Bifurcatella inflata, Shear & Richart & Wong, 2020

Shear, William A., Richart, Casey H. & Wong, Victoria L., 2020, The millipede family Conotylidae in northwestern North America, with a complete bibliography of the family (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Heterochordeumatidea, Conotyloidea), Zootaxa 4753 (1), pp. 1-78 : 63-64

Bifurcatella inflata , new species

Figs. 230–233

Type: Male holotype from IDAHO: Bonner Co., Trestle Creek Road 1.2 mi E of SR-200, along Trestle Creek , Idaho Panhandle National Forests , elev. 720 m., 48.2916°N, - 116.3276°W, collected 6 November 2004, by W. Leonard, J. Baugh, C. Richart .

Diagnosis: As with the following species, B. inflata seems somewhat peripheral to the genus and differs from others in both the anterior gonopods and posterior gonopod coxites, while retaining essential features of Bifurcatella . The anterior gonopods are strongly flattened anterior-posterior and the mesal branch is thin and acute; the pseuodflagellar branch of the posterior gonopod coxites remains thick to its tip and distally is conspicuously fimbriate.

Etymology: The species epithet, an adjective, refers to the bulbous, enlarged part of the pseudoflagellar branch of the posterior gonopod coxite.

Description: Male holotype: Length, 10 mm. Twenty ocelli in triangular group.

Metazonites with moderately developed shoulders, segmental setae long, curved, acute. Color uniform hornbrown (may be artifact of long preservation). Legpairs one and two reduced, three through five encrassate, six and seven nearly same as postgonopodal legs; prefemora five with strong, distal knobs, prefemora four with low, midlength swellings. Anterior gonopods ( Figs. 230 , 232 ) flattened anterioposteriorly, abruptly narrowed at tip to acute hook, mesal margin serrate, mesal branch about one third length of lateral branch, thin, acute. Posterior gonopod coxites ( Figs. 231 , 233 ) robust, with strong, hooked subterminal process; pseudoflagellar branch thick, recurved, with large swelling at midlength, hardly tapering, densely fimbriate along mesal side, carried in groove between two fimbriate lamellae on main branch; fimbriate branch small, accessory branch present, not fimbriate. Tenth coxae and eleventh prefemora as usual.

Females not collected.

Distribution: Known only from the type locality.

Figures

FIGS. 228–231. Bifurcatella spp. Figs. 228, 229. Bifurcatella uniclada. Fig. 228. Right anterior gonopod, posterior view. Fig. 229. Right posterior gonopod coxite, posterior view. Figs. 230, 231. Bifurcatella inflata. Fig. 230. Left anterior gonopod, posterior view. Fig. 231. Right posterior gonopod coxite, posterior view.

FIGS. 232–235. Bifurcatella spp. Figs. 232–233. Bifurcatella inflata. Fig. 232. Right anterior gonopod, posterior view. Fig. 233. Right posterior gonopod coxite, posterior view. Figs. 234, 235. Bifurcatella hobo. Fig. 234. Anterior gonopods, anterior view. Fig. 235. Right posterior gonopod coxite, posterior view.