Flagellobolus Wesener, 2009

Wesener, Thomas, Enghoff, Henrik & Sierwald, Petra, 2009, Review of the Spirobolida on Madagascar, with descriptions of twelve new genera, including three genera of ' fire millipedes' (Diplopoda), ZooKeys 19 (19), pp. 1-128 : 41-43

Flagellobolus Wesener , gen. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:30252D40-A093-48F8-9756-96A56C848B70

Type species: Flagellobolus pauliani sp. n., monotypic

Diagnosis: anterior and posterior gonopods of unique shape ( Figs 23C, D ): anterior gonopod with a telopodite process, retrorse part slender, located at midpoint of process instead of apically, a feature not shared with any other genus from Madagascar ( Fig. 23D ). Most unusual feature of Flagellobolus gen. n. is the unique elongation of the posterior gonopod telopodite into a simple, strongly elongated, thin tip ( Figs 23E, F ). This genus shares a small body size and elongated antennae with Spiromimus , Zehntnerobolus , Alluviobolus gen. n. and Ostinobolus gen. n. Gnathochilarium with a subdivided mentum and a single sclerotized ledge on each stipites, like in Riotintobolus gen. n., Pseudocentrobolus gen. n., Granitobolus gen. n., Caprobolus gen. n., Alluviobolus gen. n., Ostinobolus gen. n. Although the posterior gonopods of Flagellobolus gen. n. are connected by a large sternite, the telopodites do more closely resemble those of species of the Spirobolidea families Spirobolellidae and Pseudospirobolellidae instead of other Trigoniulidea .

Distribution and ecology: Flagellobolus was collected on Madagascar in the eastern rainforest of Périnet (Andasibe) and the montane rainforest of Andranomay. Its ecology is entirely unknown.

Etymology: Flagellobolus , masculine, is composed of ‘ flagello ’, after flagellum, latin for whip, which refers to the characteristically shaped posterior gonopods, and - bolus.

Figures

Figure 23. Flagellobolus pauliani sp. n., male holotype, A telson B left midbody leg C anterior gonopod, anterior view D anterior gonopod, posterior view E posterior gonopods, posterior view, slightly turned F posterior gonopods, posterior view, original position. av = anal valves; cp = coxite process; Cx = coxite; Pre = preanal ring; rp = retrorse process; St = sternite; sub = subanal scale; T = telopodite; Tp = telopodite process. Scale bars = 1 mm.