The millipede family Polydesmidae in the Caucasus (Diplopoda: Polydesmida) Author Golovatch, Sergei Author Evsyukov, Aleksandr Author Reip, Hans text Zootaxa 2016 2016-03-01 4085 1 1 51 journal article 31448 10.11646/zootaxa.4085.1.1 429cf011-ec4c-4a61-b894-2bd32b2ffc9b 1175-5326 1052381 7F819439-FD77-4EF2-8E26-7B46F9B5FAAB Brachydesmus ( Lophobrachydesmus ) furcatus Lohmander, 1936 Fig. 10 , Map 3 Brachydesmus ( Lophobrachydesmus ) furcatus Lohmander, 1936 : 16 (D). Brachydesmus ( Lophobrachydesmus ) furcatus— Attems, 1940 : 134 (D); Lang, 1959 : 1795 (R). Brachydesmus furcatus furcatus— Strasser, 1970 : 204 (D); Lokšina and Golovatch, 1979 : 384 (M); Talikadze, 1984 : 143 (R). Brachydesmus ( Lophobrachydesmus ) furcatus exiguus Strasser, 1970 : 204 (D), syn. n. Brachydesmus furcatus exiguus— Lokšina and Golovatch, 1979 : 384 (M); Talikadze, 1984 : 143 (R). Brachydesmus furcatus— Chumachenko, 2012 : 452 (R); Material examined. 1 male, 5 juv. (ZMUM), RUSSIA , Krasnodar Prov., Gelendjik, Mikhailovskii Pass, Fagus forest, 26.V.1956 ; 3 females (ZMUM), same locality and Pass, Fagus forest, 5.VII.1956 ; 1 female, 3 juv. (ZMUM), same locality, Fagus forest, under bark, 26.V.1956 ; 1 female, 2 juv. (ZMUM), Gelendjik, forest, 28.IV.1955 ; 1 female (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Tuapse Distr., Georgievskoe Forestry, Castanea forest, 7.V.1954 ; 1 female (ZMUM), same locality, SSW slope, Quercus forest, 18.V.1954 ; 3 males, 6 juv. (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Tuapse Distr., Cherepsinskoye Forestry, Quersus forest, S slope, 15.V.1954 , all leg. M. Ghilarov, all det. H. Lohmander, det. C. Dziadosz, 1968; 1 female (ZMUM), Sochi, Khosta, Buxus forest, 29.VI.1956 , leg. M. Ghilarov; 2 females (ZMUM), same locality, Caucasian Nature Reserve, Taxus and Buxus forest, 15.V.1985 , leg. S. Golovatch; 1 male, 1 female (ZMUM), same locality, Taxus and Buxus forest, III.2006 , leg. Yu. Chumachenko; 1 female (ZMUM), Adygea, Guzeripl, Caucasian Nature Reserve, Pasture Abago S of Guzeripl, 1700 1850 m a.s.l., Abies and Fagus forest, Rhododendron thicket, litter, 24 26.V.1985 , leg. S. Golovatch; 1 male, 2 females (AE), Adygea, near Guzeripl, Abies forest, 19.VI.2011 , leg. D. Khisametdinova and E. Bortnikov; 1 female (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Sochi, Krasnaya Polyana, 6 8.VI.1976 ; 1 female (ZMUM), same locality, 1900 m a.s.l., under stones, 29.VI.1956 ; 1 female (ZMUM), same locality, 600 m a.s.l., Castanea forest, litter, 1.VI.1956 , all leg. M. Ghilarov; 1 female (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Sochi, Dagomys, 250 m a.s.l., Quercus, Corylus , Fagus etc. scrub, litter, logs, 18.V.1983 ; 2 females (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Sochi, Caucasian Nature Reserve, Pslukh ca 20 km E of Krasnaya Polyana, Mt Aishkho-2, S slope, 1600 m a.s.l., Abies , Fagus , Betula etc. forest, 12.VIII.1986 ; 1 male, 2 females (ZMUM), same locality, Mt Kogot, Abies and Fagus forest up to timberline, 1650 1850 m a.s.l., litter, under bark and stones, 18–20.V.1985 ; 1 female (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Caucasian Nature Reserve, Krasnaya Polyana, 6 8.VI.1978 , all leg. S. Golovatch; 2 females, 39 juv. (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Sochi, Mt Bolshoy Akhun, Cave Akhunskaya, 19.VII.2015 , leg. I. Turbanov; 9 juv. (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Kabardinka, scrub, 2.VI.1956 , leg. M. Ghilarov; 9 juv. (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Severskaya Distr., 2 10 km S of Ubinskaya, 300 450 m a.s.l., Quercus , Fagus , Carpinus etc. forest, litter and under bark, 3 4.VII.1986 ; 2 females, 22 juv. (ZMUM), same locality, Mt Derbiy ca 15 km SW of Ubinskaya, 800 850 m a.s.l., Quercus , Fagus , Fraxinus etc. forest, litter and under bark, 2.VII.1986 , all leg. S. Golovatch; 6 juv. (ZMUM), same locality, Ubinskoye Forestry, FIGURE 10. Brachydesmus furcatus Lohmander, 1936 . A: habitus, entire body, dorsal view, male from Mount Kogot, Caucasian Nature Reserve, Krasnodar Prov., Russia. B–D: male from near Goryachiy Klyuch, Krasnodar Prov., Russia, B: anterior part of body, dorsal view; C: right half of metatergite 10, dorsal view; D: posterior part of body, dorsal view. E–F: male holotype of B. furcatus , right and left gonopods, lateral and mesal views, respectively (after Lohmander 1936); G: male holotype of B. furcatus exiguus Strasser, 1970 , left gonopod, lateral view (after Strasser 1970). Designations: en, endomere; ex, exomere; t, tooth at base of femorite. Picture A by K. Makarov, taken not to scale. Line drawings B D by S. Dashdamirov, scale bar: 1.0 mm (B D), not to scale (E G). Quercus forest, 16.VI.1953 , leg. M. Ghilarov; 2 males, 3 females (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Goryachiy Klyuch, Cave Fanagoriyskaya, ca 12 km SW of Fanagoriyskoye, 30.X.1981 ; 1 male, 3 females, 3 juv. (ZMUM), same locality, Fagus , Acer , Picea etc. forest, litter and under logs, 19.V.1983 , all leg. S. Golovatch; 1 female (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Goryachiy Klyuch, without data; 1 male (ZMUM), same locality, Kotkh Mt. Range, Quercus forest, soil, 18.V.1956 ; 11 juv. (ZMUM), same locality, Pshaf Mt. Range, forest on limestone, 20.V.1956 ; 3 females (ZMUM), Pshaf Mt. Range, near “Belaya Latka”, Quercus forest, 17.VI.1956 ; 3 females, 8 juv. (ZMUM), Pshaf Mt. Range, near “Belaya Latka”, S slope, Quercus forest, 18.VI.1956 ; 8 females, 18 juv. (ZMUM), same locality, Kotkh Mt. Range, summit, S slope, Quercus forest, 20.VI.1956 ; 2 females, 2 juv. (ZMUM), Kotkh Mt. Range, summit, S slope, Quercus forest, 21.VI.1956 ; 1 male, 1 female (ZMUM), Kotkh Mt. Range, Quercus forest, 18.VI.1956 ; 1 female (ZMUM), same locality, Canyon Bukovoe, 5.IV.1954 ; 7 juv. (ZMUM), Bolnichi, Mt Petushok, NE slope, Carpinus forest, 4.VIII.1955 ; 1 juv. (ZMUM), Krasnodar Prov., Mt Ostraya, 1.VIII.1954 ; 1 female (ZMUM), same locality, 3.VIII.1954 ; 1 juv. (ZMUM), Kuban, Azovskaya, under Tkachovskoye, Quercus forest belt, 24.VII.1955 , all leg. M. Ghilarov, all det. H. Lohmander, det. C. Dziadosz, 1968. 2 males, 3 females (ZMUM), ABKHAZIA , Myussera Nature Reserve, 20 130 m a.s.l., Castanea , Alnus etc. forest, 8 10.IV.1983 , leg. S. Golovatch; 1 male (SMNG 14685), Transcaucasus, Riza-See (= Lake Ritsa), 20.VI.1984 , leg. W. Dunger. Descriptive notes. Length ca 8.5 12 mm , width of midbody metazonae 0.8 1.3 mm (male, female), metazonite to prozonite width ratio <1.4 ( Fig. 10A 10D ). Live coloration usually uniformly pallid to light brown. All characters as in B. assimilis ( Fig. 10 ), except as follows. Paraterga poorly-developed, their fore margins and anterolateral corner largely broadly and regularly rounded, not angular; caudolateral corner mostly obtuseangled, pointed or nearly pointed and drawn behind rear tergal margin only in segments 16 18 ( Fig. 10A 10D ). Tergal setae mostly very short and subbacilliform. Metatergal sculpture especially superficial. Male prefemora not bulging laterad. Gonopod ( Fig. 10E 10G ) bipartite, strongly falcate, much as in B. pigmentatus , but exomere ( ex ) with a conspicuous densely pilose strip, endomere ( en ) simple and bare, while tooth ( t ) at base of femorite very prominent and strongly rounded. Remarks. The differences of B. furcatus exiguus Strasser (1970) , described from a cave near Sochi, such as a slightly smaller and narrower body, a somewhat shorter endomere, a smaller pilose strip on the exomere and a less prominent tooth at the base of the gonofemorite ( Fig. 10 G ) as compared to the sympatric nominate subspecies, seem to represent only individual variations. Hence we do not hesitate to formally synonymize B. furcatus exiguus under B. furcatus , syn. n. Moreover, the name B. f. exiguus Strasser, 1970 has long been jeopardized by the much older homonym, B. exiguus Brölemann, 1894 , from Italy ( Brölemann 1894 ). Given the striking similarities observed in gonopod structure between B. (s. str.) pigmentatus and B. ( Lophobrachydesmus ) furcatus , the status of the latter subgenus is to be questioned.