Scolopocryptops spinicaudus Wood, 1862

Le, Son X., Schileyko, Arkady A. & Nguyen, Anh D., 2023, A review of Vietnamese Scolopocryptops Newport, 1844 (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha), with a description of S. hoanglieni n. sp. and the updated generic list of species, Zootaxa 5228 (4), pp. 441-447 : 419-424

Scolopocryptops spinicaudus Wood, 1862

Figs 5–7

Scolopocryptops spinicauda Wood, 1862: 39 ;

Scolopocryptops sexspinosus spinicaudus: Bollman, 1893: 178 ;

Scolopocryptops sexspinosus [in part]: Attems, 1930: 260;

Otocryptops sexspinosus: Chamberlin & Wang, 1952: 179 ; Schileyko, 1992: 8;

Scolopocryptops sexspinosus: Schileyko, 1995: 75 ;

Scolopocryptops sp. : Schileyko, 1998: 263;

Scolopocryptops sexspinosus: Schileyko, 2001: 427 ;

Scolopocryptops spinicaudus: Shelley, 2002: 72 ;

Scolopocryptops sexspinosus: Chao, 2002: 38 ;

Scolopocryptops spinicaudus: Song, Song & Zhu, 2004: 83 ;

Scolopocryptops spinicaudus: Schileyko, 2007: 73 ;

Scolopocryptops spinicaudus: Qiao, Xiao & Di, 2021: 29 ;

Scolopocryptops spinicaudus: Xiao, Chen & Di, 2021: 87 .

Scolopocryptops spinicauda: Edgecombe et al., 2012: 770 ;

Scolopocryptops spinicaudus: Jonishi & Nakano, 2022: 4 .

Material. CAO BANG Province, Phia Oac — Phia Den NP: 1 spm (SVR. PO.014), natural forest, 22.59842°N 105.89417°E, 1371m a.sl., 10.07.2017, col. Le X.Son ; 1spm(SVR. PO.018), natural forest, 22.61319°N 105.86698°E, 1803 m a.s.l., 12.07.2017, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.038), natural forest, 22.61414°N 105.86822°E, 1750 m a.s.l., 13.07.2017, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.051), mixed forest, 22.60610°N 105.87730°E, 1610 m a.s.l., 15.07.2017, col. Le X.Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.061), natural forest, 22.60610°N 105.87730°E, 1541 m a.s.l., 16.07.2017, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.064), natural forest, 22.60644°N 105.87550°E, 1667 m a.s.l., 18.07.2017, col. Le X. Son ; 2 spms (SVR. PO.073, SVR. PO.077), bamboo forest, 22.61497°N 105.86206°E, 1855 m a.s.l., 18.07.2017, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.00139), natural forest, 22.60856°N 105.86458°E, 1694 m a.s.l., 04.06.2018, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.153), mixed forest, 22.60625°N 105.86775°E, 1633 m a.s.l., 05.06.2018, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.202), mixed forest, 22.60901°N 105.87074°E, 1596 m a.s.l., 04.06.2019, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.205), mixed forest, 22.60892°N 105.87064°E, 1595 m a.s.l., 04.06.2019, col. Le X. Son ; 2 spms (SVR. PO.211, SVR. PO.212), natural forest, 22.60935°N 105.87027°E, 1604 m a.s.l., 04.06.2019, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.234), mixed forest, 22.60321°N 105.87344°E, 1508 m a.s.l., 08.06.2019, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.247), pine forest, 22.58684°N 105.85835°E, 1008 m a.s.l., 10.06.2019, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR. PO.125), bamboo forest, 22.61342°N 105.8648°E, 1848 m a.s.l., 03.06.2019, col. Le X. Son ; 8 spms (SVR. PO.002–009), mixed forest, 22.60836°N 105.86978°E, 1611 m a.s.l., 08.2020, col. Nguyen D. Anh.

SON LA Province: 1 spm (SVR. TX.017) Ta Xua NR, regenerating forest, 21.32525°N 104.52722°E, 1417 m a.s.l., 05.10.2019, col. Le X. Son.

QU ẢNG NAM Province , Song Thanh NR: 1 spm (SVR.STh.101), natural forest, 15.57269°N 107.35642°E, 1038 m a.s.l., 03.05.2019, col. Le X. Son ; 1 spm (SVR.STh.102), natural forest, 15.57181°N 107.40994°E, 1007 m a.s.l., 03.05.2019, col. Le X. Son; 1 spm (SVR.STh.122), regenerating forest, 15.53931°N 107.38408°E, 1144m a.s.l., 04.05.2019, col. Le X. Son; 1 spm (SVR.STh.132), regenerating forest, 15.54053°N 107.38272°E, 1154 m a.s.l., 09.05.2019, col. Le X. Son.

VINH PHUC Province, Tam Dao : 2 spms (Rc 6341 in ZMMU), 1000–1200 m, subtropical forest, 18.08.- 04.09.1989, col. D. Popkov ; 4 juv (Rc 6343 in ZMMU), 800–1200 m, subtropical montane forest, 12– 22.04.1986., col. S.I. Golovatch & L.N. Medvedev.

GIA LAI Province: 1 ad (Rc 6432 in ZMMU), An Khe, environs of Buon Luoi Biological Station, tropical forest, litter, 12.1989, col. Y. M. Zaitsev.

LAO CAI Province: 2 spms (Rc 6614, 6615 in ZMMU), Sa Pa District , 6-8 km W of Sa Pa, 1800 m a.s.l., rotten logs with soil inside, 07– 11.12.1996 , col. M. V. Kalyakin ; 1 ad + 1 juv (Rc 7165 in ZMMU), Hoang Lien NP, ca 2000 m a.s.l., subtropical forest, 16– 30.07.2007, col. S.I. Golovatch.

LAM DONG Province, Bi Doup — Nui Ba NP, environs of Long Lanh : 1 ad + 1 sad (Rc 7225 in ZMMU), Exped. Rus-Viet. Trop. Cent., 1400–1900 m a.s.l., 01– 22.04.2008, col. D. Fedorenko ; 6 spms (Rc 7497 in ZMMU), 12°10’44’’N 108°40’44’’E, 1400–1600 m a.s.l., 28.04– 10.05.2009, col. D. Fedorenko.

Comparative material. Japan, Honshu , Nagano-ken , Sanada-cho, Sugadaira, 1 spm (Rc 6503 in ZMMU), 22– 24.06.1994, col. O. Gorbunov & J. Arita.

Diagnosis. 2 basal antennal articles virtually lacking setae dorsally; cephalic plate marginate laterally; tergal paramedian sutures absent, ultimate tergite with complete lateral margination; LBS 7 lacks spiracles; ultimate legs lacking setae (more rarely their distal articles setose), ultimate prefemur with two spinous processes of typical both structure and disposition.

Description of adult SVR.PO.202 [data on ZMMU material in square brackets where it differs].

Body length 35.6 [up to 60] mm, width of LBS 10 ca 3.56 mm.

Antennae ( Figs 5 AB) composed of 17 articles of them 2 basal ones very sparsely setose dorsally [2 dorsally and 4.5-5.5 laterally, Fig. 5E ], following articles densely covered by minute setae.

Cephalic plate ( Fig. 5A ) nearly as long as wide, sparsely [deeply and densely] punctuate and marginate laterally, posterior margination absent.

Forcipular segment ( Fig. 5B ): coxosternite, trochanteroprefemora and the base of tarsungulae coarsely and sparsely punctate. Coxosternite with a median suture which reaches its middle, a few transverse sutures cross median one in anterior third of coxosternite [all these sutures are poorly developed in not full-grown specimens]. Anterior margin of coxosternite strongly sclerotised, practically stright and is definitely divided by a median diastema into two standard very low lobes; process of trochanteroprefemur small, with a distinct basal suture; tarsungulum long, pointed.

Tergites 1–20 sparsely [densely and strongly] punctate, tergites 21-23 not punctate; tergite 1 with anterior margin covered by the cephalic plate, tergite 2 short, as long as 1/3 of tergite 3 ( Fig. 5A ). All tergites lacking complete paramedian sutures ( Figs 5 DF). Incomplete lateral margination at tergites 5–22 [nearly complete at tergites (10)16– 22, Fig. 5F ], only tergite 23 marginate completely. Tergite 23 nearly as long as wide [and with a narrow longitudinal depression in posterior half], its posterior margin much convex in the middle.

Sternites 2–20 ( Figs 5 BC) sparsely [densely and strongly] punctuate, with some transverse sutures near posterior margin; sternite 23 ( Fig. 6B ) trapeziform and much narrower than penultimate one, its posterior margin slightly concave.

Coxopleuron ( Figs 6 AB) densely covered by irregularly located pores [coxal pore field long and wide, reaching both sternite 22 and coxopleuron’s posterior margin]; sharply pointed coxopleural process relatively short, slightly extended over the posterior margin of tergite 23.

Legs 1–21 with monopartite tarsus; legs ( Figs 5 BC, 6AB) 1–22 [1–21] with one tarsal spur, 1–20 [1–19(21)] with two tibial spurs, 21–22 with one tibial spur; legs 1–22 with two pretarsal accessory spines. All legs not setose.

Ultimate legs ( Figs 6A–C ) not setose (sparsely setose in a few specimens) [in some specimens tibia and tarsus densely setose, Fig. 6E ]; basal part of prefemur with two typical spinous processes—the larger ventral and the smaller dorso-medial ones.

Variability. ZMMU specimens (collected in Vinh Phuc, Gia Lai, Lao Cai and Lam Dong Provinces; Schileyko 1995: 74) have the maximal body length up to 60 mm (one of two adults Rc 6341 from Tam Dao), being much larger than IEBR material (recently collected in Cao Bang, Son La and Quang Nam Provinces); in other respects, all studied specimens are very similar .

Remarks. Attems (1930: 260) wrote that S. sexspinosus (Say, 1821) (actually S. spinicaudus in part) has all antennal articles setose which data have been confirmed by Chao (2002) based on Taiwanese material. However, in all studied specimens from both IEBR and ZMMU two basal antennal articles are definitely not setose ( Figs 5 AB). Schileyko (2007: 74) wrote in Remarks to this species: “Based on all taxonomic characters, the above specimens fit well Shinohara’s [1990] concept of Scolopocryptops nipponicus , a species synonymised with S. spinicaudus Wood, 1862 by Shelley [2002] ”.

In some ZMMU specimens (one of six adults of Rc 7497, adult Rc 7225, adult Rc 6342, adult + juvenille Rc 7165) tarsus and tibia (and sometimes femur) of the ultimate legs are covered by quite long and well-developed setae ( Fig. 6E ) which are slightly less dense at femur comparing to more distal articles. As these setae are present only in a few specimens of the same sample (for example in Rc 7497 of four adults which kept the ultimate legs, only one specimen has these legs setose) one can suppose them to be, very probably, a result of the sexual dimorphism.

The recent literature ( Qiao et al. 2021) states that a “lack” of tergal paramedian sutures (in fact a lack of the complete ones) is the main diagnostic character to distinguish S. spinicaudus from S. rubiginosus . In fact, all IEBR material as well as the majority of ZMMU specimens of S. spinicaudus do not have these sutures (except for extremely short rudiments at very anterior and posterior margins of practically all tergites). However at least two adults of this species (both of ZMMU)—the largest (ca 50 mm) one of Rc 7497 and large (ca 40 mm) one Rc 6342—demonstrate tergites 4(8)–(18)21 with well-developed but incomplete (i.e. somewhat interrupted in the middle) paramedian sutures ( Fig. 6F ). Thus S. spinicaudus and S. rubiginosus differ from each other less than it was thought before.

Also, the recent authors (for example Song et al. 2004) wrote that tergites of S. spinicaudus have “incomplete” lateral margination, but re-investigation of the ZMMU material, made by the second author, demonstrates this margination to be practically complete (at least in LBS of posterior body half, Fig. 5F ). This fact supports as well the closest similarity of this species and S. rubiginosus , thus the further analyses may possibly show an identity of two these species.

Another noteworthy point is that the largest adult of the mentioned above Rc 7497 (ZMMU) has a pair of the well (!) developed spiracles on LBS 7 ( Fig. 6D ); thus this specimen seems to be quite similar to S. broelemanni esulcata . Also this fact much reduces taxonomical value of such character as the number of spiracle pairs (at least in the genus Scolopocryptops ).

Range. Canada, Southern USA, Mexico, Korea, Japan, China ( Attems 1930, Shelley 2002, Schileyko 2007). In Vietnam ( Fig. 7 ) this species occurs from Northern to Central regions (Lao Cai, Vinh Phuc and Gia Lai Provinces; Schileyko 2007).

Figures

FIGURES 5A–F. Scolopocryptops spinicaudus Wood, 1862; SVR.PO.202 A head + LBS 1–3, dorsally; B head, forcipular segment and LBS 1–3, ventrally; C LBS 8–12, ventrally; D LBS 8–12, dorsally; Rc 7165 (ZMMU) E articles 1–6 of right antenna, laterally; Rc 6614 (ZMMU) F LBS 16–23, dorso-laterally.

FIGURES 6A–F. Scolopocryptops spinicaudus Wood, 1862; SVR.PO.202 A LBS 23 and right ultimate leg, laterally; B LBS 21–23 and ultimate legs, ventrally; C right ultimate leg, medially; Rc 7497 (ZMMU) D LBS 7 and 8, laterally; Rc 7225 (ZMMU) E left ultimate leg, dorsally; Rc 7497 (ZMMU) F LBS 13–16, dorsally.

FIGURE 7. Distribution of Scolopocryptops spinicaudus Wood, 1862 in Vietnam.