Megaphyllum (Parancistrum) genezarethanum (Verhoeff, 1923) Verhoeff, 1923

Vagalinski, Boyan, Lazányi, Eszter & Golovatch, Sergei, 2013, Redescription of the subgenus Parancistrum Verhoeff, 1943, an eastern Mediterranean lineage of the millipede genus Megaphyllum Verhoeff, 1894 (Diplopoda: Julida: Julidae: Brachyiulini), Zootaxa 3734 (5), pp. 501-520 : 506-508

Megaphyllum (Parancistrum) genezarethanum (Verhoeff, 1923) comb. nov.

Figs 10–18 and 57

Brachyiulus genezarethanus Verhoeff, 1923: 131 –132.

Chromatoiulus genezarethanus: Jawłowski 1931: 165 .

Chromatoiulus palaestinus Jawłowski, 1931: 164 –165, figs 11–13, syn. n. Chromatoiulus (Phauloiulus) palestinus (sic!): Attems 1940: 307. Megaphyllum palaestinus (sic!): Tăbăcaru 1995: 25.

Brachyiulus (Chromatoiulus) genezarethanus: Tăbăcaru 1995: 26 .

Material examined. ZSM: genezarethanum 1 ♀ holotype (missing caudal part), Reg. Nr. A20060676, Asia, Israel, Lake Genezareth [= Lake of Galilee]; ZMUC: palaestinum 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Israel, Allonim, Lower Galil, 29.X.1988, M. R. Warburg leg. & ded., H. Enghoff det. ZMTA: M. genezarethanum , 1 ♂, Elyaquim, 5.II.1990, leg.?, BV det.

Diagnosis. Differs from M. serratum and M. turcicum by the smooth, rather than serrated, anterior opisthomere process; from M. tenenbaumi and M. arcuatum sp. n. by the apically narrowly rounded, rather than incised, promere; and from M. curvifolii by the posterior opisthomere process (pp) being shorter than, rather than subequal to, solenomere (s), and by the anterior solenomere protrusion (asp) being not smooth, but bearing plumose outgrowths.

Descriptive notes. The examined specimens are somewhat longer and thicker compared to the measurements given by Verhoeff (1923) and Jawłowski (1931): male in stadium X, 57+1+T, body length 42 mm, height 2.4 mm; female from the ZMUC in stadium XII, 52+1+T, body length 38 mm, height 3 mm. 24 labral setae. Male mandibular stipites considerably enlarged ( Fig. 10 ), broadly rounded, without distinct anterior corner. Metazona with usual marginal whorl of setae, in disagreement with Verhoeff’s (1923) observation of “almost completely bare edges of body rings”.

Penis stout, somewhat longer than broad, with short, parallel, apical lobes and quite long, blunt, terminal lamellae directed somewhat caudad ( Figs 12–13 ).

Gonopods: Promere ( Fig. 15 ; P in Fig. 14 ) strongly elongated, more than 3 times longer than broad, gradually narrowing towards apex, the latter narrowly rounded. Flagellum subequal in length to promere. Opisthomere ( Figs 14 and 16 ) with a flattened, slightly anteriad bent, posterior process (pp) ending up by a rounded, gently striated apex, and a smooth, thin, pointed, anterior process (ap) reaching just below solenomere (s). Solenomere slightly bulbous, with a lamellar anterior protrusion (asp) ending up by several plumose outgrowths. Pro- and opisthomere subequal in situ.

Vulvae ( Figs 17 and 57 ) densely setose, cylindrical, almost completely symmetric, lateral hump (lh) slightly higher than mesal one (mh). Opening (o) small, slit-like, placed just on top, not reaching apical margin. Bursal apical margin nearly straight, bursal side-lobes protruding into very large, rounded, hyaline lamellae (bl). Operculum straight, slightly shorter than bursa, protruding into a bifurcated hyaline lamella (opl), somewhat shorter than bursal ones. In situ operculum directed mostly anteriad and less strongly laterad. Receptaculum seminis ( Fig. 18 ) consisting of a wide apodematic tube (at) with a somewhat tapering bottom, and a sac-like globular posterior ampulla (pa) with a small additional finger-like reservoir, joining at through a very thin, spirally folded, connecting tube (ct).

Distribution. Israel: Lake Genezareth [= Lake of Galilee] (type locality of M. genezarethanum ) (Verhoeff 1923); Haifa, Mt. Karmel (type locality of M. palaestinum ) (Jawłowski 1931); Allonim, Elyaquim (new data).

Remarks. Although a synonymy based on female characters is always risky, in this case the vulvae of the M. genezarethanum holotype proved to be virtually identical to those of the female from ZMUC, and clearly differing from the examined structures in all other consubgeners.

Figures

FIGURES 10 – 18. Megaphyllum genezarethanum male (10 – 16) and female (17) from Allonim, Israel, and holotype female (18) from Lake of Galilee, Israel: (10) head with anterior body rings (antennae broken; not to scale); (11) telson with last body rings (not to scale); (12) and (13) penis, lateral and posterior views, respectively; (14) distal half of left gonopods, mesal view; (15) right promere, posterior view; (16) right opisthomere, mesal view; (17) right vulva, lateroposterior view; (18) receptaculum of left vulva. Abbreviations: ap: anterior process, asp: anterior protrusion of the solenomere, at: apodematic tube, bl: bursal lamellar protrusions, ch: central hump, ct: connecting tube, fc: flagellum channel, fl: flagellum, g: median groove, lh: lateral hump, mh: mesal hump, o: opening, opl: operculum’s lamellar protrusions, P: promere, pa: posterior ampulla, ph: posterior hump, pp: posterior process, r: median ridge, s: solenomere. Scale bars of the drawings: 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 55 – 57. Schematic bursal contours of left vulvae in posterior view of (55) M. arcuatum, (56) M. tenebaumi and (57) M. genezarethanum. Abbreviations: ch: central hump, lh: lateral hump, mh: mesal hump. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.