Eupolybothrus (E.) litoralis litoralis (L. Koch)

E. H. Eason, 1970, A redescription of the species of Eupolybothrus Verhoeff s. str. preserved in the British Museum (Natural History) and the Hope departement of Zoology Oxford (Chilopoda Lithobiomorpha), Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology 19, pp. 289-310 : 303-306

Eupolybothrus (E.) litoralis litoralis (L. Koch)

Figs. 8 to 12

Lithobius litoralis L. Koch, 1867 , p. 899.

? Lithobius (Polybothrus) fasciatus graecus var. fasciatograecus Verhoeff, 1901 , p. 347.

not Lithobius litoralis Muralewitsch, 1906 , p. 67.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. The following specimens, preserved in spirit, are present in the Koch Collection of Arachnida and Myriapoda in the British Museum (Natural History); except where otherwise stated, the labels appear to be in L. Koch’s hand:

" L. litoralis " " Tinos Erber " (Reg. no. 13.6.18.368 ).

A single immature female 24 mm long. The locality label appears to be in L. Koch’s hand but the identity label has been rewritten. As L. Koch’s original description was based on a single immature female from Tinos ( Aegean archipelago ) I have no doubt that this specimen is the holotype and have labelled it accordingly.

" Lithobius grossipes C.K. " " Tinos Erber " (Reg. no. 13.6.18.297 ).

A single male 38 mm long.

" Lithobius grossipes C.K. " " Rhodus Erber " (Reg. no. 13.6.18.294-296 ).

A mature male 28 mm long, an immature male 18 mm long and an immature female 23 mm long.

DIAGNOSIS OF ADULT. Length up to 38 mm or more. Antennae up to 57 articles or more. Glandular pores of 15th leg concentrated on internal aspects of femur, tibia, tarsus and metatarsus only. 15th metatarsal general setae up to three-quarters the diameter of the article in length. 15th metatarsal seriate setae absent. Basal pit of male 15th femur extensive and deep. Internal dorsal sulcus of male 15th femur not extending to margin of pore-free area which is barely swollen. Coxolateral spines usually absent.

DESCRIPTION OF ADULT. Two males only. Length: 28 and 38 mm; 15th legs two-thirds of body-length. Colour: uniform yellow. Antennae: two-thirds of body-length; of 56 and 57 articles. Ocelli: 1+4, 5, 5, 3 with those of the superior row oval, and 1+4, 4, 4, 3 with those of the superior row almost round; general pattern as described for E. fasciatus . Prosternum: with 8+8 small teeth; lateral spines peg-like, placed immediately lateral to external teeth. Tergites: there is a greater tendency towards angulation and slight projection of the posterior angles of the large tergites, and towards sinuosity of the internal borders of the posterior projections on the short tergites (Fig. 10) than in most specimens of either E. fasciatus or E. grossipes but the difference in these respects is hardly consistent enough to be of diagnostic value; posterior border of intermediate tergite sinuous. Coxal pores: 30 to 55 in four to five rows on each of the 12th to 15th coxae, most numerous on 14th. Glandular pores of 15th legs (Fig. 8): concentrated on internal aspects only of femur, tibia, tarsus and metatarsus; sparse on prefemur.

Chaetotaxy of 14th and 15th legs

General setae: on the metatarsus numerous, up to three-quarters the diameter of the article in length (Fig. 9); of much the same density and absolute length on the tarsus, about a quarter the diameter of the article in length; on the tibia and femur (Fig 8) sparser and rather shorter; on the dorsal aspect of the prefemur much the same as those on tibia and femur but on the ventral aspect of the article the setae are stout, almost spinous. Seriate setae: none on the 15th metatarsus; as in E. fasciatus on the 14th leg. Spinous setae: on the 14th tarsus the ventral external seta (VaTa) is replaced by two small setae (Fig. 11), while the ventral internal seta (VpTa) is stout. Setae of tuft (Fig. 8): long and numerous in both specimens.

Sculpturing of 15th legs (Fig. 8)

Prefemur with dorsal sulci distinct, internal one broad and deep, continuous with basal femoral pit, external one finer, not reaching the distal end of article; basal femoral pit deep and extensive, scaphoid, occupying about half the diameter of the base of femur and a quarter of its length, not attenuated distally as in E. fasciatus but becoming shallower before leading to the internal femoral sulcus which then deepens and becomes gradually narrower and shallower distally to disappear before reaching the margin of the pore-free area; external femoral sulcus finer, extending to the margin of the pore-free area; pore-free area occupying about the distal one-fifth of the internal aspect of femur, slightly elevated without producing any marked swelling, bearing at its centre a well-circumscribed circular or slightly oval fine pore-sieve about a quarter the diameter of the distal end of femur; setae on the pore-free area no denser than on the rest of the shaft and whether or not there are any actually on the pore-sieve seems quite fortuitous.

Sculpturing of 14th legs

Internal and external dorsal sulci rather indistinct on prefemur and femur.

Spinulation:

15 VpF and 15 DpT may be absent; a small coxolateral spine on right 15th leg of the male from Rhodes only; a well-developed 15th accessory apical claw.

Genitalia: as in E. fasciatus .

IMMATURE SPECIMENS. The male from Rhodes (lacking the 14th and 15th legs), 18 mm long with 41 antennal articles, 1+3, 4, 3 ocelli, 7+7 prosternal teeth, setiform lateral spines, about 15 pores on each of the posterior coxae and no coxolateral spines seems, judging by the development of the genitalia, to belong to the fourth post-larval stadium.

The female holotype from Tinos, 24 mm long, with 44 antennal articles, 1+4, 4, 3 ocelli, 7+7 prosternal teeth, setiform lateral spines, about 18 pores on each of the posterior coxae, no coxolateral spines and adult spinulation on the 14th and 15th legs, has the 15th metatarsal general setae rather longer than the diameter of the article and the tarsal setae about half the diameter of the article in length. In spite of its size this specimen seems also to belong to the fourth post-larval stadium because each gonopod bears only a single minute spur and a small claw.

The female from Rhodes, 23 mm long, resembles the above specimen but for a pair of incipient teeth adjacent to the median prosternal notch (making a total of 8+8), 30 to 35 pores on each of the posterior coxae and more advanced genitalia with two small unequal spurs and a well-developed claw on each gonopod. It certainly belongs to the fifth post-larval stadium.

The tergites of all these specimens tend to show features of immaturity comparable to those found in E. grossipes and the posterior projection of the 13th tergite of the last specimen is figured (Fig. 12).

DISCUSSION. Latzel (1880) regarded Lithobius litoralis as a synonym of L. grossipes (= " L. fasciatus " of more recent authors) and this synonymy has not hitherto been disputed. This is hardly surprising because L. Koch’s description of the single immature female might well apply to E. grossipes . But examination of the holotype shows it to be distinct from this species owing to the distribution of concentrated glandular pores on the 15th legs, and also from E. fasciatus owing to the absence of 15th metatarsal seriate setae. Further, the adult male from Tinos (the type locality), although labelled " L. grossipes " by Koch, is clearly of the same species as the holotype and the sculpturing of its 15th femur is characteristic. Koch defines litoralis by means of immature characters only, notably the rather undeveloped gonopods, and was unaware of its true nature; otherwise he would not have identified other specimens of litoralis in his collection as L. grossipes . He may thus be said to have named E. litoralis accidentally.

Lithobius fasciatus graecus Verhoeff , which is described below, is considered here to be conspecific, though not consubspecific, with E. litoralis , differing only in the constant possession of coxolateral spines. L. fasciatus graecus var. fasciatograecus Verhoeff , which was originally described from Naxos and Crete (Verhoeff, 1901) as a variety without coxolateral spines, is therefore almost certainly identical with the nominate subspecies of E. litoralis .