Mecistocephalus nannocornis Chamberlin, 1920

Published, First, 2007, The Mecistocephalidae of the Japanese and Taiwanese islands (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha), Zootaxa 1396, pp. 1-84 : 30-32

Mecistocephalus nannocornis Chamberlin, 1920

Figs. 36–39

[1] Mecistocephalus nannocornis: Chamberlin 1920a — Can. Ent. 52: 187 (original description)

Mecistocephalus (Mecistocephalus) nannocornis: Attems 1929 — Tierreich 52: 130 (key)

Mecistocephalus (Mecistocephalus) nannocornis: Takakuwa 1942b — Micron. Sci. 5: 18, 21 (key) Mecistocephalus naimocornis [sic]: Verhoeff 1942 — Zool. Anz. 137: 52

Mecistocephalus nannocricus [sic]: Wang 1951 — Serica 1: 46 (key)

[2] Mecistocephalus nannocricus [sic]: Wang 1957 — Quart. J. Taiwan Mus. 10: 27

[3] Mecistocephalus manazurensis: Shinohara 1961b — Zool. Mag. Tokyo 70: 212 (original description); fig. 2: 1–8 new synonymy

Mecistocephalus manazurensis: Shinohara 1961a — Sc. Rep. Yokosuka City Mus. 6: 76

Mecistocephalus nannocricus [sic]: Wang 1962 — Quart. J. Taiwan Mus. 15: 88 (key)

[4] Mecistocephalus nannocricus [sic]: Wang 1963 — Quart. J. Taiwan Mus. 16: 93

[5] Mecistocephalus nannocornis: Wang 1967 — Quart. J. Taiwan Mus. 20: 396

Mecistocephalus manazuruensis [sic]: Takano 1980 — Atypus 76: 53

Mecistocephalus manazurensis: Lewis 1981 — Biol. Centip.: 385

Mecistocephalus manazurensis: Murakami 1993 — List Species Anim. Japan 5: 105

Mecistocephalus nannocornis: Wang & Mauriès 1996 — Mém. Mus. natn. Hist. Nat.Paris 169: 89

Mecistocephalus manazurensis: Shinohara 1999 — Pictorial Keys Soil Anim. Japan: 709

Mecistocephalus (Mecistocephalus) nannocornis: Bonato et al. 2003 — Syst. Entom. 28: 550, 551

Diagnosis. A Mecistocephalus species with 45 leg­bearing segments. Body length reaching at least 2.7 cm. Each clypeal plagula 2.2–2.3 times as wide as long. Anterior ala of the labrum subtrapezoidal, with medial margin not reduced to a vertex; posterior ala subtriangular, with the external margin reduced to a vertex. Forcipular article I with only one distal tooth.

Type material. Holotype: female, 27 mm long, subadult.

Type locality. ‘Mt. Makiling’, Philippine Ids ( Chamberlin, 1920a).

Depository of type material. Museum of Comparate Zoology , University of Harvard, Cambridge .

Material examined. 1 specimen: female, subadult (27 mm), from Mt. Makiling , Philippine Ids (collecting date unknown), C.F. Baker leg., coll. MCZC (holotype) .

Description. Body length reaching at least 2,7 cm. Body colour orange, with dark patches at least in some specimens, head and forcipular segment darker. Head about 1.5 times as long as wide. Antennae about 2.5 times longer than the head width. Clypeus: clypeal ratio 1.6–1.9; areolate part without smooth insulae, with 3 pairs of setae; plagulae without evident sensilla or setae, width to length ratio 2.2–2.3. Labrum: anterior ala subtrapezoidal, the medial margin shorter than the external margin and about one half of the length of the internal margin of the posterior ala. Posterior ala subtriangular, with external margin reduced to a vertex and posterior margin entire. Spiculum present, buccae with some setae in the posterior half only. Second maxillae: telopodite with one apical claw. Mandible: about 7–8 lamellae; first lamella with about 6–7 teeth; average intermediate lamella with about 10–12 teeth. Forcipules: article I 1.3–1.5 times as long as wide, with one distal tooth; article II with a tubercle; article III with a tooth; tarsungulum without a distinct tooth. Cerrus absent. A total of 45 leg­bearing segments. Sternal sulcus not furcate. Sternum of last leg­bearing segment about 1.1 times as wide as long, trapezoidal, with a poorly distinct apical lobe.

Distribution in the considered area.

Honshu: ‘Manazuru’ [3].

Taiwan: ‘Kao­Yung’; ‘Ta­Ping­Shan’ [4].

[2]

General distribution. This species was described from the Luzon Island in Philippines [1], and later recorded from Honshu, Taiwan and Singapore [5].

Remarks. M. nannocornis was the second 45­segmented Mecistocephalus species to be described, after M. spissus Wood, 1862 , which is limited to Hawaii and differs clearly from M. nannocornis (Bonato et al., 2004) . As the original description of M. nannocornis provided by Chamberlin (1920a) was very poor and no illustration was published, this species remained almost unknown to date, although there was little doubt about its validity.

The holotype shows some faint dark patches, which are present in the central region of the trunk and progressively disappear towards the extremities.

M. manazurensis Shinohara, 1961 , described upon a single female from ‘Manazuru’ (Honshu), is here recognised as a junior synonym of M. nannocornis Chamberlin 1921 , as the original description of the former is fully consistent with the holotype of the latter, which we examined directly. The only apparent difference is in the extension of dark patches on the trunk (more evident in M. manazurensis than in M. nannocornis ), but presence and extension of these patches are age­dependent and variable between different specimens of the same population at least in some Mecistocephalus species ( Bonato & Minelli, 2004; personal observations).