Lithobius purkynei Dobroruka, 1957

Tuf, Ivan Hadrián, Wytwer, Jolanta & Tajovský, Karel, 2008, On the identity of the species described in the genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 by L. J. Dobroruka from the former Czechoslovakia (Czech and Slovak Republics) (Chilopoda: Lithobiomorpha), Zootaxa 1788, pp. 37-46 : 42

Lithobius purkynei Dobroruka, 1957

Lithobius (Lithobius) purkyn ě i Dobroruka 1957: 174 –175, figs 1A, 1B

Type locality. Boreč Village near Lovosice, Č eské středohoří Mts, Bohemia, Czech Republic.

Type specimens. The original description of L. purkynei was based on the holotype (Ψ) and 4 paratypes (Ψ), coll. Dobroruka.

Material examined. 5 Ψ with fragment of label reading “ kyn ě i n. sp.” and “ice VI 195” from Dobroruka’s “ type collection”, evidently identical with the holotype and paratype specimens mentioned in the original description. The material was dried up and mildewed, now in alcohol.

Remarks. The species was included into Folkmanová’s (1959) key and has been recorded since only by Dobroruka (1977) from “Vřešt’ovská Ba ž antnice”, near the town of Hořice, NE Bohemia.

In the original description, Dobroruka (1957) compared L. purkynei with the species Lithobius nigrocullis Folkmanová, 1928 , Lithobius aulacopus Latzel, 1880 (= Lithobius macilentus L. Koch, 1862 ), Lithobius agilis sesianus Verhoeff, 1937 (= Lithobius agilis C. L. Koch, 1847 ), Lithobius simrothi Verhoeff, 1937 (= Lithobius tenebrosus Meinert, 1872 ) and Lithobius palmarum Verhoeff, 1934 . Two main characters were given for L. purkynei : ventroprefemoral (VpF) spines starting from the 8th (5th) legs, and presence of 4 “black” ocelli. The re-examination of the damaged type material showed a higher number of barely recognizable ocelli, ranging between 5 and 7. Besides this, Dobroruka (1957) suggested that, in L. aulacopus , the VpF spines started from the 1st to 3rd legs. Yet, according to Eason (1964), they start from the 4th pair of legs. Matic (1966) noted that spinulation varied and sometimes VpF was present from the 8th pair of legs. Thus, the spinulation pattern of L. purkynei falls well within the variation range observed in L. macilentus . All other characters of L. purkynei mentioned by Dobroruka also correspond to L. macilentus .

Taxonomic note. We consider Lithobius purkynei Dobroruka, 1957 as a junior subjective synonym of Lithobius macilentus L. Koch, 1862 , syn. n.