande, sur le penchant du mont Wellington, par M. Jules Verreaux" ( Gervais 1847: 175), MNHN GA031. Described and illustrated by Mauriès et al. (2001), specimen not re-examined.

Other material.

360 males, 100 probable females and 34 possible juveniles from 111 unique localities; details in Suppl. material 1.

Diagnosis.

Like Amastigogonus elephas sp. n. in having a telopodite with a subquadrate extension of the posterobasal margin and a posteriorly curving pseudoflagellum; distinguished from Amastigogonus elephas sp. n. in the pseudoflagellum lacking a small, tooth-like, distally directed extension on the tip.

Description.

Mature males observed with (38+4) rings, midbody diameter 2.2 mm to (55+1) rings, 3.2 mm in single 1-month pitfall sample, QVM 23:54197. Cardo not deeper posteriorly. Leg 7 (only) with elongated coxa. Prefemoral pad ca 3/4 femur length. Striae on posterior metazonites reaching ca 3/4 of ozopore height.

Coxite process on anterior gonopod (Fig. 8D) with small portion of posterodistal margin extended as rounded tab, sharply folded over laterally. Telopodite with posterobasal surface produced posteriorly as subquadrate flange (Fig. 8D; fl) and with single row of prominent setae on posterior side of medial thickening, on anterior side of thickening continued to telopodite apex as short row of more closely spaced setae (not shown in Fig. 8D). Pseudoflagellum arising at ca 2/3 telopodite height, ca 1/2 width of telopodite at base, curving posterodistally, the apex narrowing to truncate, posterobasally directed tip.

Distribution.

Widespread in forested and some non-forested habitats in western and southern Tasmania and on the Central Plateau (Fig. 7A) from sea level to at least 1260 m; also found on Hunter Island in the Hunter Group in western Bass Strait. Overlaps (with some parapatry?) with Amastigogonus hellyeri sp. n. in northwest Tasmania, and with Amastigogonus fossuliger on the Central Plateau and possibly in far southern Tasmania (see distribution notes for Amastigogonus fossuliger ).

Remarks.

Gervais (1847) described Iulus Verreauxii from material in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris. A presumed holotype was still in the Muséum more than 150 years later and was redescribed and illustrated by Mauriès, Golovatch and Hoffman (2001), who assigned the species to Amastigogonus . The type material had probably been collected on Mt Wellington by the naturalist Jules Pierre Verreaux ca 1843 during his residency in Tasmania ( Maiden 1910: 153).

Mauriès, Golovatch and Hoffman (2001: 585) refer to a "very faint axial line" on the promentum of the Amastigogonus verreauxii holotype. The line appears to be an artefact of long preservation, as I have not observed it in any Amastigogonus verreauxii specimens.

Amastigogonus verreauxii varies remarkably little in size or gonopod details over its large range.