Cryptops doriae Pocock, 1891

Dyachkov, Yurii V., 2023, On the Chilopoda fauna of the Pamir Mts, Tajikistan, with notes on the highest records of chilopod species in Middle Asia, Ecologica Montenegrina 65, pp. 67-75 : 71-73

Cryptops doriae Pocock, 1891

Fig. 1

Cryptops (Cryptops) doriae – Dyachkov 2020a: 178; Dyachkov & Nedoev 2021: 44 .

Material. 1 ad. ( ASU No. 574), Tajikistan, Gorno-Badakhshan Region, Khorog botanical garden, N37°28'22" E71°36'7", in old crumbly tree stub, 2280 m, 9–10.VII.2023, coll. YD .

Distribution. From Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan ( Dyachkov 2020a; Dyachkov & Nedoev 2021), and Tajikistan (present record) to Papua New Guinea and Tonga ( Gilgado et al. 2022); known also from greenhouses in Great Britain ( Barber 2009), Germany ( Decker et al. 2014), and Switzerland ( Gilgado et al. 2022) as anthropochore introduced species.

Remarks. This species is new to the fauna of Tajikistan; genus Cryptops , family Cryptopidae , and order Scolopendromorpha are new to the fauna of the Gorno-Badakhshan Region.

Notes on the highest records of Chilopoda in Middle Asia

As indicated by Voigtländer (2011), true high-alpine species can be hardly found among Chilopoda; in European mountains, species known from altitudes of more than 2000–3000 m are mostly eurytopic with a broad range of altitudinal preference. This is also true for the majority of species known from altitudes exceeding 3000 m in Middle Asia.

Hessebius pervagatus is abundant mostly at altitudes from 2000 to 4500 m ( Figs 2, 3 ), and it is also recorded from 4700–4900 m ( Fig. 4 ), the latter finding is the highest record of Chilopoda in Middle Asia ( Table 1) and one of the world’s highest records of these arthropods.

Lithobius turkestanicus Attems, 1904 is spread from ca. 50 m in the West Kazakhstan Region ( Vsevolodova-Perel 2009) to ca. 4000 m in the Northern Tian-Shan Mts ( Attems 1904), while L. giganteus Sseliwanoff, 1881 is known from 700 m in the Dornod Aimag ( Mongolia; Dyachkov & Farzalieva 2023) to ca. 4000 m in the Northern and Inner Tian-Shan Mts, and the Alai Mts ( Attems 1904). Dzhungaria gigantea Farzalieva, Zalesskaja et Edgecombe, 2004 is spread at altitudes from 1200 m to 3100 m, while Hessebius golovatchi Farzalieva, 2017 is recorded at altitudes from 1700 m to 3300 m in the Dzhungarian Alatau Mts ( Farzalieva et al. 2004; Farzalieva 2017; Dyachkov 2019). Australobius magnus ( Trotzina, 1894) is known from 800 m in the Chuy Region ( Kyrgyzstan; Dyachkov 2020b) to ca. 3330 m in the Alai Mts ( Trotzina 1894). Hessebius plumatus Zalesskaja, 1978 is recorded from ca. 250 m in the Kostanay Region ( Kazakhstan; Bragina et al. 2020) to 3160 m in the Northern Tian-Shan Mts ( Dyachkov 2019). Thus, these species, known from altitudes of more than 3000 m in Middle Asia, appear to have a wide range of altitudinal preference.

Lithobius ferganensis Trotzina, 1894 can be noted as an exception. Zalesskaja (1978) regarded this species as “mostly alpine”. The highest records of Geophilomorpha in Middle Asia are Escaryus kirgizicus Titova, 1973 (up to 3500 m) and E. oligopus Attems, 1904 (up to 3600 m) from the Inner Tian-Shan Mts ( Attems 1904; Titova 1973). These species are also known from high mountains only.

Figures

Figure 1. The distributional records of Ghilaroviella valiachmedovi Zalesskaja, 1975 (square), Hessebius pervagatus Zalesskaja, 1978 (star), Lithobius javanicus (Zalesskaja, 1978) (triangle), Thereuonema turkestana Verhoeff, 1905, and Cryptops doriae Pocock, 1891 (both diamond) in the Pamir Mts. Violet color indicates literature data, green one concerns new data. Question marks indicate uncertain localities (Dyachkov et al. 2022: 167).

Figures 2–5. Habitats of Hessebius pervagatus Zalesskaja, 1978: 2, 3 – habitat at 3400 m (meadow along stream in mountain steppe, South Alichur Range), 4 – habitat at 4700–4900 (scree, surroundings of Koitezek Mountain Pass); 5 – female gonopod of H. pervagatus (ASU No. 588), laterally. Scale: 0.1 mm.