Eupolybothrus Verhoeff, 1907

Stoev, Pavel, Akkari, Nesrine, Zapparoli, Marzio, Porco, David, Enghoff, Henrik, Edgecombe, Gregory D., Georgiev, Teodor & Penev, Lyubomir, 2010, The centipede genus Eupolybothrus Verhoeff, 1907 (Chilopoda: Lithobiomorpha: Lithobiidae) in North Africa, a cybertaxonomic revision, with a key to all species in the genus and the first use of DNA barcoding for the group, ZooKeys 50, pp. 29-77 : 34

Eupolybothrus Verhoeff, 1907

Type species.

Lithobius grossipes C.L. Koch, 1847, by subsequent designation of Chamberlin (1925). Type locality: Triest, Italy.

Diagnosis.

Medium- to large-sized Lithobiidae (body length 16-48 mm) with numerous irregularly arranged pores on the last four pairs of coxae; antennal articles always more than 20, from 38 to around 80; ocelli numerous, usually from 1+16 to 1+24, absent or reduced in some troglobitic species; porodont situated laterad to the forcipular coxosternal teeth; tergites with or without posterior triangular projections, tarsi of all legs bipartite; forcipular coxosternite with 5+5-14+14 teeth (usually from 7+7 to 10+10); female gonopod with 2 spurs and simple claw, male gonopods single or bipartite.

Assigned valid species (20).

Eupolybothrus (Eupolybothrus) andreevi Matic, 1964, Eupolybothrus (Schizopolybothrus) caesar (Verhoeff, 1899), Eupolybothrus (Propolybothrus) dolops Zapparoli, 1998, Eupolybothrus (Schizopolybothrus) excellens (Silvestri, 1894), Eupolybothrus (Eupolybothrus) fasciatus (Newport, 1845), Eupolybothrus (Eupolybothrus) gloriastygis (Absolon, 1916), Eupolybothrus (Eupolybothrus) grossipes (C.L. Koch, 1847), Eupolybothrus kahfi Stoev & Akkari sp. n., Eupolybothrus (Parapolybothrus) herzegowinensis (Verhoeff, 1900), Eupolybothrus (Parapolybothrus) imperialis (Meinert, 1872), Eupolybothrus (Schizopolybothrus) leostygis (Verhoeff, 1899), Eupolybothrus (Eupolybothrus) litoralis (L. Koch, 1867), Eupolybothrus (Eupolybothrus) longicornis (Risso, 1826), Eupolybothrus (Allopolybothrus) nudicornis (Gervais, 1837), Eupolybothrus (Parapolybothrus) obrovensis (Verhoeff, 1930), Eupolybothrus (Mesobothrus) transsylvanicus (Latzel, 1882), Eupolybothrus (Schizopolybothrus) tabularum Verhoeff, 1937, Eupolybothrus (Leptopolybothrus) tridentinus (Fanzago, 1874), Eupolybothrus (Propolybothrus) werneri (Attems, 1902), Eupolybothrus (Mesobothrus) zeus (Verhoeff, 1901).

Taxa of uncertain taxonomic status (10).

Eupolybothrus (Schizopolybothrus) acherontis (Verhoeff, 1900), Eupolybothrus acherontis wardaranus (Verhoeff, 1937), Eupolybothrus (Mesobothrus) macedonicus (Verhoeff, 1943), Eupolybothrus osellai Matic, Floca & Hurezeanu, 1992, Eupolybothrus ruffoi Matic, Floca & Hurezeanu, 1992, Eupolybothrus sketi Matic, 1979, Eupolybothrus (Schizopolybothrus) spiniger (Latzel, 1888), Eupolybothrus (Schizopolybothrus) stygis (Folkmanova, 1940), Eupolybothrus valkanovi (Kaczmarek, 1973), Eupolybothrus (Propolybothrus) verrucosus (Sseliwanoff, 1876).

Remarks.

Several taxa assigned to Eupolybothrus remain species inquirendae. Here we briefly review the current status of these taxa. Eupolybothrus stygis was described from Iljina pećina (cave) near Trebinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Folkmanova 1940), and Stoev (2001b) suggested that it could be identical with Eupolybothrus leostygis , a troglobitic species known from the same area ( Eason 1983). In the key below it keys out together with Eupolybothrus acherontis , another poorly known species from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Stoev (2001a, b) noted that Eupolybothrus spiniger , Eupolybothrus acherontis and Eupolybothrus acherontis wardaranus could be identical with Eupolybothrus caesar . Being the oldest available name, in case of synonymy Eupolybothrus spiniger would have priority over Eupolybothrus caesar . Thanks to Verena Stagl, curator of myriapods at NHMW, we were able to obtain a photograph of the prefemur of the ultimate leg pair of male Eupolybothrus spiniger which shows no differences with that of Eupolybothrus caesar . However, until we personally examine the types we prefer to treat Eupolybothrus spiniger and Eupolybothrus caesar as separate species. Eupolybothrus valkanovi was based on a single female with unusually short gonopodial spurs found near Asenovgrad, Rhodope Mts in Bulgaria ( Kaczmarek 1973). According to Stoev (2002) it is most likely conspecific with the morphologically similar Eupolybothrus transsylvanicus which is also known to occur in the area. Eupolybothrus sketi was described from male and female specimens found in the Jakupica Mts, in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ( Matic 1979). It is listed under the possible synonyms of Eupolybothrus transsylvanicus by Minelli (2006) but its status is yet to be clarified. Morphologically, it is most closely related to Eupolybothrus zeus from Greece. Eupolybothrus tabularum was synonymised under Eupolybothrus excellens by Minelli and Zapparoli (1985) but was recently found to be a good species. A paper on this subject is currently in preparation by M. Zapparoli and will be published elsewhere. Although both species share some traits in common (like 15VCm spine), the long median protuberance on the prefemur of leg 15 in males convincingly distinguishes Eupolybothrus excellens from Eupolybothrus tabularum (see key below). Eupolybothrus macedonicus is hitherto known only from its type locality, Temna cave near Loutraki, North Greece ( Zapparoli 2002). Likewise, Eupolybothrus verrucosus is presently known only from its original description based on a single female specimen from Moldova ( Minelli 2006). The taxonomic status of both species remains uncertain. The status of Eupolybothrus cloudsley-thompsoni , Eupolybothrus osellai and Eupolybothrus ruffoi is addressed under Discussion.