Aphilodon intermedius Silvestri, 1909

Calvanese, Victor C., Brescovit, Antonio D. & Bonato, Lucio, 2019, Revision of the Neotropical species of Aphilodontinae (Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae), with eight new species and a first phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily, Zootaxa 4698 (1), pp. 1-72 : 27

Aphilodon intermedius Silvestri, 1909

Aphilodon intermedius Silvestri 1909a: 268 (in key; original description); Silvestri 1909b: 55, plate X, figs 1–3; Attems 1929: 315 (in key), 316 (description); Bücherl 1940: 313; Foddai et al. 2000: 105; Pereira et al. 2007: 47 (description); Bonato et al. 2011: 408; Bonato et al. 2015: 219.

Type specimens. Holotype: ♂, from “ Pampa Piray (Misiones, Argentina)” ( Silvestri 1909b), deposited in MCSG.

Type locality. Argentina: Misiones : Pampa Piray .

Taxonomic history. The species was originally described under the genus Aphilodon and this assignment was never questioned. A. intermedius is here confirmed in the genus Aphilodon because, although Silvestri (1909b) did not provide detailed information on the ultimate legs, in particular on the existence of a terminal spine (which is a major synapomorphy of the genus), the described forcipular apparatus and second maxillae are fully consistent with the morphology otherwise found in Aphilodon .

Notes on nomenclature. The single known specimen of A. intermedius , which was described and illustrated by Silvestri (1909a, 1909b), has been searched by one of us (VCC) at MCSG, where the myriapodological collection of Silvestri is currently housed, but it was not found. No other specimens were recorded until now.

Material examined. None.

Diagnosis. A species of Aphilodon with: around 57 leg-bearing segments; known body length in adults 20 mm; cephalic plate length/width ratio ca. 1.25; antennae ca. 2 times as long as cephalic plate and not distinctly tapering towards the tip; pectinate lamella of mandible with straight denticles; coxosternite of second maxillae not distinctly shorter in the middle part; forcipular pretergite exposed; forcipule with lateral margin posteriorly straight; tarsungulum ca. 0.9 times as long as trochanteroprefemur+femur; forcipule with 3+1 denticles; distal denticle of trochanteroprefemur, denticle of femur and denticle of tibia relatively large and denticle of tarsungulum relatively small; distal denticle of trochanteroprefemur and denticle of femur separate; each coxopleuron with ca. 20 coxal pores in adults; ultimate presternite exposed and apparently divided in tmiddle part; metasternite of ultimate leg-bearing segment length/width ratio ca. 0.3; ultimate legs with tarsus 1 ca. 1.5 times as long as tibia.

A. intermedius differs from all other species of Aphilodon by having antennae not distinctly tapering towards the tip (Silvestri 1909: Fig. X).

Recorded specimens: a single specimen, ♂.

Distribution. Argentina—Misiones: Pampa Piray ( Silvestri 1909a, 1909b).