A mountain of millipedes XI. The trachystreptoform spirostreptids of the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae)
Author
Enghoff, Henrik
9B9D901F-D6C8-4BCA-B11B-CF6EE85B16DC
Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK- 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
henghoff@snm.ku.dk
Author
Ngute, Alain S. K.
4F621C77-C4E7-49C8-ABB2-C6FF1DFD60C6
Forest Research Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia.
Alain.Ngute@research.usc.edu.au
Author
Kwezaura, Revocatus L.
2F3825C9-B029-4C61-A0BB-F754D043873C
Reforest Africa, Mang’ula, Kilombero District, Tanzania.
rauliean@gmail.com
Author
Laizzer, Richard L.
575788A0-E532-4292-A9D5-F21DAE7742E6
Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre, Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Mang’ula, Kilombero District, Tanzania.
richardlowassary@gmail.com
Author
Lyatuu, Herman M.
7659F933-34F5-4D57-A2E4-F1DBCAC8186E
Reforest Africa, Mang’ula, Kilombero District, Tanzania.
lyatuuherman@gmail.com
Author
Mhagawale, Waziri
E485EE38-FFDB-4859-8679-CFA20A5FFD3F
Reforest Africa, Mang’ula, Kilombero District, Tanzania.
mhagawalewaziri@gmail.com
Author
Mnendendo, Hamidu R.
02489B44-5503-42BF-8DD9-1F40930F0D4D
Reforest Africa, Mang’ula, Kilombero District, Tanzania.
hamidumnendendo@gmail.com
Author
Marshall, Andrew R.
0AE8656F-DA17-4955-95A9-1B9EF7910037
Forest Research Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia. & Reforest Africa, Mang’ula, Kilombero District, Tanzania. & Flamingo Land Ltd., Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire, UK.
amarsha1@usc.edu.au
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2024
2024-01-22
918
1
1
50
https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/download/2405/10603
journal article
10.5852/ejt.2024.918.2405
2118-9773
10554532
8E007E74-FB24-422F-AFA8-033A2D172839
Genus
Lophostreptus
Cook, 1895
Lophostreptus
Cook, 1895: 5
.
Ptilostreptus
Cook, 1896: 57
, synonymized by
Attems (1914: 141)
.
Carlostreptus
Verhoeff, 1941: 262
, synonymized by
Demange & Mauriès (1975: 78)
.
Lophogonus
Demange & Mauriès, 1975: 78
,
synonymized with
Ptilostreptus
by
Hoffman (1980: 94)
.
Type
species
Glyphijulus magnus
Karsch, 1881
, by original designation.
Diagnosis
Modified from
Demange & Mauriès (1975)
and
Krabbe (1982)
. A trachystreptoform genus with the anterior margin of the collum unmodified, the lateroapical metaplical process (
lap
) of the gonopod coxa inclined or abruptly bent laterad, and the generally slender gonopod telopodite carrying a plate-like posttorsal extension (
sf
) or at least with a marked ‘knee’ (
kn
) at the same place.
Other included species
Lophostreptus armatus
Pocock, 1896
Lophostreptus bicolor
Carl, 1909
Lophostreptus cameranii
Silvestri, 1896
Lophostreptus luridus
Attems, 1934
Lophostreptus magombera
Enghoff
sp. nov.
Lophostreptus minimus
Mwabvu & VandenSpiegel, 2009
Lophostreptus neglectus
Enghoff & Akkari, 2024
Lophostreptus poriger
Verhoeff, 1941
Lophostreptus similis
Attems, 1914
Lophostreptus tersus
(
Cook, 1896
)
Lophostreptus ulopygus
Attems, 1928
Remarks
The
type
species of
Lophostreptus
,
Glyphijulus magnus
Karsch, 1811
, is known only in the female sex, and the current concept of the genus is based on
L. armatus
(
Demange & Mauriès 1975: 78
)
.
Keys to the species then assigned to
Lophostreptus
were given by
Attems (1914: 142
;
1928: 360
;
1938: 261
). These keys, mainly based on non-sexual characters, are outdated and not useful, and to be able to construct a useful key, several species would need re-study. See also remarks under
L. tersus
below.
The identity of
Ptilostreptus
has been the cause of much uncertainty.
Ptilostreptus
was described by
Cook (1896)
, based on a new species,
P. tersus
Cook, 1897
, from Mpapua,
Tanzania
. Like several other genera described by Cook in unillustrated papers,
Ptilostreptus
was largely neglected by subsequent authors.
Carl (1909)
criticized Cook’s trachystreptinine genera, but at the same time suggested that his
Lophostreptus ptilostreptoides
Carl, 1909
“probably is nothing but Cook’s undescribed
Ptilostreptus tersus
from Mpapua” (
Carl 1909: 317
, translated from German).
Attems (1914)
in his monograph of
Spirostreptidae
listed
Ptilostreptus
as a synonym of
Lophostreptus
Cook & Collins, 1895
.
Sixty-one years after Attems’ monograph, the
Trachystreptini
were reviewed again, this time by
Demange & Mauriès (1975)
. These authors recognized neither
Ptilostreptus
nor its
type
species, surely because no illustrations were given by Cook of
P. tersus
, and because the gonopods of the
type
specimen of
P. tersus
were lost, a fact already noted by
Attems (1914)
. Instead they described a new genus,
Lophogonus
Demange & Mauriès, 1975
, to accommodate
Lophostreptus ptilostreptoides
(
type
species) and
Lophostreptus regularis
Attems, 1909
.
In
Hoffman’s (1980)
comprehensive classification of the
Diplopoda
, on the other hand,
Ptilostreptus
was listed as a valid genus, with
Lophogonus
as a junior synonym.
Finally, in the third major review of
Trachystreptini
in the 20
th
century
Krabbe (1982)
, unaware of Hoffman’s synonymization, listed
Ptilostreptus
as an uncertain genus and
Lophogonus
as a synonym of
Lophostreptus
. This synonymy is supported by the discovery of
L. magombera
sp. nov.
because this species has a character regarded as characteristic of
Lophogonus
by
Demange & Mauriès (1975)
, viz., the strong laterad flexion of the lateroapical metaplical process (
lap
), but on the other hand lacks the large, spoon-shaped telopodital process (
pal
) characteristic of
L. tersus
.