The millipede genus Gasterogramma (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) in Tasmania, Australia, with descriptions of seven new species
Author
Mesibov, Robert
text
Memoirs of Museum Victoria
2003
2003-12-31
60
2
207
219
https://museumsvictoria.com.au/collections-research/journals/memoirs-of-museum-victoria/volume-60-issue-2-2003/pages-207-219/
journal article
10.24199/j.mmv.2003.60.21
1447-2554
12207697
Gasterogramma austrinum
sp. nov.
Figures 1
,
5
,
12
(map)
Material examined
.
Holotype
. Male.
Australia
,
Tasmania
.
Huon R.
(Arve Rd), DN784273 [43º06´23´´ 146º44´04´´],
120 m
,
2 May 1997
,
R. Mesibov
, plot 3M1, oldgrowth wet eucalypt forest with rainforest understorey,
QVM 23
:40628.
Paratypes
.
3 males
,
Huon R.
(
Edwards Rd
), DN790284 [43º05´48´´ 146º44´31´´],
90 m
,
23 May 1997
,
R. Mesibov
, plot 3R6, regrowth wet eucalypt forest following clearfelling and burning,
QVM 23
:40630;
2 males
,
Edgar Bay area
, DN483404 [42º59´13´´ 146º21´57´´],
350 m
,
pitfall
emptied
16 Nov 2001
, D.
Driscoll
,
QVM 23
:24802;
4 males
,
Huon R.
(
Arve Rd
), DN798284 [43º05´48´´ 146º45´06´´],
200 m
,
16 May 1997
,
R. Mesibov
, regrowth wet eucalypt forest following clearfelling and burning,
AM
KS85097
(formerly
QVM 23
:40629)
.
Other material.
19 males
from 8 unique localities in southern
Tasmania
, including
Gold Creek
,
Huon R.
,
Kallista Creek
,
Picton R.
,
Reuben Falls
and Tahune Bridge
.
Diagnosis.
Gonopod with no femoral process or tibiotarsus; telopodite in posterior view ending in broad, mesodistally directed point.
Description.
Males c.
17–20 mm
long and c. 1.8–2.0 mm wide at midbody. Body in both sexes darkly mottled with pink-purple pigmentation. Gonopod telopodites slender in posterior view, lightly joined for about half their length, a few short, coarse setae at their bases, setate area extending just outside aperture (fig. 1). Aperture more or less ovoid, long axis transverse, posterior margin not noticeably raised. Telopodite with a posteromesal concavity near base, somewhat sinuous in lateral view, curving anteriorly, then distally, then anteriorly and slightly tapering, finally tapering mesally to end in blunt, mesodistally pointed tip. Femoral process and tibiotarsus not evident. Solenomerite short, helical, tapering process arising at about four-fifths length of telopodite on its posterior face. Prostatic groove running distally and posteriorly along mesal side of telopodite, then curving laterally before running straight distally to enter solenomerite on its mesal side.
Distribution.
In rainforest and wet eucalypt forest over at least
750 km
2
in
southern
Tasmania
(fig. 12), at altitudes c.
50–
600 m
.
Etymology.
From Latin
austrinus
, southern, adjective. This species is restricted to southern
Tasmania
.