Corresponding author: Huiqin Ma (
Academic editor: M. Zapparoli
Ma H, Pei S, Hou X, Zhu T (2014)
The centipede subgenus
Lithobiomorph centipedes of China are poorly known as only sixty-nine species and subspecies are hitherto known from the country (
All specimens were hand-collected under leaf litter or stones. The material was examined with the aid of a Motic-C microscope, made in China. The colour description is based on specimens in 75% ethanol, and body length is measured from anterior margin of the cephalic fig to posterior end of postpedal tergite. Type specimens are preserved in 75% ethanol and deposited in the department of Life Sciences, Hengshui University, Hengshui, China. The terminology of the external anatomy follows
The following abbreviations are used in the text and the tables: T, TT = tergite, tergites; S, SS = sternite, sternites; C = coxa, Tr = trochanter, P = prefemur, F = femur, Ti = tibia, a = anterior, m = median, p = posterior.
The specific name is a patronym in honor of the myriapodologist Professor Chongzhou Zhang, Academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
A
Body length: 7.0–8.0 mm, cephalic fig 0.5–0.6 mm long, 0.5–0.6 mm wide.
Colour: basal antennal articles lavender, the 7–8 article gradually turning to yellow-brown, distalmost article yellow-brown; tergites pale brown to chestnut-brown; cephalic fig, TT1, 14 and 15 yellow-brown; pleural region pale grey to lavender; sternites pale grey to gray; distal part of forcipules brown, basal and proximal parts of forcipules, forcipular coxosternite and SS 14 and 15 pale yellow-brown with greyish hue; all legs lavender, the distal of every article of all legs slightly dark, the tarsus of all legs yellow-brown.
Antennae: 15–19 articles (Figure
Cephalic fig smooth, convex, width approximately equal to length; tiny setae emerging from pores scattered very sparsely over the whole surface; frontal marginal ridge with shallow anterior median furrow; short to long setae scattered along the marginal ridge of the cephalic fig; lateral marginal ridge discontinuous, posterior marginal ridge moderately broader, straight or slightly bulging.
Five–six oval to rounded ocelli on each side (Figure
Tömösváry’s organ situated at the anterolateral margin of the cephalic fig, slightly smaller than the adjoining ocelli and lying well apart from them (Figure
Coxosternite subtrapezoidal (Figure
All tergites smooth, without wrinkles, backside slightly hunched; T 1 posterolaterally narrower than anterolaterally, generally trapeziform, narrower than T 3 and the cephalic fig, the cephalic fig slightly wider than T 3 or equal to T 3; posterior margin of T 1 straight or slightly convex, its posterior marginal ridge continuous; posterior margin of TT 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 14 shallow concave, posterior marginal ridge of TT 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12 discontinuous; all posterior angles generally rounded, without triangular projections; lateral marginal ridge of all tergites continuous (Figure
Posterior side of sternites narrower than the anterior one, generally trapeziform, comparatively smooth, setae emerging from pores scattered very sparsely on the surface, slightly thicker setae on the surface of the anterior part of each sternite; A pair of longer setae approximately symmetrical on the surface of both the anterior and the posterior part of each sternite; 2–3 longer setae on both anterior lateral borders, 1–2 comparatively long setae scattered sparsely on posterior margin of sternites.
Legs strong, tarsal articulation not defined on legs 1–13, tarsal articulation well defined on legs 14–15; all legs with fairly long curved claws; anterior and posterior accessory spines on legs 1–14; anterior accessory spine moderately long and slender, the posterior one slightly strong; the anterior accessory spines form relatively large angles with the pretarsus, the posterior accessory spines form relatively small angles with the pretarsus; no anterior accessory spines on legs 15. Short to comparatively long setae scattered very sparsely over the surface of all segments of all legs, more setae scattered on the surface of tarsus, slightly thick setae arranged in a row on the ventral side of tarsus; legs 14 and 15 absence of secondary sexual characters on femur or tibia, obvious thicker and stronger than other legs, tarsus 1 about 3.3–4.5 times as long as wide, tarsus 2 about 65%–82% the length of tarsus on legs 15. Leg plectrotaxy as in Table
Coxal pores 1222, round or slightly ovate, coxal pore field in a relatively flat surface.
Female S 15 anterolaterally broader than posterolaterally, generally trapeziform, posteromedially straight, generally yellow-brown; short to long setae scattered sparsely on the surface and the lateral margin, 2 longer setae on posterior lateral borders; sternite of genital segment usually well chitinised, wider than long; relatively long setae scattered over the ventral surface of the genital segment, few setae near S 15, regularly fringed with longer setae along the posterior margin; posterior margin of genital sternite deeply concave between the condyles of gonopods, except for a small, median approximately triangular bulge. Gonopods: first article fairly broad, bearing 7–8 long setae arranged in three irregular rows; 2+2 moderately small, blunt, coniform spurs, inner spur slightly smaller than the outer (Figure
Male S 15 posterolaterally narrower than anterolaterally, generally trapeziform, posteromedially straight, sparsely covered with short to long setae; the sternite of the genital segment wider than long, usually well sclerotised. Posterior margin quite deeply concave between the gonopods, without a medial bulge; comparatively long setae evenly scattered on the ventral surface of the genital segment, few setae near S 15, gonopod short, consisting of a small bulge, with two long setae, apically slightly sclerotised (Figure
The specimens were collected in a
The new species is morphologically close to
Leg plectrotaxy of
Legs | Ventral | Dorsal | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Tr | P | F | Ti | C | Tr | P | F | Ti | |
1 | - | - | p | am | m | - | - | p | a | a |
2 | - | - | p | am | m | - | - | p | ap | a |
3–9 | - | - | - | am | m | - | - | p | ap | ap |
10 | - | - | - | am | m | - | - | p | p | ap |
11 | - | - | p | am | m | - | - | p | p | ap |
12 | - | - | p | am | m | - | - | mp | p | a |
13 | - | - | p | am | m | - | - | mp | p | p |
14 | - | m | amp | am | - | a | - | mp | p | - |
15 | - | m | amp | am | - | a | - | mp | - | - |
To assist in the identification of the Chinese and Korean of
1 | 1111 coxal pores |
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– | At least 1222 coxal pores |
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2 | 4–6 coxal pores |
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– | At most 3 coxal pores. |
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3 | 8–11 ocelli on each side of cephalic fig |
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– | 5–6 ocelli on each side of cephalic fig |
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4 | 5555 coxal pores, 3+3, 4+4, 3+4 spurs of female gonopods |
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– | 3343 or 4564 coxal pores, 2+2 spurs of female gonopods |
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5 | Four ocelli on each side of cephalic fig, 17+17 antennal articles |
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– | Five or more ocelli on each side of cephalic fig, antennal not less than 18+18 articles |
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6 | Tömösváry’s organ smaller than adjoining ocellus |
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– | Tömösváry’s organ larger than adjoining ocellus or about same in size |
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7 | With anterior spine on prefemur on legs 14–15 |
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– | Without anterior spine on prefemur on legs 14–15 |
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8 | male legs 15 presence secondary sexual characters, the terminal claw of the female gonopods tridentate |
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– | male legs 15 absence secondary sexual characters, the terminal claw of the female gonopods not tridentate |
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9 | Ventral plectrotaxy 01210, dorsal plectrotaxy 10200 in the 14th legs |
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– | Ventral plectrotaxy 01321, dorsal plectrotaxy 10310 in the 14th legs |
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10 | Tömösváry’s organ larger than the biggest ocellus |
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– | Tömösváry’s organ smaller than the biggest ocellus |
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11 | With one protuberance at the end of the dorsal of tibia of 15 legs in male |
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– | Without protuberance at the end of the dorsal of tibia of 15 legs in male | 12 |
12 | With posterior spine on prefemur on legs 11–13 |
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– | Without posterior spine on prefemur on legs 11–13 |
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This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC Grant No. 31172057 and 30900131). We are grateful to Dr. Gregory D. Edgecombe, London, U. K., and Dr. Pavel Stoev, Sofia, Bulgaria, for their hospitality and everlasting help during our research, respectively. We thank Dr. Marzio Zapparoli, Viterbo, Italy, Dr. Rowland M. Shelley, North Carolina, USA, and Dr. His-Te Shih, Taichung, China, for providing us with invaluable literature. Thanks must go to Dr. Zi-Zhong Yang and Dr. Zhi-Sheng Zhang for their help in preparing the paper.