Orthomorpha herpusa Attems, 1898

Likhitrakarn, Natdanai, Golovatch, Sergei I. & Panha, Somsak, 2011, Revision of the Southeast Asian millipede genus Orthomorpha Bollman, 1893, with the proposal of a new genus (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae), ZooKeys 131, pp. 1-161 : 104

? Orthomorpha herpusa Attems, 1898 Fig. 114

Orthomorpha herpusa Attems 1898: 329 (D).

Orthomorpha herpusa - Attems 1907: 83 (M); 1914: 228 (M); 1937: 94 (M); Jeekel 1968: 42 (M).

Syntypes.

3 ♀ (NHMW-7985), Indonesia, eastern Java, "Tanger region" (= Tengger Mountains), 1893-1894, leg. D. Adensamer.

Redescription.

Length 26-30 mm, width of midbody pro- and metazona 3.2-3.5 and 3.8-4.4 mm, respectively (vs 30 mm in length and 3.2 mm in width, as given in the original description ( Attems 1898)). Coloration of alcohol material upon long-term preservation light grey-brown with moderately contrasting yellowish paraterga (Fig. 114) (vs black-brown with moderately contrasting yellow-brown paraterga, as given in the original description ( Attems 1898)).

Clypeolabral region densely setose, vertex sparsely so, epicranial suture distinct. Antennae rather long (antennomere 6 broadest), extending behind body segment 3 dorsally. Head in width <collum <segment 3 = 4 <2 <5-16; thereafter body gently and gradually tapering. Collum with three transverse rows of setae traceable only as insertion points: 3+3 anterior, 2+2 intermediate and 3+3 posterior; caudal corner of paraterga rounded, strongly declined ventrally and almost continuing collum’s convexity (Fig. 114A & B); paraterga subrectangular, not extending behind tergal margin, posterior edge nearly straight (Fig. 114A & B). Tegument smooth and poorly shining, prozona very finely shagreened, metazona leathery, slightly rugulose, below paraterga very faintly microgranular. Metaterga 2-19 with two transverse rows of setae: 2+2 in anterior (pre-sulcus) row and 3+3 in posterior (postsulcus) one, all abraded, but still traceable as insertion points. Axial line barely visible, starting from collum. Paraterga well developed (Fig. 114 A–G), all lying below dorsum (at about 1/3 body height), mostly subhorizontal, in lateral view moderately strongly enlarged on pore-bearing segments, thinner on poreless ones; shoulders always present, broadly rounded and narrowly bordered, fused to callus; anterior edge of paraterga 2 straight, roundly angulate, following paraterga rounded, caudal corner of all paraterga extending increasingly beyond rear tergal margin, nearly pointed to pointed. Calluses delimited by a sulcus only dorsally, rather narrow, lateral edge mostly with one minute incision in front 1/3, only paraterga 2 with 2-3 similarly minute incisions. Posterior edge of paraterga evidently concave, especially strongly so on segments 14-19. Ozopores evident, lateral, lying in an ovoid groove at about 1/3 in front of caudal corner. Transverse sulcus complete on metaterga 5-18, incomplete on segments 4 and 19, very narrow, shallow, not reaching bases of paraterga, faintly beaded at bottom (Fig. 114A, C & F). Stricture between pro- and metazona narrow and shallow, faintly ribbed at bottom down to base of paraterga (Fig. 114 A–F). Pleurosternal carinae complete crests with a sharp caudal tooth on segments 2-4, a small tooth caudally on segment 5, thereafter missing (Fig. 114B). Epiproct (Fig. 114E-G) conical, flattened dorsoventrally, with two small apical papillae directed more ventrad than caudally, slightly emarginate at tip; pre-apical papillae small, lying close to tip. Hypoproct (Fig. 114G) nearly semi-circular, caudal tip broadly rounded, setiferous knobs at caudal edge very small and moderately well separated.

Sterna sparsely setose, without modifications; cross-impressions rather deep. Legs moderately long and slender, midbody ones ca 1.1-1.2 times as long as body height.

Remarks.

This species has been described from a series of ♀ syntypes, still known only from the type locality: Tengger Mountains, eastern Java, Indonesia ( Attems 1898).

In addition to Orthomorpha herpusa , as many as ten further species of Orthomorpha are currently known from Java: Orthomorpha beaumontii , Orthomorpha hydrobiologica , Orthomorpha unicolor , Orthomorpha tenuipes , Orthomorpha zehntneri , Orthomorpha conspicua , Orthomorpha weberi , Orthomorpha flaviventer , Orthomorpha beroni and Orthomorpha coarctata . Of them, only Orthomorpha tenuipes has also been described from Tengger Mountains, but it is evidently different from Orthomorpha herpusa in showing higher and laterally better incised paraterga with much broader calluses etc. (Fig. 49). Among the best candidates to match the description of Orthomorpha herpusa are perhaps Orthomorpha beaumontii (Figs 1 & 2), Orthomorpha hydrobiologica (Fig. 37), Orthomorpha unicolor (Fig. 39), and Orthomorpha zehntneri (Fig. 53), but still there are certain differences in ♀ somatic characters alone, often profound enough. So only a strict ♂ topotype is necessary to obtain and examine to ultimately establish the identity of Orthomorpha herpusa . Furthermore, this species might as well prove to belong to another genus of Orthomorphini, for instance Nesorthomorpha Jeekel, 1980, with eight species, all endemic to Java and often showing similarly strongly developed paraterga ( Golovatch and Wytwer 2001).