Dobrodesmus Shear, Ferreira & Iniesta

Shear, William A., Ferreira, Rodrigo Lopes, Iniesta, Luiz Felipe Moretti & Marek, Paul, 2016, A millipede missing link: Dobrodesmidae, a remarkable new polydesmidan millipede family from Brazil with supernumerary rings (Diplopoda, Polydesmida), and the establishment of a new suborder Dobrodesmidea, Zootaxa 4178 (3), pp. 371-390 : 372-373

Dobrodesmus Shear, Ferreira & Iniesta , n. gen.

Type species: Dobrodesmus mirabilis Shear, Ferreira & Iniesta , n. sp., described below.

Etymology. The genus name comes from the Portuguese word for “double” with the combining stem “- desmus,” meaning band, commonly used in generic names in this order of millipedes, and refers to the doubled number of trunk rings in the type species.

Diagnosis. As for the family, see above.

Description. Species with 39+t trunk rings in adult males.

Head, gnathochilarium and antennae typical of order. Antennae with accessory sensillae on antennomere six ( Fig 3 ).

Collum ( Fig 2 ) with short, roughly triangular paranota. Trunk rings with prominent paranota ( Figs 4–7 ), nearly horizontal, angular; metazonites appearing broadly rectangular.

Epiproct not concealed by penultimate ring, with two spinnerets; epiproct process with deep indentation between spinnerets ( Fig 11 ). Paraprocts obliquely divided into small dorsal and larger ventral sclerite, with many scattered setae.

Dorsal surfaces of trunk rings finely setose, with scattered longer setae.

Spiracles displaced anteriorly, greatly reduced.

Gonopods ( Figs 16 , 18–20 ) with complete sternum, coxae protruding from aperture, basally constricted by aperture; coxa with flagellum; flagellum distally with multiple hastate teeth; telopodite reduced, with few setae, distal acuminate process, not divided into prefemur and acropodite, not modified to sheath coxal flagellum.

Distribution. Mangabeira Cave in Ituaçu Municipality, Bahia State, Brazil.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Dobrodesmus mirabilis, posterior end, dorsolateral view. Abbreviations: s, spinneret; dp, dorsal division of paraproct; vp, ventral division of paraproct.; t, epiproct.

FIGURES 2 – 7. Dobrodesmus mirabilis. Fig 2, collum. Fig 3, sensilla from sixth antennal article. Fig 4, midbody segment, dorsal view. Fig 5, midbody segment, ventral view. Fig 6, anterior right corner of midbody segment, dorsal view. Fig 7, posterior right corner of nonporiferous midbody segment, dorsal view.

FIGURES 14 – 16. Fig 14, spinnerets of Dobrodesmus mirabilis. Fig 15, spinnerets of Tetracion jonesi Hoffman 1956 (Callipodida, Abacionidae). Abbreviations: sl, extended aperture of spinneret; dp, dorsal division of paraproct; vp, ventral division of paraproct. Fig 16, gonopods of Dobrodesmus mirabilis, ventral view. Abbreviations: cx, gonopod coxa; f, flagellum; p 1, sheathing process of coxa; p 2, triangular process of telopodite; tel, telopodite of gonopo; a?, possible acropodite.

FIGURES 17, 18. Fig 17, gonopods of Sinocallipus simplipodicus (Callipodida, Sinocallipodidae). Fig 18, left gonopod of Dobrodesmus mirabilis, ventral view. Abbreviations as for Fig 16.

FIGURES 19 – 22. Fig 19, gonopods of Dobrodesmus mirabilis, posterior view. Fig 20, gonopods of Dobrodesmus mirabilis, anterior view. Fig 21, male, dorsal view, diplosegments numbered; t, telson. Fig 22, gonopods of Eostemmiulus caecus, (Stemmiulida, Stemmiulidae), posterior view. Abbreviations as for Fig 16; Fig 22 redrawn from Mauriès et al. (2010).