Julus Linnaeus, 1758

Evsyukov, Aleksandr, Golovatch, Sergei & Reip, Hans S., 2018, The millipede genus Julus Linnaeus, 1758 in the Caucasus (Diplopoda: Julida: Julidae), Zootaxa 4461 (1), pp. 89-117 : 90-92

Genus Julus Linnaeus, 1758

Raulinsia Leach, 1814 ; type-species: Julus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758

Micropodoiulus Verhoeff, 1893 ; type-species: Iulus scandinavius Latzel, 1884

Mastigoiulus Attems, 1894 ; type-species: Julus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis. Julus is very distinct not only amongst contribal genera, but also in the entire family Julidae in that the adult males show a particularly strongly reduced and non-unciform leg-pair 1, coupled with each coxa 2 supplied with 1–3, often prominent processes, and the flagellum on the promere being always present, characteristically thickened and somewhat ribbon-shaped ( Schubart 1934; Lohmander 1936).

Remarks. Formally, Julus includes six subgenera ( Lohmander 1936; Hoffman 1980): Julus s. str.; Orescioiulus Lohmander, 1936 ; Porrhoiulus Lohmander, 1936 ; Euxinoiulus Lohmander, 1936 ; Hungaroiulus Lohmander, 1936 ; and Ornithoeides Verhoeff, 1941 . However, because the number of species described in Julus has since doubled, some of them fail to properly fit into any subgenus, therefore a subgeneric classification has been abandoned ( Mikhaljova 2009, 2013, 2017).

At the moment, Julus comprises 16 species or subspecies. They have been listed, and their distributions outlined, by Evsyukov (2016a). The species or subspecies known to occur outside the Caucasus are as follows:

J. azarovae Mikhaljova, 2009 , from the Republic of Altai, Siberia, Russia ( Mikhaljova 2009, 2017).

J. curvicornis Verhoeff, 1899 , from Slovakia ( Verhoeff 1899; Kime and Enghoff 2017).

J. ghilarovi brachydactylus Gulička, 1972 , described from Siberia, Russia: the Republic of Altai ( Gulička 1963; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979; Mikhaljova 2004, 2017).

J. ghilarovi ghilarovi Gulička, 1963 , from Siberia, Russia: the Kemerovo and Novosibirsk areas, the southern part of Krasnoyarsk Province, the Republic of Khakassia, the Republic of Altai ( Gulička 1963; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979; Mikhaljova 2004, 2017).

J. insolitus Mikhaljova, 2009 , from the Republic of Altai, Siberia, Russia ( Mikhaljova 2009, 2017).

J. kazakhus Mikhaljova, 2013 , from eastern Kazakhstan and the Altai Mountains of Mongolia ( Mikhaljova 2013; Nefediev et al. 2015).

J. scandinavius Latzel, 1884 , from Northern and Central Europe, also introduced to North America ( Latzel 1884; Lohmander 1925; Schubart 1934; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979; Kime and Enghoff 2017).

J. scanicus Lohmander, 1925 , from many countries in Northern and Central Europe ( Lohmander 1925; Schubart 1934; Lokšina and Golovatch, 1979; Kime and Enghoff 2017).

J. terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 , the type-species, known from many countries across Europe ( Lohmander 1925; Schubart 1934; Lokshina 1969; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979; Chornyi and Golovatch, 1993; Kime and Enghoff 2017).

In the Caucasus region, the genus contains seven species, as follows:

Julus alexandrae Evsyukov, 2016 , from the Rostov-on-Don Region , southern Russia ( Evsyukov 2016a);

J. colchicus Lohmander, 1936 , from Russia, Abkhazia and Georgia ( Lohmander 1936; Lang 1959; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979; Korobushkin et al. 2016; Chumachenko 2016);

J. jedryczkowskii Golovatch, 1981 , from North Ossetia, Russia ( Golovatch 1981);

J. kubanus Verhoeff, 1921 , from the NW Caucasus, Russia ( Verhoeff 1921; Lohmander 1936; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979);

J. lignaui Verhoeff, 1910 , from the NW Caucasus, Russia ( Verhoeff 1910; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979);

J. lindholmi Lohmander, 1936 , from Abkhazia ( Lohmander 1936; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979);

J. subalpinus Lohmander, 1936 , from the Krasnodar Province, Russia ( Lohmander 1936; Lokšina and Golovatch 1979).

Quite a few additional nominal species of Julus or Iulus , the latter spelling being an improper emendation, had been documented or recorded from the Caucasus prior to Lohmander’s (1936) milestone monograph, but they have since been either transferred to other genera or shown to represent misidentifications, or been synonymized. Thus, Julus caucasicus Karsch, 1881 , described from a juvenile female holotype from near Borzhom, Georgia ( Karsch 1881), was omitted by Lohmander (1936), but revised by SG as belonging to the Brachyiulini (to be addressed by Vagalinski, in preparation). Julus rossicus Timotheew, 1897 , described from south-central Russia, eastern Ukraine and the northern Caucasus ( Timotheew 1897), is presently referred to as Byzantorhopalum rossicum ( Timotheew, 1897) (see Vagalinski and Lazányi 2018). Julus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 , J. scandinavius and J. ligulifer Latzel, 1884 , all recorded from the Black Sea coast, were misidentified and are currently referred to as J. lignaui (see below). Julus placidus Lignau, 1903 , J. bellus Lignau, 1903 and J. ruber Lignau, 1903 have since been transferred to the genus Cylindroiulus Verhoeff, 1894 (see Read 1992), whereas J. curvocaudatus Lignau, 1903 and J. litoreus Lignau, 1903 are presently classified in Omobrachyiulus Lohmander, 1936 (see Vagalinski and Lazányi 2018). Similarly, a number of European and/or Mediterranean Julidae listed from the Caucasus under Julus by Muralewicz (1907, 1911, 1913) are largely dubious or evident misidentifications as well (see also Lohmander 1936), whereas the single new species, Julus foetidissimus Muralewicz, 1907 , is currently referred to as Pachyiulus krivolutskyi Golovatch, 1977 (see Evsyukov 2016b).

In addition, Kobakhidze (1964) listed an undescribed species, J. svaneticus Lohmander nomen nudum, which Hans Lohmander had intended, but failed to describe from Svanetia, Georgia, Caucasus. In the Museum of Georgia, SG saw all material identified by Lohmander which Kobakhidze (1964, 1965) published alone quite soon after Lohmander's death in 1961. Apparently, Kobakhidze decided to drop Julus svaneticus nomen nudum from his 1965 paper because that taxon had not been described, listing only described species.