Aquattuor claudiahempae Enghoff & Frederiksen, 2015

Enghoff, Henrik, 2020, A mountain of millipedes VIII. The genus Aquattuor Frederiksen, 2013 revisited - a new species from the Udzungwa Mts, Tanzania, another from the Nguru Mts, and introduction of the first pair of male legs as a source of taxonomic characters (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Odontopygidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 626, pp. 1-32 : 5-11

Aquattuor claudiahempae Enghoff & Frederiksen, 2015

Figs 1 , 3 D–I, 9–10

Aquattuor claudiahempae Enghoff & Frederiksen, 2015: 17 .

Diagnosis

Diameter 1.41–1.58 mm, 50–53 podous rings ( Fig. 9 ). Shares a short (as broad as long, or slightly longer) gonopodal palette with A. denticulatus , A. fasciatus , A. stereosathe , A. submajor , and A. udzungwensis . Differs from these species, except A. fasciatus , by the combination of fully developed telopodites on the first pair of male legs, the gonopodal telomere describing a ca 270° curve, curving almost in one plane only, by lacking a spinose lid-like flap on the besal telomeral lamella, and by having a distinct mesobasal lobe of the gonopod palette. Very similar to, and perhaps not distinct from A. fasciatus , differs by being mostly smaller (male diameter <1.7 mm) and by having the prefemoral processes of the first pair of male legs more slender, finger-shaped.

Material studied (total: 25 ♂♂, 29 ♀♀) TANZANIA • 1 ♂, paratype; Kilimanjaro Region, Mt Kilimanjaro, Hai District ; 03°13′59.37″ S,

37°16′09.28″ E; 1345 m a.s.l.; 20 Nov. 2013; S.B. Frederiksen leg.; coffee plantation, Plot 2; NHMD 621638 • 24 ♂♂, 29 ♀♀; Morogoro Region, Udzungwa Mts National Park, Kidatu, Plot 2;

07°41′14.9″ S, 36°56′24.7″ E; 650 m a.s.l.; 24 Oct. 2014; J. Malumbres-Olarte leg.; pitfall trapping (summed catch from eight traps); NHMD 621639 .

Descriptive notes

The specimens from Udzungwa Mts National Park very much resemble those from Mt Kilimanjaro (type locality of A. claudiahempae ), in size ( Fig. 9 ) as well as in gonopod structure ( Fig. 10 , cf. Enghoff & Frederiksen 2015: fig. 10). In particular, the two samples agree in having the distal part of the telomere compressed, i.e., instead of forming a gutter, the lamella constituting the telomere is folded flat such that the inside of the gutter becomes invisible; the outside is strongly microspinose on one side and the free margin of the other side is characteristically wavy-spinose ( Fig. 10D , Enghoff & Frederiksen 2015: fig. 10d).

First pair of male legs ( Fig. 3 D–I) each with a single, finger-shaped prefemoral process; prefemoral processes more slender than those of the otherwise very similar A. fasciatus ( Fig. 3 A–C); setae of telopodite distal to prefemur similar in length to those of normal walking legs.

Distribution

Described from Mt Kilimanjaro (1169–1345 m a.s.l., in habitats disturbed by human activities; Enghoff & Frederiksen 2015); now also known from one site at 650 m a.s.l. in the Udzungwa Mts ( Fig. 1 ).

Remarks

Enghoff (2016 b) discussed A. fasciatus ( Attems, 1896) (see below), emphasizing its great similarity with A. claudiahempae and suggesting that the latter might be a synonym of A. fasciatus . The similarity between both nominal species also extends to the compressed distal part of the telomere ( Enghoff 2016 b: fig. 7c, f). The only differences between the two seem to be size (cf. the identification key below, couplet 9) and the shape of the prefemoral process of the first pair of legs ( Fig. 3 ). The new specimens of A. claudiahempae from Kidatu, Udzungwa Mts are of the same size as A. claudiahempae from Mt Kilimanjaro ( Fig. 9 ), and their prefemoral processes strongly resemble those of Kilimanjaro specimens. Aquattuor claudiahempae and A. fasciatus are, for the time being, upheld as separate species.

Figures

Fig. 1. Collecting sites for Aquattuor spp. in the Udzungwa Mts. Based on Marshall et al. (2010: fig. 1); inset by permission of the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund.

Fig. 3. Aquattuor spp., first pair of male legs. A–C. A. fasciatus (Attems, 1896), non-type male from Zanzibar (NHMD 621641). D–F. A. claudiahempae Enghoff & Frederiksen, 2015, paratype from Kilimanjaro (NHMD 621638). G–I. A. claudiahempae, specimen from Udzungwa Mts (NHMD 621639). A, D, G. Anterior view. B, E, H. Sublateral view. C, F, I. Ventral view. Abbreviation: pfp = prefemoral process. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.

Fig. 9. Aquattuor spp. Body size (number of podous rings and midbody vertical diameter) in males of Aquattuor species from the Udzungwa Mts, and of A. claudiahempae Enghoff & Frederiksen, 2015 from Mt Kilimanjaro. In case of (almost) coinciding values, symbols have been slightly displaced horizontally.

Fig. 10. Aquattuor claudiahempae Enghoff & Frederiksen, 2015, male, specimen from the Udzungwa Mts (NHMD 621639), left gonopod. A–C. Coxa. A. Anterior view. B. Mesal view. C. Posterior view. D–G. Telopodite. D. Tip of telomere. E. Anterior view. F. Posterior view. G. Mesal view. Abbreviations: btl = basal telomeral lamella; li = lateral incision; mbl = meso-basal lobe of palette; mi = mesal incision; mpl = mesal-posterior telomeral lamella; pa = palette. Scale bars: A–C, E–G = 0.1 mm; D = 0.02 mm.