Lophostreptus Cook, 1895

Enghoff, Henrik, Ngute, Alain S. K., Kwezaura, Revocatus L., Laizzer, Richard L., Lyatuu, Herman M., Mhagawale, Waziri, Mnendendo, Hamidu R. & Marshall, Andrew R., 2024, A mountain of millipedes XI. The trachystreptoform spirostreptids of the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 918 (1), pp. 1-50 : 23-24

Genus Lophostreptus Cook, 1895

Lophostreptus Cook, 1895: 5 .

Ptilostreptus Cook, 1896: 57 , synonymized by Attems (1914: 141).

Carlostreptus Verhoeff, 1941: 262 , synonymized by Demange & Mauriès (1975: 78).

Lophogonus Demange & Mauriès, 1975: 78 , synonymized with Ptilostreptus by Hoffman (1980: 94).

Type species

Glyphijulus magnus Karsch, 1881 , by original designation.

Diagnosis

Modified from Demange & Mauriès (1975) and Krabbe (1982). A trachystreptoform genus with the anterior margin of the collum unmodified, the lateroapical metaplical process (lap) of the gonopod coxa inclined or abruptly bent laterad, and the generally slender gonopod telopodite carrying a plate-like posttorsal extension (sf) or at least with a marked ‘knee’ (kn) at the same place.

Other included species

Lophostreptus armatus Pocock, 1896

Lophostreptus bicolor Carl, 1909

Lophostreptus cameranii Silvestri, 1896

Lophostreptus luridus Attems, 1934

Lophostreptus magombera Enghoff sp. nov.

Lophostreptus minimus Mwabvu & VandenSpiegel, 2009

Lophostreptus neglectus Enghoff & Akkari, 2024

Lophostreptus poriger Verhoeff, 1941

Lophostreptus similis Attems, 1914

Lophostreptus tersus ( Cook, 1896)

Lophostreptus ulopygus Attems, 1928

Remarks

The type species of Lophostreptus , Glyphijulus magnus Karsch, 1811 , is known only in the female sex, and the current concept of the genus is based on L. armatus ( Demange & Mauriès 1975: 78) .

Keys to the species then assigned to Lophostreptus were given by Attems (1914: 142; 1928: 360; 1938: 261). These keys, mainly based on non-sexual characters, are outdated and not useful, and to be able to construct a useful key, several species would need re-study. See also remarks under L. tersus below.

The identity of Ptilostreptus has been the cause of much uncertainty. Ptilostreptus was described by Cook (1896), based on a new species, P. tersus Cook, 1897 , from Mpapua, Tanzania. Like several other genera described by Cook in unillustrated papers, Ptilostreptus was largely neglected by subsequent authors. Carl (1909) criticized Cook’s trachystreptinine genera, but at the same time suggested that his Lophostreptus ptilostreptoides Carl, 1909 “probably is nothing but Cook’s undescribed Ptilostreptus tersus from Mpapua” ( Carl 1909: 317, translated from German). Attems (1914) in his monograph of Spirostreptidae listed Ptilostreptus as a synonym of Lophostreptus Cook & Collins, 1895 .

Sixty-one years after Attems’ monograph, the Trachystreptini were reviewed again, this time by Demange & Mauriès (1975). These authors recognized neither Ptilostreptus nor its type species, surely because no illustrations were given by Cook of P. tersus , and because the gonopods of the type specimen of P. tersus were lost, a fact already noted by Attems (1914). Instead they described a new genus, Lophogonus Demange & Mauriès, 1975 , to accommodate Lophostreptus ptilostreptoides (type species) and Lophostreptus regularis Attems, 1909 .

In Hoffman’s (1980) comprehensive classification of the Diplopoda, on the other hand, Ptilostreptus was listed as a valid genus, with Lophogonus as a junior synonym.

Finally, in the third major review of Trachystreptini in the 20 th century Krabbe (1982), unaware of Hoffman’s synonymization, listed Ptilostreptus as an uncertain genus and Lophogonus as a synonym of Lophostreptus . This synonymy is supported by the discovery of L. magombera sp. nov. because this species has a character regarded as characteristic of Lophogonus by Demange & Mauriès (1975), viz., the strong laterad flexion of the lateroapical metaplical process (lap), but on the other hand lacks the large, spoon-shaped telopodital process (pal) characteristic of L. tersus .