Sinocallipus deharvengi, Stoev, Pavel & Enghoff, Henrik, 2011

Stoev, Pavel & Enghoff, Henrik, 2011, A review of the millipede genus Sinocallipus Zhang, 1993 (Diplopoda, Callipodida, Sinocallipodidae), with notes on gonopods monotony vs. peripheral diversity in millipedes, ZooKeys 90, pp. 13-34 : 17-19

Sinocallipus deharvengi sp. n. Figs 6122730

Material examined.

Holotype: ♂, 70 PT + telson, Vietnam, Quang Binh Province, Dong Hoi, Cha Noi: Hang Cha Noi (cave), 17.641363°N, 106.110375°E, 260 m alt., 8.I.1995, by hand, L. Deharveng & A. Bedos leg., VIET-064. - Paratypes: 1 juv., same locality, date and collectors; ad. ♀, 74 PT + telson, same province, Dong Hoi, Phong Nha: Hang Ruc (cave), 17.586134°N, 106.305667°E, 30 m alt., 6.I.1995, by hand, L. Deharveng & A. Bedos leg. VIET-059; 1 ♀, 70 PT + telson, same province, Dong Hoi, between Phong Nha and Cha Noi: Grotte de Troc, approx. coordinates: 17.6526°N, 106.243°E, about 70 m alt., 15.III.1997, L. Deharveng & A. Bedos leg. VIET-407 (all in MNHN).

Description of locality.

The species was found in several caves of moderate length (Hong Ruc about 50 m, Troc and Cha Noi more than 200 m), which seem to have never been surveyed previously. A road was built inside Hang Cha Noi during the War, and remains of rusted ammunitions were observed inside the cave at the time of collection. A rich cave fauna was found inside the Grotte de Troc, including two other species of Diplopoda, an undescribed cambalopsid, and Eutrichodesmus asteroides Golovatch et al., 2009 ( Haplodesmidae ) ( Golovatch et al. 2009). All specimens were collected in the aphotic zone of the caves (L. Deharveng, in lit.).

Origin of name.

Named after the French zoologist Louis Deharveng, a passionate explorer of the caves of southeastern Asia, who together with A. Bedos collected this species.

Diagnosis.

Differs from congeners by having almost equally subdivided paraprocts, long antennae, strongly swollen and long gonocoxal process g, and comparatively short, pointed tip of the trochanteral process of leg 9. It can be distinguished from Sinocallipus simplipodicus , Sinocallipus jaegeri and Sinocallipus thai also by the white-yellowish body colour and brown antennomeres 2-5, and from Sinocallipus catba and Sinocallipus steineri by the large body size.

Description.

Males:

Maximal length: ca 68-70 mm, width of midbody PT 3.2 mm, 70 PT + telson. Body colour: uniformly white-yellowish, without particular coloration pattern, metazonites without posterior band. Head: uniformly white, pilose; cephalic suture visible. Antennae: long, extending beyond the posterior edge of PT 10 when folded backwards; antennomeres 2-5 light brown; 1, 6, 7 - white (Fig. 6); length of antennomeres: 1 - 0.5 mm, 2 - 2.0 mm, 3 - 2.5 mm, 4 - 1.7 mm, 5 - 1.8 mm, 6 - 0.8 mm, 7 - 0.4 mm; antennomere ratio: 3>2>5>4>6>1>7; tip of antennomere 7 with four short cones (Fig. 7). Eyes: black, well delineated, composed of 37-38 ocelli in 5-6 rows (Fig. 8).

Width of PT: 1=2=3<4<5<6<7. PT higher than broad, ratio: 1.06: 1. Dorsal side of collum and PT 2-3 smooth. Crests poorly developed, flattened, 5+5 between the ozopores on midbody PT, anterior part of crests broad, abruptly narrowing posteriorly. Ozopores small, barely visible on PT 5-6, lying on crest 6 in midbody PT, missing on the last 4 PT. Paraprocts divided into two almost equal-sized dorsal and ventral sclerites (Fig. 9). Dorsal sclerite surmounted by a macroseta situated on a tiny lobe. Spinnerets: long and slender, ending with a long seta. All setae on telson dark brown, contrasting with the white background.

All legs white-yellowish, long and slender, ending with a long claw. Tarsal pads very poorly developed, present on leg-pairs 3-12. No particular modifications on coxae of pregonopodal legs. Prefemora of legs 4-7 swollen. Leg-pair 9 (Figs 10, 27): coxa subtrapezoidal; trochanteral lobe (h) with a comparatively short tip and poorly developed process z.

Chaetotaxy: unknown, all setae broken off.

Gonopods (Fig. 11): similar to those of congeners; differ by the large coxal (cx) process g more than 3 times the length of process k; processes g and k apically rounded, not truncated as in Sinocallipus jaegeri . Femoroid (fe): with three slender, acicular (n), and one short and subfalcate (m) terminal projections. Cannula (ca): long and slender, not coiled.

Females:

70-74 PT + telson; body colour darker, lateral sides light brownish; crests more pronounced than in males; second leg-pair unmodified (Fig. 12).