Globanus marginescaber (Karsch, 1884)

VandenSpiegel, Didier, Shelley, Rowland M. & Golovatch, Sergei I., 2020, The millipede genus Globanus Attems, 1914, endemic to Sao Tome and Principe, with the description of a new species (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae), ZooKeys 930, pp. 61-74 : 61

Globanus marginescaber (Karsch, 1884) Figure 4

Spirostreptus (Nodopyge) marginescaber Karsch 1884: 58-59

Aulonopyge marginescaber Brolemann 1935: 63.

Globanus marginescaber : synonymy after Spelda (1993).

Material examined.

Type material: not Globanus marginescaber , revised.

Other material: 13 ♂♂, 15 ♀♀, 1 juv., Príncipe Island, Bela vista, alt. 40 m, 1°37 ’10.8” N, 7°24 ’49.7” E, 9.II.2010, B. Drewes leg. (CAS 9032625); 6 ♂♂, 14 ♀♀, Principe, E side, road to Infante Henrique, alt. 115-150 m, 1°36 ’2.4” N, 7°24 ’56” E, 9.II.2010, B. Drewes leg. (CAS 9032624); 1 ♂, Príncipe, E side, road to Infante Henrique, alt. 115-150 m, 1°36 ’2.4” N, 7°24 ’56” E, 9.II.2010, B. Drewes leg. (CAS 9032437); 2 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀, Príncipe, slope of Pico Papagaio, alt. 315-550 m, 1°37 ’10” N, 7°23 ’28” E, 8.III.2010, B. Drewes leg. (CAS 9032621); 1 ♂, São Thomé, Morro Provaz Ridge, headwaters of Rio do Oro, alt. 1240 m, 0°17 ’38.8” N, 6°35 ’57.5” E, 3.III.2010, B. Drewes leg. (CAS 9032483); 1 ♂, Principe, Bela vista, alt. 40 m, 1°37 ’10.8” N, 7°24 ’49.7” E, 11.III.2010, B. Drewes leg. (CAS 9032482); 1 ♂, Príncipe, Morro Provaz ridge, alt. 1275 m, 0°7 ’20.9” N, 6°35 ’50.9” E; 5.III.2010, B. Drewes leg. (CAS 9032432); 1 ♂, Príncipe, slope of Pico Papagaio, alt. 315-550 m, 1°37 ’10” N, 7°23 ’28” E, 8.III.2010, B. Drewes leg. (CAS 9032488).

Diagnosis.

Differs from G. integer by the presence of a distal proplica spine and from G. drewesi by the absence of a subtriangular projection in the distal third of the telopodite.

Description

(based on specimens CAS 9032625). Length of males ca 55 mm, width of midbody metazonae ca 0.5 mm, length of females ca 55 mm, width of midbody ca 5 mm. Colour in alcohol brown, prozonae usually light brown; antennae and clypeolabral region light yellow-brown; venter and legs yellowish.

Somatic characters as in previous species (Fig. 4A ).

Gonopods with a small sternum; proplica slender, with an acuminate distolateral spine and a field of short setae proximal to it. Metaplica slender proximally, expanded distally to form a lateral cone, slightly projecting outside body when at rest (Fig. 4B ). Telopodite as shown in Figure 4D , placed on anterior side of gonopod; antetorsal process long and slender, originating near arculus. Torsate region comprising approximately half of telopodite length, proximal third giving rise to an acute lateral process; beyond this, telopodite slightly flattened and attenuating regularly towards tip (Fig. 4C ). Prostatic groove running straight to tip of solenomere, ending just before telopodite apex.

Remarks.

This species was originally described so poorly by Karsh (1884) from the female holotype that Attems (1914) considered it as a species incertae sedis. The holotype is still in the Berlin Museum (ZMB), but its revision reveals that actually it belongs to the family Harpagophoridae and is definitely not the true type of marginescaber . This was already observed by Richard Hoffman (pers. comm.), who suggested some mixing of labels, which must have occurred when the collection was re-organized. The first illustration of the gonopods was published in a text book by Brolemann (1935: 63), simply to show the complex conformation of a spirostreptid gonopod. Krabbe (1982), in her revision of the family Spirostreptidae , did not mention the species, but Spelda (1993) did and provided new drawings of the gonopods of both Globanus species then known from São Tomé and Príncipe. The gonopod structure of the specimen observed here agrees with the drawing presented by Spelda (1993) for G. marginescaber , except that our male shows no small spine beyond the lateral process. Another difference is the body size; the samples from the MNHN are much larger compared to the specimens collected by R.C. Drewes: males to only 11 cm long (maximum body diameter 0.9 cm) and females to 13.5 cm long (maximum body diameter 1 cm).

This species occurs both on São Tomé and Príncipe.

Figures

Figure 4. Globanus marginescaber (Karsch, 1884), ♂ topotype from Principe Island. A habitus, lateral view B left coxite, posterior view C, D right telopodite, posterior and mesal views, respectively. Abbreviations: atp = antetorsal process, lap = latero-apical process,, map = mesapical metaplical process, mp = metaplica, pp = proplica, ps = proplica spine, px = paracoxite. Scale bars: 5 mm (A); 200 µm (B, C, D).