Scolopendra multidens Newport, 1844

Siriwut, Warut, Edgecombe, Gregory D., Sutcharit, Chirasak, Tongkerd, Piyoros & Panha, Somsak, 2016, A taxonomic review of the centipede genus Scolopendra Linnaeus, 1758 (Scolopendromorpha, Scolopendridae) in mainland Southeast Asia, with description of a new species from Laos, ZooKeys 590, pp. 1-124 : 29-30

Taxon classification Animalia Scolopendromorpha Scolopendridae

Scolopendra multidens Newport, 1844 Figs 26, 27, 28 A–B, 29

Scolopendra multidens Newport, 1844: 97, 1845: 391. Gervais 1847: 288. Kohlrausch 1881: 101. Haase 1887: 46, pl. 3, fig. 46. Chao 2003: 7, 2008: 30, table 2, figs 31-36. Lewis 2010b: 108. Kronmüller 2012: 26. Siriwut et al. 2015a: 22.

Scolopendra rugosa Meinert, 1886: 202.

Scolopendra subspinipes multidens - Kraepelin 1903: 264. Attems 1907: 81, 1914a: 107, 1914b: 568, 1930b: 31. Muralewicz 1913: 201. Takakuwa 1942: 359, 1943: 171. Takashima 1949: 11. Takashima and Shinohara 1952: 4. Wang 1955: 16, 1956: 158, 1962: 101. Zhang 1992: 8, fig. 1.

Type locality.

Not designated.

Material.

Holotype NHMUK, one adult, dry condition, Newport’s collection (Figs 26, 27).

Additional material.

NHMUK, one spm., Qiang Binh, Vietnam (17.47001°N 106.38168°E), leg. F. Naggs and J. Ablett, 4/3/2012. NHMUK, one spm., Annam [Vietnam], leg. A. Graham (C.). NHMUK, one spm., in bottle " Scolopendra multidens ", Hong Kong, July 1954, leg. I.D. Romer. NHMUK, spm. numbers 2, 6, 8, 11, 13 and 14 in bottle " Scolopendra multidens ", Hong Kong.

Diagnosis.

17-18 antennal articles, 6 basal articles glabrous dorsally. Each tooth-plate with 5-10 teeth. Tergites 2(3)-20 with paramedian sutures. Complete tergite margination from TT12 (14)-21. Tergite of ultimate leg bearing segment without depression or suture. Paramedian sutures 20-60% on anterior part of sternites. Coxopleural process with 2-3 apical spines. Ultimate leg prefemora with 2 VL, 1 M, 1-2 DM and 1-3 spines on prefemoral process. One tarsal spur on legs 1-19.

Composite description.

Body length 11.4 cm in syntype. Dried holotype brownish on entire body. Cephalic plate with small punctae; median sulcus present. Posterior part of cephalic plate without paramedian sulci.

Antennae with 17-18 articles, basal 6 subcylindrical and glabrous dorsally on left side, 6 articles glabrous ventrally. Antennae reach segment 4. Forcipular trochanteroprefemoral process with denticles in two groups, one apical and three inner. Tooth-plates quadrate, with 5 teeth (Fig. 26C; total of 12-14 teeth in original description). Tooth-plate with straight, transverse basal suture. Coxosternite smooth, without median suture. Article 2 of second maxillary telopodite with spur.

Anterior margin of T1 underlying cephalic plate (Fig. 26A). Complete paramedian sutures on TT2; margination typically starting on T9 (T13 in specimen from Hong Kong; NHMUK). Tergite surface (Fig. 27A) smooth, with median sulci on posterior part. Tergite of ultimate leg-bearing segment relatively broad (Fig. 27C), curved posteriorly, without median furrow or depression; ratio of width: length of tergite of ultimate leg-bearing segment 0.72:1. Sternites (Fig. 26B) with short paramedian sutures on approximately 40-60% of anterior part. Surface of sternites smooth. Sternite of ultimate leg-bearing segment (Fig. 27B) with sides converging posteriorly, surface without depression. Pore-field on coxopleuron terminating beneath margin of tergite of ultimate leg-bearing segment, dorsal margin of pore area sinous.

Coxopleural process moderately long or short with 1-2 apical and 1-2 subapical spines; pore-free area extending 80% length from distal part of coxopleural process to margin of sternite of ultimate leg-bearing segment (Fig. 27B).

All legs without setae and tibial spur. One tarsal spur on legs 1-19; holotype lacking leg 20. Ultimate legs (Fig. 27 B–D) thick and moderately long, with ratios of lengths of prefemur and femur 1.2:1, femur and tibia 1.7:1, tibia and tarsus 1 1.8:1; tarsus 1 and tarsus 2 1.5:1. Prefemora flattened dorsally, atypically rounded, with enlarged blackish spines. Prefemoral spines as follow: 3 VL, 2 M, 2 DM, prefemoral process with 3 spines (3 V, 2 D, prefemoral process with 3 spines in original description). Posterior margin of prefemur with shallow median groove.

Genital segments well developed, reaching longer than distance between posterior margin of sternite of ultimate leg-bearing segment and distal part of coxopleural process (Fig. 28A). Sternite of genital segment 1 round and convex posteriorly, with median suture (Fig. 28B). In male, sternite of genital segment 2 well-developed. Tergite of genital segment without small setae. Gonopods and penis absent (Fig. 28 A–B).

Colouration. According to Chao (2008), juvenile specimens have a reddish orange cephalic plate and T1. Basal part of antenna reddish orange, distal part greenish. The remaining tergites dark green. All legs reddish orange. In adult, all tergites reddish orange.

Discussion.

Morphological characters are similar to Scolopendra subspinipes sensu Chao, 2008. The validity of Scolopendra multidens as a separate species was re-established by the absence of gonopods on the first genital segment in males ( Chao 2008). Two species of Scolopendra in the region, Scolopendra hainanum Kronmüller, 2012 from Hainan Island, China, and Scolopendra multidens , distributed in eastern coastal Asia, have been reported to lack gonopods. Study of the type specimens of both Scolopendra multidens and Scolopendra dawydoffi indicates a close relationship between these two species. The lack of gonopods in males of Scolopendra dawydoffi from Thailand was found in the present study, which might provide a synapomorphic character for a clade composed of these species. However, the species boundaries between these taxa are complicated by disjunct distributional data, with previous records indicating that Scolopendra multidens mostly occurs in the East China Sea and possibly ranges as far as Japan. Vahtera et al. (2013) reported the occurrence of Scolopendra multidens from northern Vietnam and provided DNA sequences for a specimen. In this present study, we analyzed molecular data for numerous specimens of Scolopendra dawydoffi as well as the Vietnamese specimen of Scolopendra multidens to explore their relationships. The phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes indicated that Scolopendra multidens is sister taxon to Scolopendra dawydoffi and both are genetically distinct from other members of the Scolopendra subspinipes group (Fig. 1). Based on to these results, an absence of gonopods is corroborated as a synapomorphy for this clade. Only geographical distribution and molecular data (i.e., branch length) can be used to distinguish these two species. COI is the only molecular marker available for Scolopendra multidens from East Asia (unpublished results from sequences in GenBank from Taiwan), and analyses of our COI data with these included groups the Vietnamese specimen together with other Scolopendra multidens . Because of their genetic distinctness and reciprocal monophyly, we regard Scolopendra multidens and Scolopendra dawydoffi as valid species until further morphological examination throughout their distribution ranges has been done to clarify species boundaries.

Distribution.

Widespread species in Asia (Fig. 29). The original description did not designate a type locality. Kohlrausch (1881) reported the collecting locality of this species as China based on a specimen in the Godeffroy collection, Hamburg, Germany. Subsequent publications reported further localities of this species as follows: Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Philippines (Mindanao) and Indonesia (Java and north New Guinea?). East Asia: China (Yunnan, Guanxi, Hainan, Hong Kong and Taiwan (Keelung, Nuannuan and Taipei)).