Eviulisoma kangense, Enghoff, 2018

Enghoff, Henrik, 2018, A mountain of millipedes VII: The genus Eviulisoma Silvestri, 1910, in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania, and related species from other Eastern Arc Mountains. With notes on Eoseviulisoma Brolemann, 1920, and Suohelisoma Hoffman, 1963 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 445, pp. 1-90 : 60-63

Eviulisoma kangense sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5BB2 A 851-08 A 1-439E-95 A 5-241DF9AA50DD

Figs 28–29

Diagnosis

Differs from other species of the E. sternale group by having the solenophore almost as long as map. Differs from E. sternale sp. nov. by its larger size (width 3.2 mm vs 2.0 mm) and by having a slenderer map without an apical dentate ridge. Differs from E. zebra sp. nov. by having a flattened, almost hairless area on the ventral side of the prefemora and femora of the legs of a number of post-gonopodal body rings.

Etymology

The name is an adjective referring to the type locality, the Kanga Mts.

Material studied (total: 12 ♂♂)

Holotype TANZANIA: ♂, Kanga Mts , Morogoro Region, Kanga FR, 400–500 m a.s.l., 22–25 Nov. 1984, lowland rainforest, N. Scharff leg. ( ZMUC).

Paratypes TANZANIA: 11 ♂♂, same collection data as for holotype ( ZMUC).

Referred non-type material

TANZANIA: 4 ♀♀, 1 juv., same collection data as for holotype ( ZMUC).

Description (male)

SIZE. Length 33 mm, max. width 3.2 mm.

COLOUR. Overall impression ringed. Head, collum, posterior ⅔ of metazonites, epiproct and paraprocts dark brown, rest of body and appendages pale yellowish.

ANTENNAE. Reaching back to middle of ring 4.

BODY RINGS. Paranota sometimes visible as a very faint line/ keel on ring 2 (as Fig. 4C ), otherwise completely absent. Stricture between pro- and metazonite striolate. A transverse row of setae on all rings, but many setae abraded.

HYPOPROCT. Rounded-trapezoid, without distinct tubercles.

LEGS. Length 1.5× body width. Relative lengths of podomeres: femur = tarsus> prefemur> tibia> postfemur. Tibiae and tarsi with dense scopulae ( Fig. 28B–C ); prefemora and femora of legs of rings 8–18 ventrally with a flattened, almost hairless area clearly demarcated against the normal surface ( Fig. 28E ).

STERNUM 5. A rounded-rectangular process, sometimes slightly bilobed, between legs 4.

STERNUM 6. Deeply excavated. Lateral rims of excavation produced into two lobes on each side, one lobe at basis of each leg ( Fig. 28 A ).

GONOPODS ( Fig. 29 ). Coxal lobe (cxl) prominent. Prefemoral part (prf) ca ⅓ as long as acropodite. Mesal acropodital process (map) long, slender, slightly curved, apically divided into three pointed tines (tn1, tn2, tn3); dorsal tine (tn1) shortest, separated from the two other tines by a V-shaped incision. Solenophore (sph) almost as long as map, a simple ʻrolled sheetʼ, ending in two small triangular processes.

Distribution and habitat

Known only from the Kanga Mts, Kanga FR, 400–500 m a.s.l. Habitat: lowland rainforest. The Kanga Mts belong to the Nguru massif, one of the smaller blocks of the Eastern Arc Mountains, situated some 150 km N of the Udzungwa Mts.

Remarks

Although females have in general not been considered in this paper, it is worth noting that in this species, female legs are without dense setation on any podomere, and without modified prefemora and femora. See also Discussion.

Figures

Fig. 4. Eviulisoma spp. A–B. E. paradisiacum sp. nov., ♂. A. Head and rings 1–8, lateral view. B. Head and collum, frontal view. C. E. Zebra sp. nov., ♂, head and rings 1–3, lateral view. Abbreviation: pn = paranotum. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.

Fig. 28. Eviulisoma kangense sp. nov., paratype. A. Body ring 6, oblique ventral view. B. Post-gonopodal leg. C. Detail of scopula. D. Pre-gonopodal leg (leg from ring 6). E. Femur of post-gonopodal leg, showing smooth, soft ventral surface. Scale bars: A–B, D = 0.2 mm; C = 0.01 mm; E = 0.1 mm.

Fig. 29. Eviulisoma kangense sp. nov., paratype, right gonopod. A. Lateral view. B. Ventral view. C. Mesal and slightly dorsal view. D. Tip of mesal acropodital process (map). E. Tip of solenomere. Aluminium tape used for mounting visible in lower right part of C. Abbreviations: cxl = coxal lobe; map = mesal acropodital process; prf = prefemoral part; slm = solenomere; sph = solenophore; tn1, tn2, tn3 = apical tines of process map. Scale bars: A–C = 0.2 mm; D = 0.1 mm; E = 0.02 mm.