Parajulus, Shelley, Rowland M., 2008

Shelley, Rowland M., 2008, Way Down South: The milliped family Parajulidae (Julida: Parajulini) in Mexico and Central America; first records from El Salvador and the Baja California Peninsula, Zootaxa 1893, pp. 1-37 : 25-28

" Parajulus " schmidti australis, new subspecies

Figs. 47–59

Type specimens. ɗ holotype and 1ɗ, 2Ψ, and 1 juvenile paratypes ( VMNH) and 1ɗ paratype ( NCSM) collected by S. B. Peck, 14 May 1971, in Parque Nacional del Cerro Verde, ca. 67 km (41.9 mi) W San Salvador, Santa Ana/Sonsonate Depts., El Salvador. Coordinates are 13° 46' 05"N, 89° 40' 56"W. Southernmost and New Country Records for the Species, Genus, Tribe, and Family; Southernmost Indigenous Record for the Order Julida in the Western Hemisphere.

Diagnosis. Anterior gonopod coxal processes narrow and linear, extending directly ventrad, moderately separated at level of concavity, latter sharply demarcated. Anterior branch of posterior gonopod with relatively short subapical prolongation; tip of inner caudal branch (ib) extending beyond tip of outer branch (ob); lamina broadly expanded, extending distad well beyond margin of anterior branch and encompassing base of solenomere, clearly joining all gonopodal branches.

Coloration. Living color unknown; that after 27 years in preservative as follows: epicranium reticulated brown, becoming dark, chocolate brown in interantennal region; frons lighter and clypeus uniformly yellowish. Collum a general reticulated brown, anterior margin continuous dark brown; pleurotergites (PTs) 2–4 light mottled brown, 5–8 suddenly much darker; remaining PTs with light yellowish middorsal stripe containing narrow, median black line, creating 2 variably brown dorsolateral stripes that continue caudad to antepenultimate ring, becoming progressively narrower and farther apart caudad; epiproct yellowish with trace of brown basally, paraprocts and hypoproct yellowish; venter and legs subuniformly light yellowish.

Composite Description of Males. Bodies relatively short and moderately broad, narrowing and tapering on 20 caudalmost rings; lengths 19.3–20.7 mm, maximal widths 1.8–1.9 mm; 46 rings including epiprocts, caudal 2 rings legless.

Head smooth; epicranium punctate, vertigial groove terminating at level of dorsal extremity of ocellaria. Latter forming inverted triangle, with ca. 40 ocelli arranged in 7 sublinear rows: 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2. Epicranial setae 1–1, clypeal about 4–4, labral about 6–6. Antennae reaching back to caudal margin of 2nd PT, becoming progressively more hirsute distad, 1st antennomere subglobose, 2–5 clavate, 6 narrower basally but generally ovoid, 7 short and truncate with 4 conical terminal cones, no other sensory structures apparent; relative lengths of antennomeres 2>3>4>6>5>1>7. Mandibular stipes with both corners prolonged, separated by broad but shallow concavity (Fig. 47), ventrolateral corner moderately longer but more narrowly rounded than dorsolateral corner.

Dorsum smooth and glossy, glabrous except for a pair of inconspicuous, parallel-sided setae on caudal margins of PTs 1–6. Collum substantially enlarged, surface pitted, anterior margin slightly overlapping epicranium, lateral margins broadly rounded. Remaining PTs virtually identical excepting shorter ones at caudal extremity and 6th & 7th, which are moderately swollen to accommodate gonopods. Ventrolateral striae strong and conspicuous through about PT 20, extending dorsad to near ventral level of dark lateral stripes, fainter thereafter and positioned progressively more ventrad. Defensive glands arising on PT 6 and continuing caudad to PT 43. Epiproct (Fig. 48) moderately long and spiniform, extending caudad to just beyond level of caudal margin of paraprocts, with a pair of subapical and basal setae; paraprocts with margins lightly thickened and 2 moderately long setae arising anterior to rims at 1/3 and 2/3 lengths; hypoproct sublunar, with a pair of subapical and basal setae.

1st legs (Fig. 49) with 4 lightly to moderately hirsute podomeres, becoming progressively more hirsute distad, curving gently anteriomediad with claw overhanging frontal region of head; tibia subequal in length to tarsus but lateral margin enlarged and swollen, tibia and tarsus with 2–3 rows of sphaerotrichomes (sp), some giving rise to hairs, on inner/medial surfaces; claws moderately long, broadly rounded apically, directed anteriolaterad. 2nd legs short and narrow, directed ventrad and incorporated into penial apparatus, with 4 articles but without claw, margins of ultimate article indented suggesting further division into 2 pseudoarticles. Subsequent legs subsimilar, with 6 articles, becoming progressively more hirsute distad, claws gently curved and subacicular, sharply pointed apically. Penial apparatus (Figs. 50–51) with basal margins greatly expanded and broadly rounded, lobes joined for 2/3 of lengths, diverging thereafter, apically broad and sublinear.

Sterna, including 8th, without modifications. Gonopodal aperture moderately broad, overlain and partly closed by caudal corner of 7th pleurotergite. Gonopods in situ with ag occupying entire aperture, anterior surface directed ventrad, coxal processes central with telopodites laterad and partly covered by pleurotergal corner lobe. Anterior gonopods ( Fig. 52 ): coxal processes long and narrow, slightly longer than telopodites, separated for entire lengths and diverging apically, distomedial surfaces deeply indented and concave, apices curving mediad over indentations to subacuminate tips; telopodites well segregated from coxal processes, slightly shorter than latter, generally ovoid but narrowing distolaterad, with 10–12 or so apical hairs extending down medial surfaces. Posterior gonopod ( Figs. 53–56 ) small but transversely broad, widely segregated from each other, situated in situ "behind" (dorsal to) ag telopodites; telopodite arising distad on coxa and divided into anterior and caudal branches joined by broad, cupulate, structurally complex lamina; anterior branch moderately broad, with short, broad projection arising from medial surface at midlength and extending into interior of gonopod, bending abruptly subapically and terminating in short, apically acuminate projection; outer lateral branch broad basally and connecting with narrow rib-like projection arising from telopodal base, narrowing and arching strongly at midlength, then broadening and continuing as smoothly curved structure, bluntly sublinear apically; lamina thin and translucent, extending distad beyond apex of anterior branch and encompassing base of solenomere, with long, spiniform outer caudal branch arising from distomedial corner of lamina, overhanging inner caudal branch and extending to margin of solenomere; seminal canal originating in rounded lumen in distal extremity of coxa, curving gently inside lamina to apical opening on solenomere, with 5 coalesced, acicular, internal fibrils arising in bulbs at distal extremity of lumen and origin of canal, curving harmoniously with canal for ¾ of its length and diverging slightly apically; canal continuing distad beyond margin of lamina onto upright, triangular, flap-like solenomere, densely covered with minute spinules, solenomere distally with rounded lamellate lobe and transverse triangular flap, both densely covered with spinules, latter with spinulate ridge proximal to opening, rim surrounding latter densely covered with minute spinules.

Females. Lengths 23.9–25.9 mm, maximal width 2.1 mm; 45 rings including epiprocts, last 2 rings legless. Agreeing closely with males in somatic features with following exceptions: Mandibular stipes with ventrolateral corner very slightly and inconspicuously extended, dorsolateral corner not prolonged. Collum substantially smaller and less enlarged, lateral margins narrowly rounded; PTs subsimilar in size except 2nd & 3rd, which are moderately enlarged to accommodate cyphopods. 1st legs substantially reduced in both length and breadth, tucked beneath head and cyphopodal aperture. Latter covered by sclerotized, transverse plate ( Fig. 57 ), caudal margin deeply indented in midline. Cyphopods ( Figs. 58–59 ) small and non-descript, widely separated in situ by synoperculum, consisting only of two lightly hirsute valves oriented longitudinally in aperture.

FIGURES 47–51. " Parajulus " schmidti australis, somatic features of holotype. 47, left stipes, lateral view. 48, caudal end, lateral view of right side. 49, right 1st leg, subventral view. 50, penial apparatus, lateral view. 51, the same, caudal view. pl, penial lobes; sp, sphaerotrichomes. Scale line = 0.25 mm for fig. 47, 0.20 mm for figs. 48–49, 0.48 mm for fig. 50, 0.50 mm for fig. 51.

Habitat. The El Salvador sample was taken at 1,900 m (6,232 ft) elevation in a berlesate of leaf litter ("Ber. 201").

Distribution. Known only from the type locality.

Remarks. I suspect that this sample, which represents a new country and the southernmost record of both the family and order in the New World, is near the southern limit for both taxa. They certainly do not range southward to Panama, because Loomis and others would surely have discovered parajulids there, nor are they likely to occupy Costa Rica, where numerous arthropodologists have sampled the terrestrial fauna without encountering them. A plausible southern limit is the 40 km (25 mi) wide Gulf of Fonseca at the southern end of El Salvador and ca. 200 km (125 mi) south of Cerro Verde, which separates the country from Nicaragua. Occurrence also is plausible in southern Honduras, only 64 km (40 mi) north of Cerro Verde.

Figures

FIGURES 52 – 59. " Parajulus " schmidti australis, genitalia. 52, anterior gonopods of holotype, anterior view. 53, right posterior gonopod of the same, medial view. 54, the same, lateral view. 55, solenomere of the same, medial view. 56, the same, lateral view. 57, pleurotergal lobe covering cyphopodal aperture of Ψ paratype, ventral view. 58, cyphopods, caudal view. 59, right cyphopod, medial view. Abbreviations as in figs. 4 – 12 and 13 – 14. Scale line = 1.00 mm for fig. 52, 3.57 mm for figs. 53 – 54, 5.71 mm for figs. 55 – 56, 0.85 mm for figs. 57 – 58, 1.43 mm for fig. 59.