Otostigmus (Parotostigmus) pococki Kraepelin, 1903

Chagas-Jr, Amazonas & Souza, Emerson Marques, 2024, A review of the types of some Otostigmus (Parotostigmus) (Scolopendromorpha, Scolopendridae, Otostigminae) of the Andes mountain range, Zootaxa 5529 (3), pp. 436-460 : 454

Otostigmus (Parotostigmus) pococki Kraepelin, 1903

Type material examined: Holotype male MNHN, Guyana, Ht. Carsevenne, 1897, F. Gray.

Additional material examined: NMNH 30456 , 2 males and 1 female, Panamá, San Jose Island , 23.viii.1944, JPE Morrinson ; MNHN, 1 specimen, French Guyana, Isla de la Méres, 25.v.1977 ; NMNH 31475 , 1 specimen, Guyana, Kartabo, Bartica District , 1922 ; NMNH 31475 , 3 specimens, Guyana, Kartabo, Bartica District , 4.vi-31.vii.1924, SC Crawford ; MNHN 2205 , 5 specimens, Venezuela, Mérida, 1630 m, Rosemberg ; NMNH 31482 , 1 specimen, Colombia, Chocó, San Juan River, 1965-1968, Marte Lathan ; NMNH 31482 , 1 male, Colombia, Chocó, Andogoya , 19.v.1957 , Marte Lathan; AMHN, 1 female, Peru, Dept. Loreto, Parinari, Canyon Rio Samiria , xii.1912, B. Peyer ; FSCA, 1 female, Peru, Cuzco, Machu Pichu , 28.i.1965 , Gene H. Lowery ; NMNH 31468 , 1 specimen, Peru, Dept. Huanuco, Divisória , 23.ix-30.x.1946, F. Woytkowski.

Redescription of holotype. Length: 70 mm from anterior margin of cephalic plate to posterior margin of tergite 21. Antennae with 17 articles, first two basal and basal part of third glabrous. Cephalic plate without sutures and depressions [not described] but punctate. Coxosternal tooth-plates wider than long, with 4+4 teeth [4 or 5]. Tergite 1 smooth, the remain tergites rugous; roughness in the tergites gradual, increasing towards posterior portion of trunk; tergites 5–20 with complete paramedian sutures [not described]; tergites 12–20 with paramedian keels [tergites 11–20 have strong, fine-grained, rough, sharpened longitudinal keels]; tergites 13–20 with median longitudinal keel (from tergite 5); tergite 21 with three short incomplete keels; tergites 5–21 margined (tergite 5 furrowed and edged); tergite 21 straight or truncate. Sternites smooth, without sutures, but with depressions; a larger rounded depression in the center with three small weak rounded depressions arranged transversally at posterior margin [sternites of anterior segments with 3 elongated pits in front and 3 round dimples in front of posterior margin; the front pits flow together on the rear segments]. Sternite 21 longer than wider, with posterior margin slightly concave [with a shallow median sulcus]. Coxopleuron without spines; pore-field covers almost entire coxopleuron, only the posterior end poreless. Posterior part of the coxopleuron with a slight protuberance. Legs 1–19 with one tarsal spur [leg 1 with two tarsal spurs]; legs 20 and 21 without; prefemur of ultimate legs without spines; prefemur of ultimate legs in male with a digitiform appendix exceeding half length of prefemur [prefemur of ultimate legs in male with a slender appendix half the length of the prefemur]; tip of its appendix dilated and without tuft of hairs [a barely visible patch of yellow hair at the bulbous end].

Remarks. This species is widespread in the Andes and other parts of South America. Otostigmus pocoki is easily distinguished from other Otostigmus species by its body size, the roughness of the tergites, and the depressions in the sternites. In addition, males of this species have a digitiform appendix on the prefemur of the ultimate legs. This appendage has a tuft of hair at its tip. However, Chagas-Jr (2012) noted that the tuft of hair at the tip of the digitiform appendix is absent in the type of O. pococki . Further examination of the type material showed that the digitiform appendage of the prefemur of the ultimate legs lacks the tuft of hair. Kraepelin (1903) mentions the presence of the tuft. The additional material examined here shows that the tuft of hair is present in the digitiform appendix of ultimate legs of male specimens identified as O. pococki . The absence of the tuft of hair on the digitiform appendage of the prefemur of the ultimate legs may have been due to handling wear on the specimen during its preservation, since the appendix itself was deformed in the position of the tuft of hair.