Archispirostreptus dodsoni Pocock 1899

Mwabvu, Tarombera, Hamer, Michelle, Slotow, Rob & Barraclough, David, 2010, A revision of the taxonomy and distribution of Archispirostreptus Silvestri 1895 (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae), and description of a new spirostreptid genus with three new species, Zootaxa 2567, pp. 1-49 : 13

Archispirostreptus dodsoni Pocock 1899

Fig. 4

Archispirostreptus dodsoni Pocock 1899 , p. 405. Graphidostreptus dodsoni: Attems 1914

Archispirostreptus dodsoni: Hoffman 1965 ; Krabbe 1982

Type material: Holotype: SOMALIA: 1 3, Sheikh Husein, Arusha, Galla Country, 3.x.1894, Dr A. Donaldson Smith ( BMNH 1897.11.10.87).

Additional material examined: SOMALIA: 1 3, 1 Ƥ, West of Shebali River, 1899, Dr Donaldson-Smith ( BMNH 1897.11.10.88).

Diagnosis: Distal lateral metaplical process gently slanting towards paracoxite; proximal lateral metaplical process and proximal apical metaplical process at obtuse angle ( Fig. 4a ).

Description: Size: Body length 220–270 mm; maximum body width 18–19 mm.

Number of body rings: 69–71.

Colour: Dark brown.

Collum: Square shaped without anterior lobe, with 3–5 complete striae and 2–3 incomplete striae.

Pre-femoral process of 1st pair of male legs: Proximally broad with long tapering apical extension ( Fig. 4c ).

Gonopod: ( Figs 4a, 4b ) Sternum rounded apically; paracoxite apex horizontal.

Proplica width approximately constant along length; apical proplica overlapping part of proximal lateral metaplical process.

Metaplicae wide proximally, surface smooth.

Lateral metaplical process wide proximally, horizontal and acute apically, without abrupt change in width.

Apical metaplical process narrowly rounded apically. Proximal apical metaplical process and lateral metaplical process at obtuse angle ( Fig. 4b ).

Apex of antetorsal processes reaching paracoxite.

Distribution: Known from Ethiopia ( Krabbe 1982) and Somalia.

Remarks: The shapes of the lateral metaplical processes and the apical proplicae of the gonopod of A. dodsoni closely resemble A. beccarii , however, the two species differ in body size. The prefemoral lobes of the first pair of male legs are similar to those of A. smithii , however, the gonopods of the two species differ in the orientation of the lateral metaplical processes. Proximally, the lateral metaplical processes of the gonopod of A. smithii are horizontal; the distal halves are tapering and deflected towards the apical metaplical process. In A. dodsoni the lateral metaplical process is horizontal and tapering without bending distally.

Figures

FIGURE 4 a, b. Archispirostreptus dodsoni (BMNH 1897.11.10.87). a, oral view of gonopods; b, aboral view of gonopods.