The Mecistocephalidae of the Japanese and Taiwanese islands (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) Author Published, First text Zootaxa 2007 2007-01-22 1396 1 84 journal article 1175­5334 Mecistocephalus multidentatus Takakuwa, 1936 Figs. 54–55 [1] Mecistocephalus multidentatus : Takakuwa 1936c — Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 26: 322 (original description); fig. 1–2 Mecistocephalus ( Mecistocephalus ) multidentatus : Takakuwa 1936b — Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 26: 433 (key) [2] Mecistocephalus ( Mecistocephalus ) multidentatus : Takakuwa 1938a — Annot. Zool. Japon . 17: 354 Mecistocephalus multidentatus : Verhoeff 1939 — Zool. Jahrb. Syst. 72: 86 Mecistocephalus ( Mecistocephalus ) multidentatus : Takakuwa 1940 — Fauna Nippon . 9: 64 (redescription, key); fig. 58 [3] Mecistocephalus multidentatus : Takakuwa 1942a — Acta Arachn. 7: 39, 42 Mecistocephalus multidentatus : Takakuwa 1943 — Bull. Biogeogr. Soc. Japan 13: 170 Mecistocephalus multidentatus : Attems 1947 — Ann. Naturhistor. Mus. Wien 55: 100 (key) Mecistocephalus multidentatus : Wang & Mauriès 1996 — Mém. Mus. natn. Hist. Nat. Paris 169: 89 Mecistocephalus multidentatus : Bonato et al. 2003 — Syst. Entom. 28: 550, 551 Diagnosis . A Mecistocephalus species with 49 leg­bearing segments. Body length reaching at least 4.5 cm . Trunk without dark patches. Head about 2 times as long as wide. Areolate part of the clypeus with 7 smooth insulae on each side, each insula with a seta; each plagula with spine­like sensilla. Clypeal ratio about 0.8. Anterior ala of the labrum subtrapezoidal, with the medial margin not reduced to a vertex. Buccae with setae on the posterior half only. Sternal sulcus furcate. Intermediate lamellae of mandibles with more than 30 teeth. Type material . Number of specimens, sex and age not stated ( Takakuwa, 1936c ); possibly only one specimen ( holotype ). Type locality . ‘ Taihoku’ [= Taipei ], Taiwan ( Takakuwa, 1936c ) . Depository of type material . The type material is probably lost (see Discussion). Material examined . None. Description . Body size reaching at least 4.5 cm . Body colour yellowish, without dark patches; head and forcipular segment darker. Head 2.0 times as long as wide. Clypeus: clypeal ratio about 0.8; areolate part with 7 smooth insulae on each side, each insula with one seta; each plagula with 3 spine­like sensilla aligned along the distal margin. Labrum: anterior ala with medial margin not reduced to a vertex; posterior margin of each side­piece smooth, medial end projecting into a small tooth. Spiculum present; buccae with more than 10 setae on the posterior half only. Mandible: about 9 well­developed lamellae; first lamella with 10 teeth; average intermediate lamella with 30–40 teeth, basal teeth evidently smaller than distal teeth; basal tooth of the mandible saw­edged, shorter than the first lamella. First maxillae: anterior corners of coxosternum projecting. A total of 49 leg­bearing segments. Sternal sulcus furcate, with a right angle between branches. Distribution in the considered area . Taiwan : ‘ Taihoku’ [= Taipei ] [1] ( type locality); Peng­hu Ids [3] (transcribed from Japanese) . To be confirmed: Ryukyu Islands: ‘Ryukyu’ [2] . General distribution . Taiwan and possibly Ryukyu Islands (see also Remarks). Remarks . The small setae­bearing insulae on the clypeal plagulae described and figured by Takakuwa (1936c) (see also Fig. 54 ) in M. multidentatus are confidently recognizable as the spine­like sensilla observed in other species of Mecistocephalus ( M. rubriceps , M. marmoratus , M. karasawai , M. changi ). In the other species their presence is inconstant for number and distribution, and it is possibly the same with M. multidentatus . Specimens of M. marmoratus were indeed misidentified as M. multidentatus by Takakuwa (1936b) , as clearly recognisable from his illustrations; this error was later corrected by the same author ( Takakuwa, 1940 ). The record for Ryukyu published in 1938 ( Takakuwa, 1938a ) is consequently regarded as doubtful.