Eustrongylosoma Silvestri, 1896

Golovatch, Sergei I. & Stoev, Pavel, 2011, Review of the millipede genus Eustrongylosoma Silvestri, 1896 in the island of New Guinea, with descriptions of nine new species (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae), International Journal of Myriapodology 5, pp. 1-26 : 3-4

The genus Eustrongylosoma Silvestri, 1896

Diagnosis.

Small to medium-sized (12-33 mm long) Eustrongylosomatini with 20 segments and a normal ozopore formula. Paraterga medium-sized to missing, never as high as dorsum. Tergal setae usually few, mostly abraded and traceable only as insertion points, metaterga only rarely abundantly setose. ♂ legs without adenostyles, but usually with tarsal (sometimes also distotibial) brushes. A sternal lobe or two cones between ♂ coxae 4.

Gonopod subcylindrical, setose distodorsally, rather long, but considerably shorter than telopodite; prefemoral (= densely setose) part at least twice shorter than femorite; the latter without evidence of torsion (= seminal groove running entirely mesally), but with an evident dorsomesal groove (only rarely transformed apically into a small projection) delimited by longitudinal folds or crests; distal part of femorite projected into a distinct lateral lobe or process (l) and extended considerably beyond beginning of a long and flagelliform solenomere; solenophore about as long as to only slightly shorter than femorite, coiled, directed laterad, with lamina lateralis produced basad before subtending solenomere and evidently more strongly developed than lamina medialis, both laminae being elaborate.

Type-species.

Strongylosoma fasciatum Silvestri, 1895, by original designation by Silvestri (1896).

Remarks.

Above is a slightly amended diagnosis of Eustrongylosoma which seems to be especially topical because a number of Eustrongylosomatini species from New Guinea have recently been revised and/or reallocated, and a new genus proposed ( Jeekel 2009).

In addition to Eustrongylosoma , this tribe currently comprises the following five genera from New Guinea: Nothrosoma Attems, 1929 (three species), Perittotresis Attems, 1914, Astromontosoma Hoffman, 1978, Selminosoma Hoffman, 1978 (all three monobasic), Silvattia Jeekel, 2009 (two species), as well as one more from the Seychelles: Diglossosternoides Golovatch & Korsós, 1992 (monobasic) ( Hoffman 1977/1978; Golovatch and Korsós 1992; Jeekel 2009). Most of them have long been keyed ( Hoffman 1977/1978). Basically, Eustrongylosoma is distinguished from all of them by the presence of a distinct distolateral lobe or process on a medially excavate gonopod femorite, combined with the absence of any evident outgrowths just before the beginning of a long solenomere.