Lophomus shelleyi, Shear & Richart & Wong, 2020

Shear, William A., Richart, Casey H. & Wong, Victoria L., 2020, The millipede family Conotylidae in northwestern North America, with a complete bibliography of the family (Diplopoda, Chordeumatida, Heterochordeumatidea, Conotyloidea), Zootaxa 4753 (1), pp. 1-78 : 73

Lophomus shelleyi , new species

Figs. 258–261

Types: Male holotype and female paratype from MONTANA: Ravalli Co., Woods Creek , Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest , 47.4613°N, - 112.8371°W, elev. 1721 m., collected 6 October 2006 by R. Killackey, m f; male paratype from Granite Co. , Butte Cabin Creek , Lolo National Forest , 46.5181°N, - 113.7601°W, elev. 1310 m., collected 2 October 2006 by P. Hendricks .

Diagnosis: Distinguished from L. laxus by details of the gonopods. The sternal processes of the anterior gonopods are slightly longer in L. shelleyi , and the tips of the gonopods are divided into three parts, with the median the longest; in L. laxus the gonopods are divided into two parts at their tips, with the lateral the longest. A strong lateral hook is present distally on the posterior gonopod coxites of L. laxus but is much smaller in L. shelleyi .

Etymology: The species name recognizes the many and varied contributions to myriapodology by our colleague the late Rowland M. Shelley (1942–2018), who also transmitted to us the Montana material reported on here.

Description: Male paratype: Length, 14.0 mm. Twenty-seven to 29 ocelli in triangular patch. Metazonital shoulders developed into small, but distinctly flattened paranota; outermost segmental setae long, slightly curved, acute, median two segmental setae shorter, straight, blunt-tipped. Color light brown heavily mottled with darker purplish brown. Legpairs one and two reduced. Legpairs three through seven enlarged, pairs four and five the largest; small, acute, backward-facing basal knobs present on femora four and five. Anterior gonopods ( Fig. 258 ) with anterior sternal processes nearly as large as gonopods; gonopods slightly sigmoid, ending in three processes, mesal process longest, lateral processes much shorter, curved posteriorly. Posterior gonopod coxite ( Fig. 259 ) broad, tipped with large mesal hook, lateral hooked process much smaller; anterior flagellum greatly exceeding coxite in length, composed of many separate, spiral, flattened filaments ( Fig. 260 ) with many tiny, retrorse cuticuar teeth at their tips. Coxae 10 with prominent glands, enlarged. Prefemur 11 with strong basal process, processes also on trochanters and coxae 11 ( Fig. 261 ).

Female similar to male in nonsexual characters.

Distribution: Known only from the two type localities.

Notes: The compound nature of the anterior gonopod flagellum has not been noted before. The flagellum is made up of 10–12 individual, flattened, spiral filaments tightly appressed to one another, but evidently the drying associated with preparing the gonopods for SEM examination caused them to separate. Small, retrorse cuticular thorns cover the acute tips of these filaments.

Figures

FIGS. 258–261. Lophomus shelleyi. Fig. 258. Anterior gonopods, anterior view. Fig. 259. Right posterior gonopod, posterior view. Fig. 260. Tips of filaments making up flagellum. Fig. 261. Coxa, trochanter and prefemur of leg 11.