Arvechamboides ocala, Shelley, Rowland M., 2007

Shelley, Rowland M., 2007, Arvechamboides ocala, n. gen., n. sp., a new aniulinine milliped from peninsular Florida, USA (Julida: Parajulidae), Zootaxa 1440, pp. 61-68 : 63-66

Arvechamboides ocala , new species

Figs. 2–11.

Type specimen. Male holotype ( FSCA) collected by C. R. Smith, 11 January 1977, ca. 21.3 mi (34.1 km) NE Ocala , 2–3 mi (3.2–4.8 km) N Florida highway 316 & 1.5–2.5 mi (2.4–4.0 km) E of the Oklawaha River (R24E T12S Sec. 35), Ocala National Forest, Marion Co., Florida.

Diagnosis. With the characters of the genus.

Coloration. Color in life unknown. Pleuroterga a bland light beige, substantially faded after 29 years in preservative, generally banded and darker on caudal margins with bands completely encircling sclerites, darker on collum and rings 1–8 with faint evidence of middorsal mottling; epiproct and paraprocts slightly darker; ozopores indistinct; legs uniformly light beige. Epicranium darker anteriad, darkest in interantennal region; frons, genae, clypeus, and labrum uniformly lighter; ocelli dark brown, caudalmost row depigmented. Left antenna broken at midlength; right antenna with 7 articles, becoming progressively darker through 6th antennomere, generally darker on distal halves, ultimate article lighter.

Holotype. Body relatively long and slender, parallel-sided; 50 rings including epiproct, last 3 rings legless; length ca. 32.3 mm, maximum width 2.1 mm.

Head smooth, polished; epicranium glossy. Ocellaria forming inverted triangle, with ca. 48 ocelli arranged in 8 curvilinear rows: 8, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2. Epicranial setae 1–1, clypeal 2–2; no other facial setae detected. Right antenna reaching back to caudal margin of 3rd pleurotergite, becoming progressively more setose distad, 1st antennomere subglobose, 2–5 strongly clavate, 6 subparallel-sided, 7 short and truncate with 4 conical sensory cones, no other sensory structures apparent; relative lengths of antennomeres 2=3>4>5>6>1>7. Ventrodistal corner of mandibular stipes prolonged into broad, apically rounded lobe.

Dorsum smooth, glabrous, & glossy, wholly without setae including epiproct. Collum enlarged, slightly overlapping epicranium, lateral margins sublinear. Pleurotergites virtually identical excepting shorter ones at caudal extremity and 7th & 8th, which are moderately swollen. Ventrolateral striae faint, noticeable on pleurotergites 3–47, extending only slightly dorsad along lateral surfaces, largely obscured by legs. Defensive glands arising on pleurotergite 6, continuing through ring 46. Epiproct (Fig. 2) long & spiniform, overhanging & extending slightly beyond caudal extremities of paraprocts; latter with margins slightly thickened and 2 moderately long submarginal setae arising from rim at 1/3 & 2/3 lengths; hypoproct sublunar, slightly prolonged apically, with one moderately long apical seta.

1st leg (Fig. 3) with 6 lightly hirsute podomeres, moderately enlarged and crassate, curving generally anteriomediad, with rounded to subconical "sphaerotrichomes," some giving rise to hairs, scattered randomly on inner (medial) surfaces of tibia and tarsus, relative lengths of podomeres 5>6>4>2>3>1; coxa narrow, broader mediad, prefemur overlapping medial surface of coxa and touching sternum, femur and postfemur short & clavate, expanding primarily on lateral margins, tibia substantially broader than other podomeres, expanding primarily on lateral margin, tarsus basally broad, narrowing slightly apically, claw short, apically blunt, directed submediad. 2nd legs short & narrow, incorporated into penial apparatus, with 6 articles, margins of ultimate article irregularly indented, forming "pseudoarticles." Subsequent legs (Fig. 4) subsimilar, with 7 articles, becoming progressively more setose distad, claws shorter than & obscured by overlying hairs of ultimate podomeres, apically acuminate. Penial apparatus (Figs. 5–6) bilobed, curving strongly anteriad at about a right angle, divided for entire length but lobes overlapping and closely appressed to each other, caudal surface with short, apically divided, basal projection angling dorsad and extending caudad to level of 4th sternum (between 3rd legs); 2nd legs extending directly ventrad, becoming progressively more hirsute distad.

Condition of 7th pleurotergite not observed. Sternum of 8th pleurotergite (Figs. 7–8) narrow, extending dorsad well into body cavity, with narrow ventromedial ridge projecting anteriad as triangular lobe, sides elevated and enlarged into anteriorly-directed, dorsally semilunar lobes, extending over 7th pleurotergite and slightly over margin of aperture. Anterior gonopods (Fig. 9) dominated by broad sternum, extending ventrad between telopodites into elongated, triangular, unequally bilobed projection, only slighter shorter than lengths of telopodites. Posterior gonopod (Figs. 10–11) with prefemoral process arising basally on medial surface of prefemur, extending caudad basally with lobed inner margin, curving anterioventrad at 1/3 length caudal to telopodite and extending to around midlength of latter, apically acuminate with rounded, subterminal lobe on anterior (inner) margin; accessory prefemoral process arising distally on lateral surface of prefemur, broadly laminate but narrowing progressively distad to subacuminate tip, directed ventrad and extending to level of distal curvature of telopodite, positioned within curvature arc of latter; telopodite relatively narrow, curving broadly anteriad and narrowing progressively distad, overhanging and extending beyond level of accessory prefemoral process, curving sigmoidally apically to acuminate tip on outer corner; prostatic groove running along medial surface of telopodite to apical opening.

Ecology. The milliped was recovered from a pitfall trap placed in 4-year-old sand pine ( Pinus clausa ) scrub woods.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality.

FIGURES 2–6. Arvechamboides ocala , somatic features. 2, epiproct, left paraproct, and hypoproct, lateral view of left side. 3, right 1st leg, caudal view. 4, midbody leg on left side, caudal view, coxa omitted. 5, penial apparatus, lateral view of right side. 6, the same, ventral view, position of 2nd legs indicated. Scale line = 0.80 mm for figs. 2 & 4, 0.67 mm for fig. 3, 0.50 mm for figs. 5–6.

FIGURES 7–11. Arvechamboides ocala , gonopodal features. 7, 8th sternum, ventral view. 8, the same, anterior view. 9, anterior gonopods, anterior view. 10, right posterior gonopod, medial view. 11, the same, lateral view. AT, anterior gonopod telopodite; APFP, accessory prefemoral process; PFP, prefemoral process; PT, posterior gonopod telopodite; S, sternum. Scale line = 1.00 mm for figs. 7–9, 0.83 mm for figs. 10–11.

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition that references the Ocala National Forest, which harbors the only known locality of the species and lies east of the city of Ocala .

Remarks. Not anticipating a new species, much less a new genus, when I found this sample in the FSCA, I did not observe the 7th pleurotergite before dissecting the gonopods and destroying the integrity of this part of the exoskeleton. As Gyniulus bufonius (Chamberlin, 1938) is common in adjacent Alachua Co. ( Shelley 2000 a, 2001), I expected the Marion Co. parajulid to be this species, and only after extracting the gonopods and seeing an unexpected new form did I notice the condition of the 8th sternum that would have at least suggested a new species of Arvechambus . The 7th pleurotergite will thus need to be characterized from another male.

In studying this specimen, I observed the "sphaerotrichomes" (term apparently first employed by Hoffman (1974) for South African Dalodesmidae ( Polydesmida )) on the medial surfaces of the tibiae and tarsi of the first legs. They are difficult to detect in direct medial view on legs that are pallid after years in preservative and are best seen in profile and with incident lighting. As I had not noticed these pustules before, I briefly checked Nesoressa crawfordi and representatives of the other aniulinine genera that I have studied ( Aniulus , Aniulus (Hakiulus) , Gyniulus , Oriulus , Pseudojulus , and Arvechambus ( Shelley 2000 a, b, 2001 b, 2002, 2004; Shelley & Medrano 2006)) and found that they are present in all of them although their sizes and the densities of the "fields" vary. To the best of my knowledge, this constitutes only the third report of "sphaerotrichomes" in the Parajulidae , the others being by Verhoeff (1926, fig. 4), who called them "Rundhöckerchen" and illustrated them on the 1st leg of Mexicoiulus dampfi Verhoeff, 1926 , and Mauriès (1972, fig. 3), who depicted them on the 1st legs of Parajulus olmecus Humbert & Saussure, 1869 , and termed them "granulations."