An overview of the extant genera and subgenera of the order Scolopendromorpha (Chilopoda): a new identification key and updated diagnoses
Author
Schileyko, Arkady A.
schileyko1965@gmail.com
Author
Vahtera, Varpu
varpu.vahtera@gmail.com
Author
Edgecombe, Gregory D.
0000-0002-9591-8011
schileyko1965@gmail.com
text
Zootaxa
2020
2020-08-10
4825
1
1
64
journal article
8703
10.11646/zootaxa.4825.1.1
5ab5f5c8-481e-4d1a-8643-21e72c367278
1175-5326
4402145
F230F199-1C94-4E2E-9CE4-5F56212C015F
Cryptops
(
Haplocryptops
)
Verhoeff, 1934
Type
species.
Cryptops
(
Haplocryptops
)
acapulcensis
Verhoeff, 1934
(by monotypy).
Diagnosis.
Thin pretarsus of maxillae 2 slightly curved and pointed apically, without ventral projection (figs
64, 65 in
Verhoeff 1934
); dorsal brush of maxilla 2 composed of very short setae being considerably shorter than pretarsus. Anterior margin of forcipular coxosternite virtually straight (fig.
66 in
Verhoeff 1934
); tarsungula long, overlapping each other by at least 1/3 of their length when adducted.
Number of species.
1.
Remarks.
Treated as a subgenus in
Edgecombe & Bonato (2011: 393)
,
Lewis (2016a: 575)
,
Bonato
et al.
(2016)
. No information is available on clypeal setose plates, the configuration of sternal sutures/sulci, or the presence and shape of endosternites.
FIGURES 26–32.
Cryptops
(
Trigonocryptops
)
martinicensis
Schileyko, Iorio & Coulis, 2018
; Ad. paratype CIRAD P8A
26
head, forcipular segment + LBS 1–3 ventrally;
Cryptops
(
Paracryptops
)
weberi
Pocock, 1891
; MCZ DNA 102459
27
forcipular segment ventrally;
Cryptops
(
Trigonocryptops
)
martinicensis
Schileyko, Iorio & Coulis, 2018
; Ad. holotype MNHN 459
28
right ultimate leg medially;
Cryptops (C.) caucasius
Verhoeff, 1934
; Ad. Rc 8003
29
cephalic plate + anterior margin of forcipular coxosternite ventrally;
Cryptops australis
(Newport, 1845)
; AM KS
30
apical part of maxilla 2 laterally;
Cryptops
(
Paracryptops
)
weberi
Pocock, 1891
; MCZ DNA 102459
31
apical part of of maxilla 2 laterally;
Cryptops
(
Trigonocryptops
)
martinicensis
Schileyko, Iorio & Coulis, 2018
; Ad. holotype MNHN 459
32
LBS 3 ventrally; (
am
)—anterior margin of forcipular coxosternite, (
cl
)—clypeus, (
cs
)—clypeal setose plate, (
cst
)—forcipular coxosternite, (
db
)—apical setae of dorsal brush, (
es
)—enlarged (spiniform) setae, (
est
)—endosternite, (
l
)—labrum, (
lp
)—lateral projection of endosternite, (
ls
)—long setae, (
lsc
)—sternal median longitudinal sulcus, (
pa
)—short rounded projection of anterior margin of forcipular coxosternite, (
pf
)—prefemur, (
sl
)—sternal median longitudinal suture, (
sr
)—sternal transverse ridge, (
st
)—saw teeth, (
sts
)—sternal transverse suture, (
tgs
)—sternal trigonal sutures, (
ti
)—tibia, (
tr
)—tarsungula, (
vp
)—ventral projection of pretarsus of maxilla 2.
At the moment the subgenus
Haplocryptops
is known only from the
holotype
of
Cryptops
(
H.
)
acapulcensis
and an incomplete (without ultimate legs) specimen from
Jalisco
(also
Mexico
) assigned to
C
. (
H
.) cf.
acalpuncensis
by
Cupul-Magaña (2012)
. The subgeneric diagnosis provided by
Edgecombe & Bonato’s (2011)
attempted to distill characters regarded as diagnosis of
Haplocryptops
by
Verhoeff (1934)
. It states (p. 393): “Second maxillary claw [=pretarsus] simple, pointed rather than with a ventral flange; dorsal brush on second maxillae composed of very short setae. Forcipular coxosternite lacking median suture”. The last sentence is not diagnostic because a bulk of species of the nominate subgenus do not exhibit this suture at all (
Fig. 29
). According to
Verhoeff’s (1934)
figure 65 the pretarsus of maxilla
2 in
C.
(
H.
)
acapulcensis
is actually pointed apically (not rounded as in some species of nominotypical subgenus) and has no rounded ventral process (“ventral flange”). This process (fig.
69 in
Verhoeff 1934
and fig.
285 in
Attems 1930
) should be present in Palearctic species studied by
Verhoeff (1934)
; who wrote (p. 40) “Diese Putzapparat fand ich bei allen unsern paläarctischen Arten in derselben Weise ausgebildet, nich dagegen bei der in Betracht kommenden mexicanischen Art …”. However as this structure is not characteristic for all species of
Cryptops
(
Cryptops
)
and since it is also present in some species of
Trigonocryptops
(see above) it should not be used for separation of
Haplocryptops
.
Also, according to the Verhoeff ‘s (1934) figures 64 and 65, the maxillary 2 dorsal brush of
Haplocryptops
seems to consist of remarkably short setae, the apical setae being much shorter than the pretarsus. However, as the length of the dorsal brush varies considerably among species of
Cryptops
(see Verhoeff’s and Attems’ drawings mentioned above) this condition cannot guarantee the definite separation of
Haplocryptops
.
Cupul-Magaña (2012: 4)
gave no data on structures/details of maxillae
2 in
his specimen of
C.
(
H.
)
acapulcensis
. Summing up, the differences between
Haplocryptops
and the nominate subspecies seem to be minor and not significant, leaving us to doubt the validity of the former. However, we prefer to keep this subgenus until representative material from the
type
locality is studied.
(!)
Cryptops
(
Paracryptops
) Pocock, 1891
stat. nov.
Figs 27, 31
Type
species.
Paracryptops weberi
Pocock, 1891
(by monotypy).
Diagnosis.
Clypeus without setose plates. Pretarsus of maxillae 2 slender, from slightly to strongly hooked apically, with (
Fig. 31
) or without ventral projection. Very dense dorsal brush (
Fig. 31
) visibly longer than (or as long as) pretarsus, consisting of tiny and virtually transparent setae. Anterior margin of forcipular coxosternite with short, blunt, apically slightly rounded lobes which have no chitinised margin; a few long setae placed at bases of these projections; sharply pointed tarsungula very short (
Fig. 27
), barely (or even not) overlapping each other when adducted. Sternites with well-developed transverse thickening between coxae of legs and with very wide and shallow incomplete longitudinal depression (not sulcus) at the place of median suture. Short endosternite well bordered by transverse suture, but in most LBS not visible, being covered by the following sternite.
Number of species.
5 (
Edgecombe & Bonato 2011: 395
,
Bonato
et al.
2016
).
Remarks.
The most recent morphological accounts on
Paracryptops
were given by Chagas-Jr and Shelley (2004: 3) and
Schileyko (2007: 91)
. Treated as a genus in
Edgecombe & Bonato (2011: 395)
. Based on both molecular and morphological results
Vahtera
et al.
(2012a: 13)
wrote that
Paracryptops
“nested within
Cryptops
” without formalizing the new taxonomic stratus of the latter, although in their subsequent work (2012b) they treated
Paracryptops
as a genus again. Taking into consideration the unequivocal results obtained by
Vahtera
et al.
(2012a)
, we propose this taxon to be a subgenus of
Cryptops
, i.e.
C.
(
Paracryptops
) Pocock, 1891
stat. nov.
Seven adult specimens from
Vietnam
(Rc 6535, 6658, 7130, 7383, 7433) of
C.
(
P.
)
indicus
Silvestri, 1924
restudied by light microscopy show the pretarsus of maxillae 2 being slightly curved and lacking ventral projection(s) and sternal median suture being absent (an uncommon conditionin
Cryptopidae
), sometimes replaced by poorlydeveloped median sulcus.