Nepalella wangi Liu

Liu, Weixin, Wesener, Thomas, Golovatch, Sergei & Tian, Mingyi, 2017, Contributions to the millipede genus Nepalella Shear, 1979 from China, with four new species and first results on phylogeny based on DNA-barcoding (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Megalotylidae), Zootaxa 4243 (3), pp. 455-482 : 467-470

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4243.3.3
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7402431A-806C-43A7-8CC6-66BF4404C671
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5628636
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E9771C-FFFE-2A76-A7D3-F97D9110DAA5
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Nepalella wangi Liu
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Nepalella wangi Liu , sp. nov.

Figs 2 View FIGURE 2 D & 18–21

Material examined. Holotype male ( SCAU n11), China, Chongqin , Wulong County, Huangying Town, Qimenxia, Cave I Dong, 29°10’33’’N, 107°42’12’’E, 1300 m a.s.l., 2015-VI-28, leg. Mingyi Tian, Weixin Liu, Xinhui Wang & Mingruo Tang. GoogleMaps

Paratypes: 1 male, 3 females ( SCAU n12), 1 male, 1 female ( ZFMK MYR 6062 ), same locality and collecting data as in the holotype View Materials .

Name. Honours Mr. Xinhui Wang, a good collector of the SCAU caving team.

Diagnosis. N. wangi sp. nov. is similar to N. jinfoshan sp. nov., also with a large body and strongly incrassate male legs 3–7 as well as a strong basal process on the prefemur; but it differs from N. jinfoshan sp. nov., a congener similar in size, in the following characters: median lobe of the anterior gonopod sternum is larger while the caudal face of the posterior gonopod colpocoxite is differently shaped.

Description. Length ca 38–40 (♂) or 36–37 (♀) mm, midbody width 3.2 (♂) or 3.0 (♀) mm. Color in life ( Figs 2 View FIGURE 2 D, 18) uniformly light brown, eye patches brown.

Body with 30 segments. In width, collum <segment 2 <3 <4 <5 <8 = head <9–19 <6 = 7; posterior to segment 20, body very gradually tapering towards telson ( Fig. 18 View FIGURE 18 B).

Clypeolabral region densely setose. Eye patches triangular, each composed of 10–16 convex ocelli.

Antennae very long and slender, reaching posterior to body segment 6 (♂) or 5 (♀) when stretched posteriorly; four apical cones normal.

Mandible with an external tooth, and an internal tooth with nine cusps.

Collum with rudimentary paraterga. Integument smooth and shining ( Fig. 18 View FIGURE 18 ). Metatergal setation 3 + 3, typical, rather short, mostly obliterated, macrochaetae placed on clear knobs ( Fig. 18 View FIGURE 18 B); stricture between pro- and metazona shallow, inconspicuous ( Fig. 21 View FIGURE 21 A). Paraterga with small dorsolateral bulges, regularly rounded in dorsal view ( Fig. 18 View FIGURE 18 ).

CIX (15) = 1.13; MIX (15) = 0.92; MA (15) = 140°; PIX (15) impossible to evaluate due to insufficiently welldeveloped paraterga ( Fig. 21 View FIGURE 21 A). Axial suture distinct, pallid, usual ( Fig. 18 View FIGURE 18 B).

Legs long and slender, slightly longer in male, about 2.0 times as long as midbody height. Legs 1 and 2 slightly reduced, tarsi with usual ventral brushes, but without papillae. Other male tarsi conspicuously papillate (p) ventrally ( Fig. 19 View FIGURE 19 ). Male legs 3–7 distinctly incrassate ( Fig. 19 View FIGURE 19 A–B). Male legs 10 and 11 with coxal glands (cg); coxa 10 with a large caudal process (s) ( Fig. 19 View FIGURE 19 C); prefemur 11 with a basal digitiform outgrowth (d) ventrally ( Fig. 19 View FIGURE 19 D). Claws long, simple.

Male segment 7 slightly broader than adjacent ones, pleural arches ridge-like.

Anterior gonopods (agp) ( Fig. 21 View FIGURE 21 B–C) reduced, sternum with a large median lobe (ml) distally in caudal view, ml hinging into posterior gonopods; coxites (cxi) short, spine-like. Posterior gonopods ( Figs 20 View FIGURE 20 , 21 View FIGURE 21 D–E) hypertophied, with a large rounded bulge (r) at base on frontal face of colpocoxite (c) and an ear-shaped structure (e) at base on caudal face; colpocoxites slender, with a large, irregularly shaped structure (i) at midway on caudal face. Telopoditomere 1 (t1) rather large, particularly strongly setose; with a vestigial segment apically. Vulva ( Fig. 21 View FIGURE 21 D) with a small process on operculum (op).

Remarks. This species looks much like N. jinfoshan sp. nov., based both on body characters and gonopod conformation. Although N. wangi sp. nov. has retained a slightly pigmented body and ocelli, it seems to be a troglobite.