Eupolybothrus wardaranus (Verhoeff, 1937) Verhoeff, 1937

Akkari, Nesrine, Komericki, Ana, Weigand, Alexander M., Edgecombe, Gregory D. & Stoev, Pavel, 2017, A new cave centipede from Croatia, Eupolybothrusliburnicus sp. n., with notes on the subgenus Schizopolybothrus Verhoeff, 1934 (Chilopoda, Lithobiomorpha, Lithobiidae), ZooKeys 687, pp. 11-43 : 15-17

Eupolybothrus wardaranus (Verhoeff, 1937) stat. nov. Figs 9, 11F

Eupolybothrus acherontis wardaranus Verhoeff, 1937: 100.

Material.

Syntypes. 1 ♂ Reg. Nr. A 200500641; 1 ♀ juv., slide preparation, Reg. Nr. A20030873, "Mazedonien: Skoplje" (ZSM).

Descriptive notes based on the syntype ♂.

Body length: (from anterior margin of cephalic plate to posterior margin of telson) approx. 29.2 mm.

Colour: uniform, yellowish brown.

Head: cephalic plate slightly broader than long (2 × 2.5 mm, respectively) and wider than T1; surface smooth, with scattered setae. Cephalic median sulcus contributing to biconvex anterior margin, marginal ridge with a median thickening; posterior margin straight to slightly concave; transverse suture situated at about 1/3rd of anterior edge; posterior limbs of transverse suture visible, connecting basal antennal article with anterior part of the ocellar area.

Ocelli: 18-20, pale, in 4 irregular rows; outermost first seriate ocellus largest; ocelli of the middle two rows medium-sized, those of inferior row smallest.

Tömösváry’s organ: moderately large (as large as a medium ocellus), oval and situated on a sub-triangular sclerotisation below the inferiormost row of seriate ocelli.

Clypeus: showing a cluster of ca. 25 setae situated on the apex and near the lateral margins.

Antennae: 10.4 mm, with 80 (left) and 79 (right) articles.

Forcipular segment: Coxosternum with 11+10 teeth and a porodont situated lateral of the distalmost tooth.

Tergites: T1 wider than long, subtrapeziform, wider anteriorly, posterior margin slightly emarginated, marginal ridge with a small median thickening; TT3 and 5 more elongated than T1, posterior margin slightly emarginated medially, posterior angles rounded; posterior angles of T4 rounded; posterior margin of T8 slightly emarginated medially, angles rounded; TT6 and 7 with posterior angles abruptly rounded; TT9, 11, 13 with well-developed posterior triangular projections; posterior margin of TT10 and 12 slightly emarginated and 14 almost straight (Fig. 9C); intermediate tergite hexagonal, with a broad median groove narrowing distad and posterior margin almost straight, lateral edges thickened and covered with setae; middle part of posterior third of tergite densely covered with setae; laterally, on both sides of the central setose area there are two specific bare subtrapezoid spots. All tergites smooth, setae present only along their lateral margins.

Legs: leg 15 10.9 mm long, ca. 37% of body length; pectinal (seriate) setae missing on tarsus 1 and 2 of leg 15, present in one short row on tarsus 2 of leg 14, in one row on tarsus 1 and two rows on tarsus 2 of legs 1-13. Tibia with two ventral spines (Fig. 9E). Prefemur of leg 15 with a large proximal knob (pk) protruding mediad and bearing long scattered setae on tip (Fig. 9B). Mesial ridge thin, extending 2/3 of prefemur length, gently narrowing distad. Posterior margin of prefemur without circular protuberance between p and m dorso-medially; rest of prefemur with obvious marks of setae.

Coxal pores: generally round, arranged in 5 irregular rows, pores of inner rows largest, size decreasing outwards; pores separated from each other by a distance more than, or equal to their diameter.

Sternites: smooth, subtrapeziform, with few sparse setae, mainly at lateral margins; posterior margins straight.

Genitalia: posterior margin of male first genital sternite concave, broadly V-shaped, posterior margin densely covered with long setae, the rest of sternite sparsely covered with shorter setae. Gonopod not depicted.

Description of the syntype ♀, based on the slide A20030873 (ZSM) (Fig. 10).The slide preparation contains the cephalic plate with mandibles in situ, maxillae (Fig. 10B), forcipular segment and terminal segments of a female syntype.

Clypeus: with a cluster of ca. 30 setae situated on the apex, near the lateral margins and smaller one scatted over the surface (Fig. 10A).

Forcipular segment: Coxosternum with 8+9 teeth and a porodont situated lateral of the distalmost tooth (Fig. 10C, D).

Female gonopods: densely setose, with 2+2 long and pointed spurs slightly bent and a single claw; outer spur 1.5 times longer than the inner one (Fig. 10E, F).

Remarks.

Although originally described as a subspecies of E. acherontis , both the nominate subspecies as well as E. acherontis wardaranus have subsequently been suspected to be junior synonyms of E. caesar ( Stoev 2001a, b). Re-examination of its types now shows that E. wardaranus can be distinguished from E. caesar by the presence of a distomedial projection on the leg 14 prefemur in the latter species (Fig. 11A), versus its absence in E. wardaranus (Fig. 9B), and especially by the paired ventral spines on the tibia in E. wardaranus (Fig. 9E). E. caesar also has a swelling on the dorsal proximalmost part of the leg 15 prefemur (proximal to the knob; Fig. 11A) that is less developed in all other species, including E. wardaranus (Fig. 11F). Since E. acherontis is known only from a female, the subspecific classification of Verhoeff is difficult to uphold. Accordingly, E. wardaranus is treated as a valid species herein.