Scolopendromorph centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) in the Natural History Museum (London): A review of the hitherto unidentified species collected in Africa, with remarks on taxonomy and distribution, and a new species of Otostigmus (Parotostigmus)
Author
Simaiakis, Stylianos Michail
Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete, Knossos Av., Herakleion 71409, Crete, Greece.
ssimaiakis@yahoo.com
Author
Edgecombe, Gregory D.
Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW 7 5 BD, United Kingdom.
text
Zootaxa
2013
2013-11-05
3734
2
169
198
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3734.2.5
1175-5326
5275595
36ED88E6-2CEB-4071-8429-A39901B8B9BF
15.
Rhysida stuhlmanni stuhlmanni
Kraepelin, 1903
(
Figs 27–29
)
Material examined.
Malawi
:
Zomba
, Nyasaland,
Aug. to Nov. 1892
, leg.
H.H. Johnson
,
1 ex.
,
BMNH
94.1.15.39
;
Malawi
:
Lake Nyassa
,
Likoma
Isl.,
London School of Tropical Medicine
, Pres’d by
Prof. P.A. Buxter
, leg.
R
. Howard,
1 ex.
,
BMNH
1950.4.19.28–29. (
Fig. 22
)
.
Type
locality.
Tanzania
(
Bagamoyo
,
Rio Quaqua
, ‘
Zambesi’
) (
Minelli
et al
. 2006
)
.
General distribution.
East Tropical Africa:
Tanzania
(
TZ
); South Tropical Africa:
Malawi
(
MW
),
South Africa
(ZA),
Zimbabwe
(
ZW
) (
Lawrence 1955
;
Minelli
et al
. 2006
); Asia Tropical:
India
(
IN
) (
Khanna 1994
).
Remarks.
The smaller specimen from
Zomba
(
22 mm
) has 17 antennal articles, of which three are glabrous dorsally (
Fig. 27
) and 5+5 forcipular teeth (
Fig. 28
); the larger specimen from
Likoma
Island (
58 mm
) has 18 antennal articles, 2.66 of which are glabrous dorsally. Both specimens from
Malawi
have the diagnostic short paramedian sutures on the tergites (confined to the posterior part of TT4–20), only the tergite of the ultimate legbearing segment being marginate, the strongly embayed posterior margin and approximately quadratic shape of the sternite of the ultimate leg-bearing segment (
Fig. 29
, cf.
Kraepelin 1903
: fig. 97), and three spines (two apical, one subapical, no lateral or spine spine) on the coxopleural process (
Fig. 29
), though these characters are also shared by
R. intermedia
Attems, 1910
, from
Pemba Island
,
Zanzibar
. 17 antennal articles in
R. stuhlmanni stuhlmanni
corresponds to the description of
R. intermedia
but previous descriptions have not indicated the number of glabrous antennal articles in
R. s.
stuhlmanni
, so it is not clear whether this might serve as a basis to recognize two species. In the larger specimen, legs 1–19 bear two tarsal spurs (1–18 fide
Kraepelin 1903
), and legs 1–17 bear a tibial spur (leg 18 is missing, and leg 19 lacks a tibial spur). The smaller specimen has two tarsal spurs to at least leg 17 (the following legs are missing) and a tibial spur to at least leg 13 but lacking on leg 17. The main differences between the
Malawi
specimens and
R. intermedia
are the presence of 17–18 antennal articles (versus 19), two tarsal spurs to legs 17+/19 (versus 15) and a gentle curve to the outer margin of the coxopleural pore field, corresponding to “ziemlich geradlinig” (
R. stuhlmanni
in Attems’ key) rather than “tief eingebuchtet” (
R. intermedia
).