Chaleponcus mwanihanensis, Enghoff, 2014

Enghoff, Henrik, 2014, A mountain of millipedes I: An endemic species-group of the genus Chaleponcus Attems, 1914, from the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Odontopygidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 100, pp. 1-75 : 32-34

Chaleponcus mwanihanensis sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:84D1DB74-24F4-44A7-BF38-DD31A0FAAE15

Figs 5 , 9 , 17

Diagnosis

Medium-sized. Without a proximal spine on the solenomere, a character shared only by C. malleolus sp. nov. and C. hamerae sp. nov. Differing from these species (and indeed from all other species in the group) by the profile of the gonopod coxa ( Fig. 9 ).

Etymology

The name is a Latin adjective referring to the type locality.

Material studied (total: 17 ♂♂)

Holotype

TANZANIA: ♂, Morogoro Region, Kilombero District, Udzungwa Mts, Mwanihana FR, 1800-1850 m, pitfall traps, montane rain forest 25–29 Sep. 1984, N. Scharff leg. ( ZMUC).

Paratypes

All from TANZANIA, Morogoro Region, Kilombero District, Udzungwa Mts, Mwanihana FR, all in ZMUC: 3 ♂♂, above Sanje, 1800 m, pitfall trap, 18 Aug. 1982, M. Stoltze & N. Scharff leg.; 1 ♂, above Sanje, 1800 m, litter, 18 Aug. 1982, M. Stoltze & N. Scharff leg.; 9 ♂♂, 1800–1850 m, pitfall traps, montane rain forest, 25–29 Sep. 1984, N. Scharff leg.; 3 ♂♂, 1800–1850 m, litter in montane rain forest, 28–29 Sep. 1984, N. Scharff leg.

Type locality

TANZANIA: Morogoro Region, Kilombero District, Udzungwa Mts, Mwanihana FR, 1800–1850 m, montane rain forest.

Description (male)

DIAMETER. 2.2–2.4 mm, 44–46 podous rings.

COLOUR. After 30 years in alcohol bleached but with traces of a broad, light dorsal stripe, flanked by dark dorsolateral bands, and thin dark lines at ozopore level.

ANAL VALVES. Each with a very long and slender, slightly curving spine and a small, triangular ventral one; marginal rim raised, setiferous tubercles well developed, on small ‘ravelins’.

LIMBUS. With broadly rounded lobes, separated by short stretches (ca. 1/4 -½ lobe width) of straight margin; lobes ca. as broad as long; deeply striate on external surface. Surface between lobes forming shallow concavity behind straight margin.

TARSAL SETATION ( Fig. 5A ). Normal.

GONOPOD COXA ( Figs 9 , 17 ). About 3½ × as long as wide. Lateral margin basally straight, then curving slightly laterad and forming lateral triangular process (lp) before continuing to rounded coxal tip; cucullus (cu) hence approximately triangular in outline. Metaplical flange (mf) ending in approximately equilateral triangular process; metaplical mesal margin straight up to level of metaplical shelf (ms). ms simple, regularly rounded, projecting mesad as well as posteriad, continuing anterior-mesally in metaplical shelf-spine (mss) without a marked transition. mss short to medium long, curving first anteriad, then mesad, then posteriad, almost only in horizontal plane.

GONOPOD TELOPODITE ( Fig. 17 ). Solenomere without spines or other secondary branches. Telomere distally with two branches, both curving 180° anteriad: Anterior lamella (al) smaller than posterior lamella (pl), both with several lobes with partly serrate-laciniate edges. Due to 180° curvature, distal part of pl dominating the anterior view, forming a roughly ellipsoid structure with the long axis oriented basal-apical.

Distribution and habitat

Known only from Mwanihana FR. Altitudinal range: 1800–1850 m asl. Habitat: montane rain forest.

Coexisting species

None known.

Figures

Fig. 5. Chaleponcus spp., tip of tarsus and claw of walking legs. — A. C. mwanihanensis sp. nov. as an example of normal setation. B–C. C. circumvallatus sp. nov. with the claw surrounded by a ’palisade’ of setae. Scales 0.1 mm.

Fig. 9. Chaleponcus spp., outline of coxite of left gonopod, posterior view. (The ’transverse’ plane of the gonopod is usually slightly at angles with the exact transverse plane of the millipede, so it may be necessary to tilt the gonopod slightly in order to obtain the view shown on the drawings.) The stippled lines indicate the place where the telopodital basomere emerges from the coxal cavity. Not to scale.

Fig. 17. Chaleponcus mwanihanensis sp. nov., gonopods. A. Left gonopods, mesal-ventral view. B. Left gonopod, posterior view. C. Right gonopod, ventral view. D. Right gonopod, anterior view. al = anterior lamella of telomere, cu = cucullus, lp = lateral coxal process, mf = metaplical flange, ms = metaplical shelf, mss = metaplical shelf-spine, pl = posterior lamella of telomere. Scales 0.1 mm.