Notopyrgodesmus weiri Mesibov

Mesibov, Robert, 2012, The first native Pyrgodesmidae (Diplopoda, Polydesmida) from Australia, ZooKeys 217, pp. 63-85 : 74

Notopyrgodesmus weiri Mesibov sp. n. Figs 2B, 3E, 3F, 4F, 5F, 6B, 10D

Holotype.

Male, 11 km W by N of Bald Hill, McIlwraith Range, Qld, 13°44'S, 143°20'E ± 2 km, 520 m, 27 June - 12 July 1989, T.A. Weir, ANIC berlesate 1112, search party campsite, closed forest, flood debris, ANIC 64-000250.

Paratypes.

ANIC: 1 male, details as for holotype 64-000251; 1 male, same data but ANIC berlesate 1114, leaf litter and flood debris, 64-000249.

Other material.

None.

Diagnostic description.

As for Notopyrgodesmus kulla sp. n., differing in the following details (see also Figs 2B, 3E, 3F, 6B):

Male ca 6 mm long; ring 12: overall width 1.3 mm, overall width/prozonite width 2.4, maximum vertical diameter 0.6 mm. Paranota (Fig. 5F, 10D) divided laterally into anterior and posterior lobes by prominent notch; porostele-bearing posterior lobes distinctly shorter than anterior lobes on same ring. Paramedian tubercles conical, apically rounded, beginning ring 14 increasingly extended, the posterior tubercle taller and directed posterodorsally (Fig. 4F). No prominent tubercle on posterior metatergal margin above base of paranotum. Gonopods not significantly different in form from those of Notopyrgodesmus kulla sp. n., although proportionately smaller.

Distribution.

So far known only from wet forest at the type locality on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland (Fig. 11). Co-occurs with Notopyrgodesmus kulla sp. n.

Etymology.

To honour Tom Weir, CSIRO entomologist and diligent collector; adjective.

Remarks.

Since Notopyrgodesmus kulla sp. n. and Notopyrgodesmus weiri co-occur, it is clear that mate recognition in these species depends in syntopy on factors, including body size, other than gonopod form.