Asphalidesmus allynensis, Mesibov, Robert, 2011

Mesibov, Robert, 2011, New species of Asphalidesmus Silvestri, 1910 from Australia (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Dalodesmidea), ZooKeys 93, pp. 43-66 : 45-47

Asphalidesmus allynensis sp. n. Figs 2A3Amap fig. 12

Holotype.

Male, Allyn Stream, Barrington Tops, NSW, " 32°14'S, 151°30'E " (label data, incorrect; see Remarks), 1 February 1975, P.M. Johns, in Nothofagus moorei [forest], AM KS94167. Gonopods and remainder of body in two separate genitalia vials in the same sample tube.

Other material.

None known.

Diagnosis.

Gonopod telopodite branching at ca one-third telopodite height, 5 transverse rows of tubercles on midbody metatergites.

Description.

Specimen somewhat decoloured and macerated, length ca 6 mm, ring 6 vertical diameter ca 0.6 mm and maximum width ca 0.9 mm. Midbody metatergites with 5 transverse rows of tubercles dorsally. Paranota narrow (Fig. 3A), margin clearly divided into 3 (occasionally 4) lobes.

Gonopod telopodite (Fig. 2A) divided at ca one-third telopodite height into anterior and posterior branches, below the division somewhat expanded posterolaterally, the base setose up to the division on posterior and posterolateral surfaces, the longest setae close to the division and directed distally. Posterior branch stout, curving first posteriorly, then distolaterally, mediolaterally flattening and expanding in distal half, the distal margin notched in anterior half, anterior to the notch the margin slightly bent medially and finely dentate. Posterior branch also with small, flat, near-rectangular process arising on medial surface of branch at ca one-half branch height and directed distally and slightly medially, the distal and posterior margins of the process roughened. Anterior branch more slender than posterior branch, curving smoothly posterodistally, tip slightly flattened mediolaterally and bent to lie medial to expanded tip of posterior branch and just anterodistal and lateral to tip of rectangular process on that branch. Prostatic groove following anterior surface of posterior branch, then curving posteriorly to terminate in small, conical projection on posteromedial surface of branch at origin of rectangular process.

Distribution.

So far known only from cool temperate rainforest on the Barrington Tops in central, near-coastal New South Wales (Fig. 12; see also Remarks).

Etymology.

For the Allyn River, type locality of this species.

Remarks.

'Allyn Stream’ seems to be an obsolete local name for the Allyn River, whose tributaries flow through high-elevation Nothofagus moorei rainforest. The latitude/longitude on the printed specimen label marks the start of the Allyn River Road in long-cleared farmland at ca 220 m elevation. The latitude/longitude may have been added when the original handwritten label was replaced by a printed one (G. Milledge, pers. comm., 1 March 2011) The most likely collection sites are ca 10 km to the north-northwest, on forest roads through Nothofagus moorei forest above ca 700 m. My best guess is 32°09'S, 151°27'E ± 3 km (see Appendix).