Chaleponcus basiliscus, Enghoff, 2014

Enghoff, Henrik, 2014, A mountain of millipedes I: An endemic species-group of the genus Chaleponcus Attems, 1914, from the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Odontopygidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 100, pp. 1-75 : 35-36

Chaleponcus basiliscus sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AFC2BE4A-F296-4A7E-A396-0C99903FBBBE

Figs 9 , 18

Diagnosis

Large. Differing from all other species in the group by the double lateral coxal process ( Fig. 9 ).

Etymology

The name is a noun in apposition and refers to the (remote) resemblance of the cucullus profile to the reptile Basiliscus or its mythological namesake.

Material studied (total: 4 ♂♂)

Holotype

TANZANIA: ♂, Iringa Region, Iringa District, Udzungwa Mts, West Kilombero FR, Udekwa village , Nyambanito Mt. , Ukami Forest , 07° 42’49” S, 36°25’15” E, Jul.–Nov. 1994. D. Moyer leg. ( ZMUC).

Paratypes

TANZANIA: 3 ♂♂, data as holotype (ZMUC).

Type locality

TANZANIA: Iringa Region, Iringa District, Udzungwa Mts, West Kilombero FR, Udekwa village, Nyambanito Mt, Ukami Forest, 07° 42’49” S, 36°25’15” E.

Description (male)

DIAMETER. 2.9–3.2 mm, 51–52 podous rings.

COLOUR. After 20 years in alcohol with traces of a longitudinal light stripe flanked by paramedian darker bands.

ANAL VALVES. Each with a long, curved dorsal spine and a tiny ventral one.

LIMBUS. With triangular lobes; lobes slightly longer than broad, striate on outer surface.

TARSAL SETATION. Normal.

GONOPOD COXA ( Figs 9 , 18 ). About 3½ × as long as width of shaft. Lateral margin straight up to level of metaplical shelf (ms), then curving strongly laterad and forming two triangular lateral processes, lp1 and lp2; distal margin regularly convex; cucullus (cu) mesally ending in process with two blunt-triangular processes on basal side. Metaplical shelf (ms) regularly rounded, mainly projecting mesad. Metaplical shelf-spine (mss) long. The position of mss on Fig. 18 is abnormal or an artefact – in the left gonopod of the specimen in question, and also in the other specimens of C. basiliscus sp. nov., mss is directed first distad, then regularly curving mesad-basad, as in many other species.

GONOPOD TELOPODITE ( Fig. 18 ). Solenomere with a very long, almost straight proximal spine (ps); the erect position of ps may be abnormal or an artefact – in other gonopods studied the spine is directed mesad. Telomere distally divided into two relatively small, only slightly lobed lamellae with almost smooth margins.

Distribution and habitat

Known only from Nyambanito Mt. in West Kilombero Scarp FR. No altitude or habitat information.

Coexisting species

C. ibis sp. nov. was found in the same sample as C. basiliscus sp. nov. In addition, C. circumvallatus sp. nov., C. gracilior sp. nov., C. netus sp. nov. and C. tintin sp. nov. were found in West Kilombero Scarp FR.

Figures

Fig. 9. Chaleponcus spp., outline of coxite of left gonopod, posterior view. (The ’transverse’ plane of the gonopod is usually slightly at angles with the exact transverse plane of the millipede, so it may be necessary to tilt the gonopod slightly in order to obtain the view shown on the drawings.) The stippled lines indicate the place where the telopodital basomere emerges from the coxal cavity. Not to scale.

Fig. 18. Chaleponcus basiliscus sp. nov., right gonopod. A. Anterior view. B. Posterior view. C. Mesal view. cu = cucullus, lp1 and lp2 = lateral coxal processes, ms = metaplical shelf, mss = metaplical shelfspine, ps = proximal spine of solenomere. Scales 0.1 mm.