Corresponding author: Robert Mesibov (
Academic editor: S. Golovatch
The small-range millipedes
Mesibov R (2015) Three new species of
When reviewing
“Male” and “female” in the text refer to adult (stadium 7) individuals. All specimens are stored in 75–80% ethanol in their respective repositories. Gonopods were cleared in 80% lactic acid and temporarily mounted in a 1:1 glycerol:water mixture for examination by optical microscopy. Body measurements were estimated with a Nikon SMZ800 binocular dissecting microscope using an eyepiece scale. Colour photographs were taken with a Canon EOS 1000D digital SLR camera mounted on the same microscope fitted with a beam splitter. The colour images in Figs
Dorsal
The Suppl. material
Abbreviations in text: QVMAG = Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia; Tas = Tasmania; WAM = Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Male, Trevallyn Nature Recreation Area, Tas,
15 males, 28 females, details as for holotype, QVM 23:53817.
41 males and 51 females (see Suppl. material
Nominate member of the “
Male/female approximate measurements: length 10/10 mm, midbody paranota width 1.2/1.1 mm, maximum vertical diameter 1.1/1.1 mm. Live and freshly preserved adults with reddish brown head and antennae; body (Fig.
Male with head sparsely setose; antennal sockets slightly impressed, separated by ca 2× socket diameter; antennal groove short and shallow. Antenna slender, slightly clavate, when manipulated reaching back to ring 3; antennomere 6 widest, relative antennomere lengths (2,3,6)>(4,5). Collum from above reniform, convex anteriorly, posterior corner rounded. Tergites 2-4 distinctly narrower than more posterior metatergites; overall ring widths 6>(5,head)>(2,4)>(3,collum); rings 6–15 about same width, 16-18 narrowing. In lateral view, margin of ring 2 tergite slightly lower than margins of collum and ring 3 tergite. Ring 2 ventrally on either side without obvious pit. Ring suture and waist distinct on diplosegments (Fig.
Gonopore on distomedial bulge of leg 2 coxa, protected by tall, thin cowl. Short brushes of setae on sternite between legpairs 4 and 5. Legs 6 and 7 bases (Fig.
Gonopod aperture ovoid, ca 1/2 as wide as ring 7 prozonite, posterolateral margin raised. Gonocoxa short, subcylindrical, slightly tapering distally. Telopodites (Fig.
Female with legs more slender and prefemora and femora not swollen. Epigynum ca 1/3 width of ring 2, posterior margin produced medially as small, rounded triangle with irregular margin. Cyphopods not examined. (See also Remarks, below.)
Eucalypt forest and woodland within a range envelope of <12 km in the city of Launceston, Tasmania, with a core habitat area of <6 km2 (Figs
Greek “Anubis”, a jackal-headed god of ancient Egypt; noun in apposition. The tip of the gonopod telopodite in posterolateral view resembles popular representations of the head of Anubis (Fig.
The core habitat area for
Unlike the similar-sized, co-occurring dalodesmid
As with
Nicholas Range, Tas,
3 males, details as for holotype, QVM 23:52247.
21 males and 4 females (see Suppl. material
Very similar to
Male/female approximate measurements: length 12/11 mm, midbody paranota width 1.4/1.4 mm, maximum vertical diameter 1.1/1.1 mm. Live and freshly preserved adults with yellowish ground colour (Figs
Non-gonopodal features in males mostly as for
Gonopod aperture ovoid, ca 1/2 as wide as ring 7 prozonite, posterolateral margin raised. Telopodites (Figs
Female about as robust as male but shorter, with posterior rings not elongated; legs more slender and prefemora and femora not swollen. Epigynum ca 1/3 width of ring 2, posterior margin produced medially as low trapezoid with irregular margin. Cyphopods not examined.
Eucalypt forest over ca 100 km2 north and east of Fingal, Tasmania, with an outlying record near the town of Scamander on the east coast (Figs
Known localities (blue markers) to 15 February 2015 of
Latin
The gonopod telopodite structure of
Male, Catos Road, Tas,
18 males, details as for holotype, QVM 23:53860.
5 males and 3 females (see Suppl. material
Member of the “
Male/female approximate measurements: length 11/10 mm, midbody paranota width 1.3/1.2 mm, maximum vertical diameter 1.0/1.0 mm. Live and freshly preserved adults (Figs
Non-gonopodal features in males as for
Telopodites (Fig.
Female with legs more slender and prefemora and femora not swollen. Epigynum ca 1/3 width of ring 2, posterior margin produced medially as small, rounded triangle with irregular margin. Cyphopods not examined. (See also Remarks, below.)
Eucalypt forest over <40 km2 on the Nicholas Range and the Mt Elephant area at the eastern end of the Fingal Valley in northeast Tasmania, on both north- and south-facing slopes at ca 300–500 m a.s.l. (Figs
Latinised “Nicholas” for the Nicholas Range, type locality of this species; noun in apposition.
All of the known
My identification of three females as
Alcohol-preserved specimens of
The new species
The relationships of
Wade and Lisa Clarkson (Riverside, Tasmania) diligently searched for the new species described in this paper. I am very grateful to the Clarksons for their enthusiastic and voluntary efforts in the field, and to Julianne Waldock of the Western Australian Museum for the loan of a
Specimen records of
Tab Separated Value File (tsv).
Specimen records of