A mountain of millipedes II: The genus Aquattuor Frederiksen, 2013 - five new species from the Udzungwa Mountains and one from Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Odontopygidae)
Author
Enghoff, Henrik
Zoological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK- 2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark & Corresponding author: henghoff @ snm. ku. dk & urn: lsid: zoobank. org: author: FB 09 A 817 - 000 D- 43 C 3 - BCC 4 - 2 BC 1 E 5373635
henghoff@snm.ku.dk
Author
Frederiksen, Sara B.
6DE62DD5-0055-424A-A136-0EF290AF5AFD
Zoological Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK- 2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark & Department of Ecology, Animal Ecology, University of Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch-Strasse 8, D- 35032 Marburg, Germany & Email: sara. frederiksen @ snm. ku. dk & urn: lsid: zoobank. org: author: 6 DE 62 DD 5 - 0055 - 424 A-A 136 - 0 EF 290 AF 5 AFD
sara.frederiksen@snm.ku.dk
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2015
2015-11-06
150
1
25
journal article
22375
10.5852/ejt.2015.150
f492ad9b-a83d-4d8e-bdf9-20ef759b75c1
2118-9773
3787588
D546A676-35F8-4025-8660-F123A0BA67F7
Genus
Aquattuor
Frederiksen, 2013
This genus was established by
Frederiksen (2013b)
for the
type
and until now only species,
A. denticulatus
(East Usambara Mts,
Tanzania
). The name is regarded as a masculine noun.
Diagnosis
A genus of
Odontopygidae
Prionopetalini
in which the gonopodal proplica is apically expanded into a distal ‘palette’, the metaplica has an oblique flange, the solenomere is simple, thin and whiplike, the telomere terminates in a long, curved gutter-like to tubular part, and the limbus of the body rings consists of large, rectangular, easily detached flaps.
Etymology
The genus owes its name to the unique limbus flaps which resemble tiny sheets of paper in the standard A4 format.
Description
This description only applies to males and, as far as non-gonopodal characters are concerned, only includes a selection.
Non-gonopodal characters
BODY LENGTH.
19–35 mm
. Midbody vertical diameter
1.4–2.1 mm
. 44–54 podous rings, no apodous rings in front of telson. See
Fig. 2.
COLOUR. Colours of specimens from Udzungwa and East Usambara Mountains all partly or completely faded, leaving only newly collected specimens from Mt.
Kilimanjaro
with fresh colour (
Fig. 1
). Light mid-dorsal longitudinal stripe or traces thereof sometimes present, even on faded specimens.
LIMBUS. Consisting of relatively large (
c.
0.04 ×
0.06 mm
) rectangular flaps which are easily detached (
Fig. 3
D–E).
TELSON (
Fig. 3
B–C). Preanal ring with wrinkled/coriaceous sculpture dorsally. Anal valves with wrinkled/coriaceous sculpture, with a pronounced dorsal denticle and a smaller ventral one, denticles well set off from rest of valve rather than just being “sharp corners”. Each valve with three setae. Free margin (“lip”) of anal valves raised and provided with three small tubercles on which the setae are borne.
Gonopods
(see
Fig. 4
)
COXA. In anterior or posterior view 3½–4½ × as long as broad. Margins of proplica (
pp
) parallel or slightly diverging in basal
c.
⅔, apical
c.
⅓ set off by mesal (
mi
) and lateral (
li
) incisions; apical part of proplica appearing like a rounded “palette” (
pa
). Proplical lobe (
prl
) protruding into mesal incision. Metaplica (
mp
) with irregular surface; at level of mesal and lateral incisions a stout ridge (
mpr
) running obliquely across metaplica.
TELOPODITE. Basomere (
ba
) with small spine (
bs
) just distal of torsotope (
Fig. 11A, C
), arculus 90°. Posttorsal narrowing (
pn
) pronounced (e.g.,
Figs 5A
,
6A
). Telopodite beyond
pn
divided into solenomere (
slm
) and telomere (
tm
).
SOLENOMERE. Long, thin, whiplike, often resting within telomeral gutter but on preserved specimens frequently free (probably an artefact), apical part with oblique-longitudinal flutings.
TELOMERE. At base expanded into a complicated basal telomeral lamella (
btl
) obscuring origin of solenomere (
Fig. 5D
). Main part of telomere consisting of a long, narrow lamella folded into a more or less narrow gutter, sometimes even tube-like in distalmost part; gutter/tube describing a 90°–360° curve, usually in almost one plane, but sometimes (
A.
stereosathe
Enghoff
sp. nov.
) clearly in three dimensions (note: this applies to preserved specimens). Posterior margin of gutter expanded into mesal-posterior lamella (
mpl
) (e.g.,
Fig. 5D
). Tip of telomere variable: margins smooth or denticulate-laciniate, internal surface of gutter more or less microspiculate (e.g.,
Fig. 6
C–D).
Distribution
Species of
Aquattuor
are so far known only from
Tanzania
. They have been found in several mountain blocks belonging to the Eastern Arc Mts (
Burgess
et al.
2007
): Udzungwa (5 species), Nguru (1 species), Rubeho (1 species) and East Usambara (1 species). One further species has been found on Mt.
Kilimanjaro
. For an overview, see
Figs 12–13
.
Fig. 1.
Aquattuor claudiahempae
sp. nov.
, two paratype ♂♂ after 18 months in alcohol. Scale bar = 1 mm (B). Photographs by S. Reboleira.
Intercalary cuticular microscutes
In
A. submajor
Enghoff
sp. nov.
and
A. udzungwensis
Enghoff
sp. nov.
, intercalary cuticular microscutes, similar to those first reported by
Akkari & Enghoff (
2011
)
in polydesmidan millipedes and subsequently found,
inter alia
, in the odontopygid genus
Chaleponcus
Attems, 1914 (
Enghoff 2014
)
and the callipodidan genus
Lusitanipus
Mauriès, 1978
(
Reboleira & Enghoff
2015
), were observed.
Notes on identification
The species of
Aquattuor
are all quite similar, even in gonopod structure. In this respect, they form a contrast to the previously treated (much larger) species-swarm centred in the Udzungwa Mts., i.e., the
Chaleponcus dabagaensis
-group (
Enghoff
2014
), in which gonopods are highly diverse. Differences between
Aquattuor
species concern body size (
Fig. 2
), details of the outline of the gonopod coxa, the curvature of the telomere, the development of the posterior margin of the telomere, and the armature of the telomere tip.
Similar genera
By far the most diagnostic character of
Aquattuor
is the large (sub)rectangular-lobed limbus. Subrectangular limbus lobes do occur in certain other odontopygid genera, e.g.,
Allantogonus
Attems, 1912
(
Kraus
1960
: fig. 5) and
Syndesmogenus
Attems, 1909
(
Kraus
1966
: figs 97–99), but in these genera, the lobes are much smaller and are not prone to detachment. The gonopods of
Aquattuor
, with their long, whip-like solenomere and slender telomere, superficially resemble those of
Allantogonus
(
Kraus
1960
: figs 7, 11, 17) and
Lamelloramus
Frederiksen, 2013
(Frederiksen
2013
: figs 5, 9). However, the coxal apex in
Allantogonus
is folded basad over the anterior side; the metaplical flange of
Lamelloramus
is situated completely differently on the median side, and the telomere is either strongly curling up or looping in these genera. The limbus is completely different from that of
Aquattuor
in both.
Fig. 2.
Body size (numbers of podous rings and midbody vertical diameter) in ♂♂ of species of
Aquattuor
Frederiksen, 2013
. In cases of (almost) coinciding values, symbols have been slightly displaced horizontally.
Fig. 3.
Aquattuor
spp.
A
.
A. stereosathe
Enghoff
sp. nov.
, paratype, front end.
B–C
.
A. udzungwensis
Enghoff
sp. nov.
, paratype, telson, lateral and posterior view.
D–E
.
A. udzungwensis
Enghoff
sp. nov.
, limbus. D. Specimen from West Kilombero Scarp FR. E. Paratype. Scale bars: A–D = 0.1 mm; E = 0.01 mm.
Included species
(alphabetically)
Aquattuor claudiahempae
Enghoff & Frederiksen
sp. nov.
A. denticulatus
Frederiksen, 2013
(
type
species)
A. longipala
Enghoff
sp. nov.
A. major
Enghoff
sp. nov.
A. stereosathe
Enghoff
sp. nov.
A. submajor
Enghoff
sp. nov.
A. udzungwensis
Enghoff
sp. nov.