Dirt-encrusted and dragon millipedes (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae) from Queensland, Australia
Author
Mesibov, Robert
text
Zootaxa
2006
1354
31
44
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.174573
8c531d6d-9d32-49fd-8449-12126dac1d5c
1175-5326
174573
Tholerosoma corrugatum
n. sp.
Figs. 5
B, 5C, 5F, 6A, 6C; map
Fig. 7
Holotype
:
Male
,
Mt Elliot summit
,
19°30’S
146°57’E
,
1150 m
,
January to
26.iii.1991
,
A. Graham
,
fern glade, pitfall & intercept
,
QM
S73993
.
Paratypes
:
Male
,
Stony Creek
,
track crossing
,
21°37’S
148°59’E
,
280 m
,
4.x.–17.xii.1999
,
D. & I. Cook
,
rainforest
,
pitfall
, sample 9030,
QM
S73994
;
female
,
Bluewater Range
,
45 km
WNW of Townsville
,
19°12’S
146°24’E
,
600–700 m
,
6–8.xii.1986
,
G. Monteith
,
G. Thompson
& S.
Hamlet
,
QM
S73995
;
stadium VII female
,
Mt Hayward
,
20°20’S
148°45’E
,
350 m
,
19–20.xi.1992
,
G. Monteith
,
G. Thompson
,
D. Cook
& H.
Janetzki
,
QM
S73996
;
female
,
Palm Island site 1
,
18°45’S
146°36’E
,
450 m
,
21.ii.2001
,
G. Monteith
,
rainforest
, sample 8323,
QM
S73997
.
Diagnosis
: Distinguished from
T. monteithi
by having 6 small swellings on posterior edge of metatergite, rather than 2 large paramedian swellings on either side of transverse furrow; distal portion of telopodite curving towards base; and spiracles without plate-like structures on surface.
FIGURE 6.
Tholerosoma corrugatum
n. sp.
(A) dorsal view of midbody ring, (C) spiracles on midbody ring, anterior to left (holotype, QM
S73993
).
Tholerosoma monteithi
n. gen.
, n. sp.
(B) anterior spiracle on midbody ring, anterior to left (male paratype partly cleaned with ultrasound, QM
S73975
). Scale bar for (A) = 0.5 mm, for (B) and (C) = 0.1 mm.
Description
: As for
T. monteithi
, but in overall size at the lower end of the
T. monteithi
range. Collum and metatergites with 6 small, oblong swellings on posterior edge, often hidden by encrusting dirt (
Figs. 5
F, 6A). Longitudinal corrugations at waist not as long or as deep as in
T. monteithi
. Spiracles protruding, densely filled with extremely minute, blunt processes as in
T. monteithi
, but without plate-like structures on surface (
Fig. 6
C). Distal portion of gonopod telopodite tapering gradually, curving towards base after abrupt lateral turn; tip pointed towards base in
holotype
(
Fig. 5
B).
Distribution and habitat
: Known from five sites in tropical rainforest from Palm Island north of Townsville to the Mackay area in north Queensland, an approximate linear range of
430 km
and an elevation range of
280–1150 m
. Sympatric with
T. monteithi
in the Bluewater Range near Townsville.
Etymology
: Latin
corrugatus
(“ridged”), from the appearance of the posterior edge of the metatergite.
Remarks
: Only two males of
T. corrugatum
are known, from sites more than
350 km
apart, and while the specimens agree in other details, the tip of the telopodite turns distally in the
paratype
(
Fig. 5
C). The two nominal species of
Tholerosoma
are most easily distinguished by the absence of large paramedian swellings in
T. corrugatum
. The sympatry of the two species is probably syntopy: both were taken at a single collecting site in the Bluewater Range in 1986.