Research Article |
Corresponding author: Jui-Lung Chao ( chaojuilung@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Gregory Edgecombe
© 2018 Jui-Lung Chao, Kwen-Shen Lee, Hsueh-Wen Chang.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Chao J-L, Lee K-S, Chang H-S (2018) Lithobius (Monotarsobius) meifengi sp. n., a new species of centipede from high altitude forest in central Taiwan (Chilopoda, Lithobiomorpha,Lithobiidae). In: Stoev P, Edgecombe GD (Eds) Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Myriapodology, Krabi, Thailand. ZooKeys 741: 181-192. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.741.21036
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Lithobius (Monotarsobius) meifengensissp. n. occurring at Mei-Feng Farm, Highland Experimental Farm of National Taiwan University, Nantou, Taiwan, is characterised by a male secondary sexual character on leg 15, a very large ventral swelling occupying almost 50% of the ventral surface of the femur; the gently curved apical region bearing approximately 20 short setae and numerous very small pores of flexo-canal epidermal glands. This male secondary sexual character is described for the first time in the genus Lithobius.
Lithobius , male secondary sexual character, taxonomy
In some male Lithobius species, there are secondary sexual characters on the dorsal surface of the femur or tibia of legs 14 and 15 (Lewis, 1981). In Lithobius calcaratus C. L. Koch, 1844, leg 15 has a dorsal wart-like projection on the inner end of the femur (
The subgenus Lithobius (Monotarsobius) is among the poorly studied taxa of East Asia (
Forty-nine specimens of both sexes of the new species treated below were collected from Mei-Feng Farm, Highland Experimental Farm of National Taiwan University, Nantou, Taiwan. The material was studied using stereo-microscope and SEM. Type specimens are preserved in 75% alcohol and deposited in the department of Zoology, National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung, Taiwan. Terminology for external anatomy follows
Holotype ♂ (NMNS7634-073): Taiwan, Nantou County, Mei-Feng Farm, apple orchard, 24°05'N, 121°10'E, 2080 m, 19 Feb 2002, leg. Sheng-Hai Wu.
Paratypes:1♂ (NMNS7634-072), grassland; 1♂ (NMNS7634-074), plum orchard; 1♂ (NMNS7634-075); 1♀ (NMNS7634-068), pear orchard; 2♀ (NMNS7634-071), waste land; 1♂1♀ (NMNS7634-070), grassland; same data as holotype.
1♀ (NMNS7634-096), pear orchard; 3♀ (NMNS7634-098), plum orchard; 1♂1♀ (NMNS7634-099), plum orchard; 1♂ (NMNS7634-100), pear orchard; 1♂4♀ (NMNS7843-006), grassland; 2♂1♀ (NMNS7843-007), grassland; 1♂2♀ (NMNS7843-003), grassland; 2♂5♀ (NMNS7843-004), plum orchard; 2♀ (NMNS7843-005), pear orchard; 2♀ (NMNS7843-002), grassland; 1♂ (NMNS7843-001), pear orchard; 2♂5♀ (NMNS7843-009), grassland; 2♂1♀ (NMNS7843-008), pear orchard; same locality as holotype, 15 Apr 2002, leg. Sheng-Hai Wu.
Refers to the type locality.
A species of the genus Lithobius Leach, 1814, subgenus Monotarsobius Verhoeff, 1905, normally with 19+19 elongate antennal articles, body length approximately 9 mm; cephalic plate 0.8–0.9 times as long as wide; six ocelli [one posterior and three dorsal, two ventral] on each side, posterior ocellus comparatively large; Tömösváry’s organ moderately small, slightly larger than adjacent ocelli; 2+2 coxosternal teeth; porodonts moderately slender, posterolateral to the outer tooth; posterior angles of all tergites lacking triangular projections; tarsi fused on legs 1–13; male secondary sexual characters on legs 15, a large ventral domed swelling on femur (Figure
Body length: 7.0–9.8 mm. Body colour (in alcohol): yellowish with dark patches.
Antennae with 19 articles (Figure
Cephalic plate smooth, convex, 0.8–0.9 times as long as wide; posterior marginal ridge moderately broader and weakly concave (Figure
Six ocelli on each side, one posterior and three dorsal, two ventral, arranged in two irregular row (Figure
Tömösváry’s organ comparatively small, nearly rounded; situated at anterolateral margin of cephalic plate, slightly bigger than the adjoining ocelli (Figure
Forcipular coxosternite sub-trapezoidal, anterior margin narrow, external side lightly longer than internal side; median longitudinal cleft moderately deep (Figure
Tergites smooth, without wrinkles, backside slightly hunched; T1 generally trapeziform, posterior margin narrower than anterior margin, narrower than T3 and the cephalic plate; T3 slightly narrower than the cephalic plate; posterior margin of TT1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12 weakly concave; TT1, 3 and 5 with continuous lateral and posterior marginal ridges, other tergites with discontinuous posterior marginal ridges; posterior angles of all tergites lacking triangular projections (Figure
Sternites narrower posteriorly, generally trapeziform, comparatively smooth, setae emerging from pores scattered very sparsely over the surface.
Legs: tarsi fused on legs 1–13 (Figure
Lithobius (Monotarsobius) meifengensis sp. n. A, B, ♀NMNS7843-009: A the 1st to 4th leg-bearing segments, ventral view B the claw of 4th leg C, D ♂ NMNS7634-070): C left 15th leg and right 14th leg, lateral-ventral view D large pores of the telopodal glands (tp) and small pore of flexo-canal epidermal gland (gp) on the 15th leg.
leg | Ventral | Dorsal | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | t | P | F | Ti | C | t | P | F | Ti | |
1 | – | – | – | am | m | – | – | p | ap | a |
2 | – | – | – | am | m | – | – | p | ap | a |
3 | – | – | – | am | m | – | – | p | ap | a |
4 | – | – | – | am | m | – | – | p | ap | a |
5 | – | – | – | am | m | – | – | p | ap | a |
6 | – | – | – | am | m | – | – | p | ap | ap |
7 | – | – | – | am | m | – | – | p | ap | ap |
8 | – | – | m | am | m | – | – | ap | ap | ap |
9 | – | – | m | am | m | – | – | ap | ap | ap |
10 | – | – | m | am | am | – | – | ap | ap | ap |
11 | – | – | mp | amp | am | – | – | ap | ap | ap |
12 | – | m | mp | amp | am | – | – | amp | ap | ap |
13 | – | m | mp | amp | am | – | – | amp | p | ap |
14 | – | m | mp | am | – | – | – | amp | – | – |
15 | – | m | amp | am | – | – | – | amp | – | – |
Male secondary sexual character on leg 15: a large domed swelling on the ventral surface of femur, covering almost 50% (Figure
Lithobius (Monotarsobius) meifengensis sp. n. A–C ♂ NMNS7634-070): A the femur and tibia of male 15th leg, ventral view B a large domed swelling on the ventral surface of male 15th femur C apical region of the swelling on the male 15th femur D ♂ NMNS7843-008, male genital sternite and 15th sternite.
Coxal pores: 3333 in males, 3443 or 3444 in females, round, coxal pore field set in a relatively shallow groove, margin of coxal pore-field with slightly eminence.
Male sternite 15: trapeziform, posterolaterally narrower than anterolaterally, posterior margin straight, long setae scattered sparsely over the surface.
Male first genital sternite: wider than long, usually well chitinised; posterior margin quite deeply concave between the gonopods, without a medial bulge (Figure
Female sternite 15: generally trapeziform, anterolaterally broader than posterolaterally, posterior margin straight, long setae scattered sparsely over the surface; the sternite of genital segment well chitinised, wider than long; posterior margin of genital sternite deeply concave (Figure
Female gonopod: first article fairly broad, bearing 11–13 long setae, arranged in three irregular rows; 2+2 sharp coniform spurs, inner spur smaller (Figure
Some Lithobius species, all from Russia, also have distinct sexual characters on male leg 15: the proximal part of male 15th tibia of Lithobius (Monotarsobius) kurcheavaedescribed by
Records of the species of Lithobius (Monotarsobius) from Taiwan by Takakuwa and Wang are listed as follows: locality: old name = new name; place name ??: unknown.
Lithobius (Monotarsobius) ramulosus (Takakuwa, 1941)
[1] Monotarsobius ramulosus Takakuwa, 1941a – Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 31 (213): 294-295; fig. 5, 6 (original description, key) (locality: Keisyu = Xizhou)
Monotarsobius ramulosus: Takakuwa, 1941b – Fauna Nippon. 9(8-3): 74; fig. 84; (description, key) (locality: Keisyu = Xizhou)
Monotarsobius ramulosus: Takakuwa, 1942 –Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 32(231): 360 (locality: Keisyu = Xizhou)
Monotarsobius ramulosus:
Monotarsobius ramulosus:
Lithobius (Monotarsobius) obtusus (Takakuwa, 1941)
[1] Monotarsobius obtusus Takakuwa, 1941a – Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 31 (213): 293-294; fig. 2 (original description, key) (locality: Keisyu = Xizhou, Shaka = Shalu, Tikunan = Zhunan)
Monotarsobius obtusus:
Monotarsobius obtusus:
Monotarsobius obtusus:
Monotarsobius obtusus:
Monotarsobius obtusus:
Monotarsobius obtusus:
Lithobius (Monotarsobius) holstii (Pocock, 1895)
[1] Monotarsobius crassipes holstii (+M. takakuwai):
Monotarsobius crassipes holstii (+M. takakuwai):
[2] Monotarsobius crassipes:
Monotarsobius crassipes:
Lithobius (Monotarsobius) meifengensis sp. n. is morphologically close to Lithobius (Monotarsobius) ramulosus (Takakuwa, 1941), Lithobius (Monotarsobius) obtusus (Takakuwa, 1941) and Lithobius (Monotarsobius) holstii (Pocock, 1895), with which it shares the following characters: antennae composed of 19-20 articles, six ocelli on each side of cephalic plate, 2+2 coxosternal teeth. It can however be distinguished using the following key.
1 | 2222 coxal pores; terminal claw of female gonopod divided, biapiculate | L. (M.) obtusus Takakuwa, 1941 |
– | 3-5 coxal pores; terminal claw of female gonopod undivided | 2 |
2 | 5555 coxal pores; a small sharp tooth on the base of terminal claw of female gonopod | L. (M.) ramulosus Takakuwa, 1941 |
– | 3-4 coxal pores; base of terminal claw of female gonopod without sharp tooth | 3 |
3 | Male legs 15 with secondary sexual characters, a large ventral swelling on the femur, a dorsal shallow excavation on the tarsus 2 (Figure |
L. (M.) meifengensis sp . n |
– | Male legs 15 without secondary sexual characters; terminal claw of female gonopod with irregular internal and external ridges | L. (M.) holstii (Pocock, 1895) |
We are grateful to Dr. J. G. E. Lewis and Dr. Gregory D. Edgecombe for valued help during our study. Thanks to Dr. Sheng-Hai Wu for his specimens. Thanks to Mr. Shih-Chen Chang, who translated the Japanese literature for us. We are indebted to Prof. Hsi-Te Shih, Prof. Huiqin Ma, and Prof. Pavel Stoev for providing us with valuable literature.