Epibolus Cook, 1897

Enghoff, Henrik, 2011, East African giant millipedes of the tribe Pachybolini (Diplopoda, Spirobolida, Pachybolidae), Zootaxa 2753, pp. 1-41 : 32-33

Genus Epibolus Cook, 1897

Type species: Spirobolus pulchripes Gerstäcker, 1873

Included species. E. pulchripes (Gerstäcker, 1873) ; E. mossambicensis (Lawrence, 1967) Diagnosis. A genus of East African Pachybolini characterized by

- no coxal lobes on male legs 6 and 7

- three (two to five) pairs of ventral macrosetae on male legs from pair 5 onward ( Fig. 6 ).

- a moveable lateral appendix on the posterior gonopods

- striated membranous lamellae at tip of posterior gonopod

- no mesal process, no free solenomerite, no distal complex of parallel ridges on posterior gonopod - no long meso-distal process on anterior gonopod coxite

- no overlapping lobes on anterior gonopod telopodites

- apical margin of winglike expansions of second female coxae regularly rounded ( Fig. 12 ) - an apical appendix on oral vulval valve

Enghoff (1977) recognised three species of this genus: the widespread E. pulchripes ( Kenya and Tanzania), E. bravensis from Somalia and E. mossambicensis from Mozambique. The morphological characters distinguishing the two “geographical satellite” species from E. pulchripes were subtle, and in the case of E. bravensis drawn exclusively from the original description (Silvestri, 1897) because these characters could not be seen on the male holotype. See further under E. pulchripes .

Figures

FIGURES 4 – 8. Male legs, SEM. 4: Crurifarcimen vagans n. gen., n. sp., paratype, tarsus, lateral view. 5: C. vagans, paratype, tarsus, ventral view. 6: Epibolus pulchripes, tarsus, lateral view. 7: Hadrobolus crassicollis, holotype, ventral-lateral view. 8: C. vagans, paratype, surface structure of ventral pad. Scales 1 mm (5, 7), 0.1 mm (4, 6), 0.01 mm (8).

FIGURES 11 – 12. Female second pair of legs with one vulva attached, anterior view. 11: Crurifarcimen vagans, 12: Epibolus pulchripes. The arrows point to the distal margin of the lateral extensions of the coxosternum. Scales 1 cm. P. Pimvichai phot.