Newportia

Schileyko, Arkady A., 2014, A contribution to the centipede fauna of Venezuela (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha), Zootaxa 3821 (1), pp. 151-192 : 173-174

Newportia sp.

Figs 42–44

Material. Federal State [=Capital District], [loc.15], N 39, M. Avila, m 950, suolo, Bds, 1 juv, 24.12.1985, N 7238. 1 specimen in all.

Description of juvenile N 7238. Length of body ca 12 mm. Color in ethanol: entire animal uniformly lightyellow (almost white). Body with very sparse minute setae; tergite 23, distal articles of legs and ultimate legs more setose.

Antennae composed of 17 articles, nearly reaching posterior margin of tergite 3 when reflexed ( Fig. 42 ). 4 basal articles with few long setae, subsequent articles densely pilose. Basal articles cylindrical.

Cephalic plate ( Fig. 42 ) clearly longer than wide, with the posterior corners rounded and without paramedian sutures.

Second maxillae: article 2 of telopodite distally with a well-developed dorsal spur. Pretarsus without accessory spines.

Forcipular segment ( Fig. 43 ): coxosternite without any visible sutures but short chitin-lines. Anterior margin of coxosternite practically straight. Trochanteroprefemur without any process; tarsungula normal.

Tergites: anterior margin of tergite 1 covered by the cephalic plate ( Fig. 42 ). Tergite 1 with anterior transverse suture, paramedian sutures absent. Tergites 2–22 with complete paramedian sutures, tergites 3–20 with lateral longitudinal sutures. Tergite 23 without sutures, wider than long and somewhat narrowed posteriorly; its sides curved. Only tergite 23 has distinct margination.

Sternites: practically rectangular, their sides somewhat curved. Sternites 2(3)–20(21) with shallow median sulcus, sternites 2–20(21) with lateral sutures. Ultimate sternite wider than long, strongly narrowed towards the practically straight posterior margin. Endosternites not recognizable.

Legs: basal articles with a few short setae, distal ones more setose. Legs 1–21 with lateral tibial spur, tarsal spurs absent; pretarsi with two minute accessory spines which are hardly visible at x 56. Tarsi of legs 1–21 undivided ( Fig. 44 ).

Coxopleuron (excluding coxopleural process) nearly twice as long as sternite 23, with 20–25 large coxal pores. Conical coxopleural process poreless, bearing few long large setae; coxopleural surface without setae. Posterior margin of ultimate pleuron forming an obtuse angle (or nearly rectangular).

Ultimate legs ( Fig. 44 ) slender (width of prefemur ca 0.2 mm), ca 4 mm long. Femur and tibia cylindrical in cross-section. Prefemur with row of 4 apically curved ventral spinous processes. On the right prefemur these processes are of approximately the same size; the distal process isolated from the others. On the left prefemur the 3rd spine is rudimentary. Femur medially with 1 small spinous processes on the basal third. Tibia practically as long as prefemur and femur. Tarsus not definitely divided into tarsus 1 and tarsus 2 legs ( Fig. 44 ) the latter without distinct articles. Tarsus approximately as long as prefemur, femur and tibia together.

Range. Venezuela, Capital District, El Ávila National Park, Pico El Ávila.

Remarks. Because of the small size, very light color and soft integument this specimen is a juvenile. The small number of coxopleural pores and their large size are definitely juvenile conditions. It seems to be very close to N. lasia Chamberlin, 1921 , which is known from British Guyana (Dunoon), Brazil (Amazônas) and Paraguay (St. Luis) ( Schileyko & Minelli, 1998). In general it resembles N. lasia but differs from it in having the prefemur of ultimate legs with 4 ventral spinous processes (vs. 6 in lasia ) and femur with 1 ventro-medial spine (vs. 2 in lasia ). However, in this single juvenile specimen the configuration of the spinous processes of its left and right prefemora differ. Taking into consideration all these facts, I prefer to retain this specimen as Newportia sp. until more material from this locality is available.

Figures

FIGURES 40 – 45. Newportia monticola Pocock, 1890 40 adult N 7078: segment 23 and ultimate legs, dorso-lateral view 41 adult N 7285: forcipular segment, ventral view; Newportia sp. (juvenile N 7238) 42 cephalic plate and segments 1 – 3, dorsal view 43 head, forcipular segment and segments 1 – 2, ventral view 44 segment 23 and ultimate legs, ventral view; Scolopendra conjungens Muralewicz, 1913 (= Scolopendra angulata Newport, 1844 syn. nov.) (holotype, adult N 6815) 45 habitus, dorsal view; (vsp) — ventral spinous processes of ultimate prefemur, (ut 1) — tarsus 1 of ultimate leg, (ut 2) — tarsus 2 of ultimate leg, (utr) — undivided tarsus of ultimate legs, (ut) — tibia of ultimate leg, (am) — anterior margin of forcipular coxosternite, (tg 1) — tergite 1.