Lissodesmus modestus Chamberlin, 1920

Mesibov, Robert, 2005, The millipede genus Lissodesmus Chamberlin, 1920 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania and Victoria, with descriptions of a new genus and 24 new species, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 62 (2), pp. 103-146 : 119-120

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.24199/j.mmv.2005.62.4
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F70083BA-29DD-4E6E-AEF3-19C31465A5A7
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8066871
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03BDAA31-F550-FFB5-8448-F24548C28803
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Lissodesmus modestus Chamberlin, 1920
status

Treatment

Lissodesmus modestus Chamberlin, 1920 View in CoL

Figures 4A View Figure 4 , 5A View Figure 5 , 7A View Figure 7 , 8A View Figure 8 , 52 View Figure 52 , 53 View Figure 53 , 69 View Figure 69 mod, 70mod, 71mod, 73 (map)

Lissodesmus modestus Chamberlin, 1920: 135 View in CoL .— Attems, 1940:

490.— Jeekel, 1970: 336.— Jeekel, 1984: 91.

Material examined. Holotype. Male, Australia, Tasmania. Russell Falls , G.H. Hardy, MCZ 4644 About MCZ . The type is in three pieces but is otherwise in excellent condition. An accompanying label reads “ Jan 1915 Russell Falls”.

Paratypes. Female, details as for holotype, MCZ 4645 About MCZ .

Other material. 57 males, 82 females and 32 juveniles from Arve Road, Bracken Ridge, Collins Cap , Coopers Creek , Dromedary Creek , Edwards Road , Espies Craig , Fortescue Bay , Gold Creek , Hastings Caves , Ida Bay cave IB-51, Judds Creek , Kallista Creek , Little Florentine River , Mt Clark , Mt Field National Park , Mt Mangana ( Bruny Island ), Mt Misery , Mt Wellington, Myrtle Forest Creek , Needles Picnic Area , Pelham Tier , Pendulum Palace Cave ( Precipitous Bluff ), Picton River , Plenty River and Tobys Hill (see “ Lissodesmus supplement” for details) .

Description. Male c. 16 mm long, H = 1.4 mm. In alcohol, well-coloured specimens under low magnification very light brown in body colour, with fairly uniform red speckling across metatergites and in a transverse band posteriorly on prozonites. Antenna long, fairly slender ( Fig. 69 View Figure 69 mod). Paranota fairly wide, R = 1.5 ( Fig. 70 View Figure 70 mod), posterior corners not turned up ( Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ) but projecting slightly outwards in most specimens (see also Jeekel, 1984: 93, Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). Legs robust, tarsus slightly shorter than femur, tibia with prominent ventral distal swelling ( Fig. 71 View Figure 71 mod). Telopodite ( Figs 52 View Figure 52 , 53 View Figure 53 ) reaching leg 4 when retracted. [Note: the convention adopted here of labelling as “mesal” a telopodite view centred on the solenomere is particularly misleading for this species. As seen in Fig. 52 View Figure 52 , the solenomere origin is on the anterior surface of the telopodite in situ.] Solenomere arising at about half the telopodite height, directed basally at about 45° to telopodite axis but gradually curving distally, terminating with a small subapical projection at just under half the prefemoral process height. Tibiotarsus rod-like, pointed, directed more or less parallel to solenomere, about one-third the length of solenomere and much thinner. Femoral process arising distal to solenomere origin, large, blade-like with expanded, leaf-shaped tip, curving posteromesally and terminating just proximal to tip of prefemoral process. Prefemoral process at origin about two-thirds as wide as telopodite base, at about half-length tapering rapidly and bending posteromesally, then bending distally, the last one-third straight, with a row of short, mainly posterodistally and mesodistally directed teeth on mesal edge. Uncus identification uncertain; possibly represented by low, pointed ridge on prefemoral process at about the level of solenomere tip.

Distribution and habitat. In wet eucalypt forest and cool temperate rainforest over c. 4500 km 2 in southern and south-east Tasmania ( Fig. 73 View Figure 73 ), from Pelham to the south coast, from the Little Florentine River east to the Channel district, and from near sea level to at least 940 m. L. modestus also occurs on South Bruny Island and the Tasman Peninsula, but has not yet been recorded on either North Bruny Island or Forestier Peninsula. It occurs in caves at Ida Bay and Precipitous Bluff. L. modestus is hard to find in many parts of its range.

Remarks. As noted in the Introduction, there are minor errors with the antennomeres and sphaerotrichomes in the description given by Jeekel (1984). The gonopod coxae are also said ( Jeekel, 1984: 93) to be “solidly connected”, which suggests “fused”; they are in fact separate and lightly joined at only one point, as in all Lissodesmus species. Jeekel’s description is otherwise accurate and very detailed.