Glomeris flavomaculata Lucas, 1846

Golovatch, Sergei, Mauriès, Jean-Paul, Akkari, Nesrine, Stoev, Pavel & Geoffroy, Jean-Jacques, 2009, The millipede genus Glomeris Latreille, 1802 (Diplopoda, Glomerida, Glomeridae) in North Africa, ZooKeys 12 (12), pp. 47-86 : 59-61

Glomeris flavomaculata Lucas, 1846

Figs 6-9

Glomeris flavomaculata Lucas, 1846: 284 (D).

Glomeris flavo-maculata (sic!) – Gervais 1847: 74 (R); Lucas 1849: 326, plate 1, fig. 5 (R); Pocock 1892: 27 (F); Brolemann 1921: 101 (L); Schubart 1963: 80 (R).

Glomeris connexa C. Koch , v. flavo-maculata (sic!) – Silvestri 1896: 157 (F).

Glomeris flavomaculata – Schubart 1953: 218 (L); Abrous-Kherbouche & Mauriès 1996: 572, 586 (F, L).

Type material examined: Algeria, environs of Algiers, date?, leg. et det. H. Lucas, ♁ lectotype (here designated) (MNHN CC 042), paralectotypes: 14 ♁, 19 ♀, 4 ♀ juv. (MNHN CC 042) . Algeria, environs of Oran, 1846, leg.?, det. H. Lucas, paralectotypes: 1 ♁, 2 ♀ (MNHN CC 042). The designation of a lectotype seems advisable in order to fix the type locality and to ensure that the name-bearing type shows the diag- nostically important characteristics of the male sex, particularly as Lucas (1846) spoke about this species being common throughout Algeria.

Other material: Algeria, 1850, leg. H. Lucas,? paralectotype ♁ (MNHN CC 042, entry 67-96) . Algeria, Vallée des Singes , leg. & det. H. Ribaut, 2 ♁, 3 ♀ (MNHN CC 042) .

Brief redescription: Length up to 15 mm, width up to 6.25 mm. Coloration vivid, pattern as in Figs 6-8 . ♁ legs 17, 18 and 19 (telopods) as in Figs 9 A-D.

Remarks: Nearly the entire type series of G. flavomaculata has faded completely, probably due to the long preservation in alcohol. Fortunately, however, the paralectotypes from near Oran and the? paralectotype ♁ from Lucas’ collection (1850) have retained their coloration ( Figs 6 , 7 ), which matches quite closely the pattern well depicted by Lucas (1849), based on a then rather freshly collected syntype ( Fig. 8 ). We are certain, however, that all diplopods printed in colour by Lucas (1849) in Plate 1 are too dark and red compared to their natural coloration, not only because pertinent alcohol material shows this, but also in view of the specific name itself, flavomaculata , clearly indicating the presence of light spots on the body. The most likely explanation is that Lucas used dry material of G. flavomaculata which had become somewhat darkened (see also below).

This species belongs to the “ Stenopleuromeris ” type.

Figures

Figure 6. Glomeris flavomaculata Lucas, 1846, ♁?paralectotype; habitus, dorsal view.(Photographed not to scale by I. Muratov).

Figure 7. Glomeris flavomaculata Lucas, 1846, ♁ paralectotype; A, habitus, dorsal view; B, pygidium, caudal view. A schematic, slightly too bright presentation of the colour pattern (del. J.-P. Mauriès).

Figure 8. Glomeris flavomaculata Lucas, 1846, syntype; habitus, dorsal view. (after Lucas 1849).

Figure 9. Glomeris flavomaculata Lucas, 1846, ♁ lectotype; A, leg 17; B, leg 18; C, D, leg 19 (telopod), caudal and frontal views, respectively. – Scale bar: 0.5 mm.