The millipede genus Lissodesmus Chamberlin, 1920 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania and Victoria, with descriptions of a new genus and 24 new species
Author
Mesibov, Robert
text
Memoirs of Museum Victoria
2005
2005-12-31
62
2
103
146
https://museumsvictoria.com.au/collections-research/journals/memoirs-of-museum-victoria/volume-62-issue-2-2005/pages-103-146/
journal article
53801
10.24199/j.mmv.2005.62.4
7c43d20c-c0a8-47ad-896a-fc9a1619e294
1447-2554
8064747
Lissodesmus clivulus
sp. nov.
Figures 23
,
24
,
69
cli, 70cli, 71cli, 73 (map)
Material examined.
Holotype
. Male,
Australia
,
Tasmania
.
The Clump
,
CQ213361
(
41°12'23''S
144°52'06''E
),
190 m
,
6.ii.1992
,
R. Mesibov
, QVM 23:45821 (ex QVM 23:17667).
Paratypes
.
2 males
, details as for holotype,
AM
KS91170
(ex QVM 23:17667)
;
11 males
, details as for holotype,
QVM 23:17667
, 3 dissected
;
16 females
, details as for holotype,
QVM 23
:
17675; male,
south of Italian River
, CQ180045 (
41°29'25''S
144°49'11''E
),
10 m
,
30.iv.1993
,
R. Mesibov
,
QVM 23
:17664
.
Other material.
12 males
,
26 females
and
1 juvenile
from Balfour, Brooks Creek, Dawson River, Little Eel Creek, Mt Frankland, Possum Creek, Sardine Creek, Sawards Creek, Sundown Creek, Sundown Point, Temma and The Clump (see “
Lissodesmus
supplement” for details).
Description
. Male c.
17 mm
long,
H
= 1.6 mm. In alcohol, well-coloured specimens under low magnification with light brown body colour (unusually, extending to legs and antennae), slightly darker brown transversely on metatergites near posterior margins and distally on antennae. Antenna long, slender (
Fig. 69
cli).
Paranota
reduced but prominent,
R
= 1.4 (
Fig. 70
cli); posterior corners not turned up. Legs long, slender, tarsus about as long as femur (
Fig. 71
cli). Telopodite (
Figs 23
,
24
) almost reaching leg 5 when retracted. Solenomere arising at half the telopodite height, directed posteriorly at a large angle (c. 60°) to telopodite axis, curving slightly laterally, terminating with toothed subapical collar at about one-quarter the prefemoral process height. Tibiotarsus about as wide as solenomere, slightly flattened and tapered near tip, directed posteriorly at almost a right angle to telopodite, curving slightly distally near tip. Femoral process arising at level of solenomere origin, a straight, distally directed blade with a pointed tip, terminating well distal to solenomere tip; at one-quarter to one-third its length with a short, narrow, bluntly tipped branch directed posteriorly and curving distally near its tip. Prefemoral process about half the width of the telopodite base at its origin, expanded past this point, narrowing near apex and bending posteriorly, a few short, large, rounded, proximally directed teeth subapically, the apex flattened and slightly crenulate. Two inconspicuous unci at about half the length of the prefemoral process, not obvious in some specimens.
Distribution and habitat.
Known from c.
300 km
2
on the west coast of
Tasmania
(
Fig. 73
), from just north of the Arthur River to just south of the Italian River, inland to Mt Frankland, and from sea level to
400 m
.
Despite its small range,
L. clivulus
is sometimes locally abundant. It occurs in wet forest, coastal woodland, tea-tree forest and tea-tree scrub, and (unusually for
Lissodesmus
species
) has also been found in low heath (on Mt Frankland, near Balfour).
Etymology
. Latin
clivulus
(“small hill”), noun in apposition. Named for the
type
locality, The Clump, a low hill covered with a clump of tall eucalypt trees. Because the surrounding country is flat and heathy, The Clump has long been a landmark on the northern part of the Tasmanian west coast.
Remarks
.
L. clivulus
is similar to
L. latus
in gonopod structure but the prefemoral process is shorter, the prefemoral process tip less expanded and the tibiotarsus bent posteriorly at nearly a right angle to the telopodite. The two species co-occur along the coast between the Arthur and Pieman Rivers, and can be distinguished in the field by coloration and by the smoother paranotal margin in
L. clivulus
.