Mimops orientalis Kraepelin, 1903

Jiang, Chao, Bai, Yunjun, Shi, Mengxuan & Liu, Juan, 2020, Rediscovery and phylogenetic relationships of the scolopendromorph centipede Mimops orientalis Kraepelin, 1903 (Chilopoda) a monotypic species of Mimopidae endemic to China, for more than one century, ZooKeys 932, pp. 75-91 : 75

Mimops orientalis Kraepelin, 1903

Type material.

Holotype: China, Süd Schensi, August 1903, kept in Zoologisches Institut und Zoologisches Museum der Universität, Hamburg, Germany (ZMUH).

Type locality.

Shaanxi, China. Perhaps referring to Xi’an, Shaanxi, China.

Specimens examined.

Seven Mimops orientalis specimens were collected near a river in the Taiping National Forest Park, Hu county, Shaanxi, China (33.98N, 108.69E, 620-640 m alt.), and another M. orientalis were collected in 2019 from Funiushan National Nature Reserve, Luanchuan, Henan, China. Mimops orientalis (n = 8). CMMI 20190714001, adult, under a stone near a river, Longyuwan National Forest Park, Luanchuan, Henan, China, (33.713N, 111.775E, 1110 m alt.) collected by Mengxuan Shi, on 14 Jul. 2019. CMMI 20190908001, adult male, under a stone near a ditch, Taiping National Forest Park, Hu county, Shaanxi, China (33.98N, 108.69E, 630 m alt.), collected by Chao Jiang, on 08 Sept. 2019. CMMI 20190908002, juvenile, under a stone in some brushwood, Taiping National Forest Park, Hu county, Shaanxi, China (33.98N, 108.69E, 620 m alt.), collected by Chao Jiang, on 08 Sept. 2019. CMMI 20190908003 and CMMI 20190908004, juvenile, under stones in grass halfway up a steep hill, Taiping National Forest Park, Hu county, Shaanxi, China (33.98N, 108.69E, 640 m alt.), collected by Chao Jiang, on 08 Sept 2019. CMMI 20190908005, adult, under a trash bin near the road, Taiping National Forest Park, Hu county, Shaanxi, China (33.98N, 108.69E, 626 m alt.), collected by Chao Jiang, on 08 Sept. 2019. CMMI 20190908006, subadult, under a stone near the collection site of specimen CMMI 20190908005, collected by Chao Jiang, on 08 Sept. 2019. CMMI 20190908007, juvenile, under a stone of brushwood, Taiping National Forest Park, Hu county, Shaanxi, China (33.98N, 108.69E, 620 m alt.), collected by Chao Jiang, on 08 Sept 2019.

Other specimens for DNA sequencing.

Plutoniumidae : Theatops chuanensis Di et al., 2010, CMMI 20190405013, Tianzishan National Reserve, Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, China. CMMI 20190606004, Wen county, Longnan, Gansu province, China.

Cryptopidae : Cryptops sp., CMMI 20190413007, Longjin road, Huoshan county, Liu’an, Anhui province, China.

Scolopendridae : Scolopendra mutilans L. Koch, CMMI 20190331001, Qianfodong National Forest Park, Duodao distinct, Jinmen, Hubei province, China. CMMI 20190702006, Xiangshan, Dinghai distinct, Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, China.

Scolopocryptopidae : Scolopocryptops nigrimaculatus Song, Song & Zhu, 2004, CMMI 20181207002, Jinxi hotel, West Lake, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China.

Distribution.

Currently, we have confirmed that M. orientalis occurs on Qinling Mountain (Shaanxi and Henan provinces) and inhabits forests near rivers above 500-1200 m elevation (Fig. 1 ).

Ecology.

Specimens of M. orientalis were collected from two locations on Qinling Mountain. We captured all of our new material at midday (11:00-13:00), always in forest edges near a river and under microhabitat refuges (rocks, bushes, leaf litter, and garbage). Two adult specimens were hiding under stones coated with moss, and another adult was encountered under some garbage containing rainwater. Most juveniles were encountered under small stones in bushes or moving over leaf litter in a fragmented patch of Liquidambar formosana Hance. Natural vegetation in the surrounding areas is deciduous forest, composed mainly of Juglans regia L., Cotinus coggygria Scop., and L. formosana Hance. Vegetative cover was ornamented by Urtica spp., Viola spp., Cyperus iria L., and Oplismenus undulatifolius (Arduino) Beauv (Figs 2 , 3 ). We fed captive centipedes with mealworms, fish moths, and cockroaches, the latter two typically occurring in the centipedes’ microhabitat. The centipedes became active at approximately 20:00 most nights and would quickly escape to shelter when disturbed by noise.

Live colouration.

Cephalic plate brownish red to orange-red, more deeply coloured in the anterior part. Coxosternites, forcipules, and tergites pale yellow to pale brown, ultimate segment and ultimate legs pale orange. Antennae, all sternites, and dorsal aspects of the legs light yellow. The live colour of a specimen from Shaanxi is slightly different from others. Its ultimate leg prefemur was nearly brown, which is more deeply coloured than that of the femur and tibia. The juvenile individual was uniformly light yellow on the cephalic plate, antennae, tergites, sternites, and all legs (Figs 4 , 5 ).

Redescription.

Lewis (2006) examined and described the holotype of M. orientalis . The majority of features of the newly collected specimens are in agreement with the holotype, but with some differences.

Adult length 42-56 mm. Cephalic plate smooth, about as long as it is wide, very finely punctate with the posterior margin overlying tergite 1. Cephalic plate lacks paramedian sulci in adults (two sulci in juvenile). A pale area instead of lateral ocelli at the base of each antenna ( Lewis [2006] stated that is a single ocellus, whereas Kraepelin [1903] treated this as an eyespot). The animals show no response when the pale areas are illuminated with searchlights. Antenna extend to the posterior end of tergite 8, usually with 18 articles (holotype with 17 articles on the right antenna). Articles approximately 1.20-1.42 times as long as they are wide (based on article 4). Amount of hair on the antenna gradually increases, with the presence of glabrous articles variable ( Lewis [2006] stated that the basal six articles were glabrous, while Kraepelin (1903) stated that the basal seven articles were glabrous). In our collected specimens, basal articles 4 and 5 were dorsally nearly glabrous (Figs 6-9 ), and articles 5-7 (Fig. 8 , specimen CMMI 20190908003) or 6 and 7 (Fig. 9 , specimen CMMI 20190908004) had sparse hair; articles 8-18 were densely hirsute.

Tooth plates are short but wide, ridged and have approximately 25 ridges on each side and a prominent seta behind the anterior margin (Fig. 10 ). Forcipular trochanteroprefemur processes are very short, apex truncated, and with a long and acute process spine. Forcipular medial tibia and femur also have a prominent acute spine. Articles 1-3 of the second maxillary telopodite show hair and apical claw form a spine with long comb hair (Fig. 10 ).

Tergite 1 with anterior transverse (ring) sulcus (Fig. 6 ). Tergites 2-20 with complete paramedian sutures. Two longitudinal sulci lateral to the paramedian sutures on the five posterior tergites except the ultimate tergite. Tergites 2-20 without margination. Posterior part of the ultimate leg-bearing segment with complete margination. Sternites with complete paramedian sulci from 3 to 19, almost complete on sulcus 2. Nine round spiracles are present with one each on segments 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20. The spiracles protrude out of the segments (Figs 11 , 12 ), and are cup-shaped, with a simple structure, and without humps (Fig. 13 ) ( Lewis [2006] stated that the spiracles were filled with humps).

All legs with two-segmented tarsi. Two tibial spurs on legs 1-18, 19 with one, 20 without. Legs 1-20 each with two tarsal spurs (Fig. 14 ). Legs 1-5 with one outside femur spur dorsally, legs 1-3 also with one prefemur spur dorsally (Fig. 15 ). Legs 1-14 with very few spines ventrally on the prefemur and femur and a distal transverse row dorsomedially on the prefemur, femur, and tibia (Fig. 14 ). Legs 15 and 16 with few spines ventrally on the prefemur and sparse spines ventrally on the femur. Legs 17-19 with prefemur, femur, and tibia thickly spined dorsally, medially, and ventrally, the spines on prefemur gradually increase from legs 17-19. Leg 20 with prefemur and femur thickly spined on all surfaces, tibia on all but the medial surface and tarsus 1 spined dorsally and medially.

Tergite 21 with small spines and a narrow posterior median depression (Fig. 17 ). Sternite 21 with sides converging posteriorly, without depression. Central zone of sternite 21 with sporadic small spines dorsal and ventral and peripheral zone with two to four rows of small spines (Fig. 16 , 19 ). Coxopleuron with an oval pore field of many small pores and small scattered spines (Fig. 19 ). The coxopleural process was moderately long and digitiform, with small spines (Figs 19 , 20 ). The prefemur and femur of the ultimate legs (Fig. 18 ) are covered with numerous small spines dorsally, medially, and ventrally, without grooves or strips ( Lewis [2006] stated with the presence of a strip on the median ventral). Tibia spined on all but the median ventral and medial surfaces, and tarsus 1 has a few dorsomedial spines. Pretarsal accessory spurs are absent.

Genital segments well developed, reaching the distance between the posterior margin of sternite 21 and the distal part of the coxopleural process. In males, sternite of genital segment 1 round, with short setae ventrally, genital segment 2 round and convex, also with short setae ventrally. Penis columnar, with long setae dorsally. Gonopod present in males with seven or eight long setae (Fig. 19 ). Anal valve well developed, composite by two hemispheres, with a yellow strip near the posterior margin. Genital segments short in female, posterior margin of sternite of genital segment 1 with several spines. Anal valve composed of two hemispheres, with a cavity in the centre.

Conservation status.

Although this species was found from two localities separated by 400 km, there is not yet enough information about the distribution, abundance, or threats to this species, and so further surveys are needed; we consider it Data Deficient for now (IUCN 2020).

Molecular analyses.

We obtained 887 bp sequences of COI, 537 bp of 16S and 992 bp of 28S of M. orientalis . The complete matrix included sequences from 44 centipede species (Table 1 ), which consists of all five families of Scolopendromorpha . Theatops chuanensis Di et al., 2010, Cryptops sp., Scolopendra mutilans L. Koch, and Scolopocryptops nigrimaculatus Song, Song & Zhu, 2004 were also sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. These species represent the most common species of the families Plutoniumidae , Cryptopidae , Scolopendridae , and Scolopocryptopidae , respectively, in China. For the class Chilopoda, which is commonly divided into five orders, namely Scolopendromorpha , Lithobiomorpha , Scutigeromorpha , Craterostigmomorpha , and Geophilomorpha , four representative species, Scutigera coleoptrata ( Scutigeromorpha ), Craterostigmus tasmanianus ( Craterostigmomorpha ), Lithobius forficatus ( Lithobiomorpha ), and Bothriogaster signata ( Geophilomorpha ) were selected as outgroups to assess the phylogenetic of M. orientalis as well as Mimopidae .

The results of the phylogenetic analysis are presented in Figures 21 and 22 . Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses yielded trees based on the combined alignments of COI + 16S + 28S, which demonstrated essentially consistent topologies. All Scolopendromorpha species used in this study could be considered as two main clades, the ocellate scolopendromorphs and the blind scolopendromorphs, both well supported in the ML tree. Mimopidae was positioned as sister group to the other families of blind scolopendromorphs. However, Bayesian inference analyses identified Scolopendromorpha species as belonging to three clades, the ocellate scolopendromorphs, the blind scolopendromorphs sensu Pocock, 1896 (comprising Plutoniumidae , Cryptopidae , and Scolopocryptopidae ), and the monophyletic family Mimopidae with quite strong support (PP 0.94). Both methods obtained from the molecular data place Scolopendridae as a monophyletic family, comprising two subfamilies, Scolopendrinae and Otostigminae . Likewise, Scolopocryptopidae comprises two subfamilies, Scolopocryptopinae and Newportiinae . Cryptopidae , and Scolopocryptopidae are sister groups together with Plutoniumidae in the molecular analysis.

Figures

Figure 1. The current known distribution of Mimops orientalis. Two main record localities were in Shaanxi and Henan provinces, China, indicated by a red dot and a green pentagon, respectively; the red dot perhaps indicates the type locality.

Figures 2 - 5. Habitat of Mimops orientalis 2, 3 Habitat at locality of M. orientalis in Taiping National Forest Park, Hu county, Shaanxi, China 4, 5 living specimens of M. orientalis.

Figures 6 - 9. Head of Mimops orientalis Kraepelin, 1903 6, 7 Head and tergite 1 and 2, dorsal and ventral views 8, 9 dorsal views of the right antenna.

Figures 10 - 15. 10 Coxosternite and forcipules of Mimops orientalis 11 - 15 Trunk segment features of Mimops orientalis. 11 Tergites 11 - 13, showing paramedian sutures and spiracle 12 sternites 5 - 7, showing sutures 13 spiracle on segment 5 14 ventral view of legs 5 - 7 (right) 15 dorsal view of leg 3 (right).

Figures 16 - 18. Ultimate segment and ultimate legs of Mimops orientalis 16 Ventral view of the ultimate segment 17 dorsal view of the ultimate segment 18 dorsal view of ultimate legs.

Figures 19, 20. Genital segments of Mimops orientalis 19 Male specimen 20 female specimen.

Figures 21, 22. Phylogenetic trees obtained from the COI, 16 S, and 28 S sequences 21 ML tree from the analysis of the concatenated genes 22 tree from the Bayesian analysis of all genes combined. Numbers at the nodes are bootstrap percentages obtained from the ML analyses and posterior probabilities obtained from BI.