Ommatoiulus bipartitus (Verhoeff, 1910)

Fig. 5

Schizophyllum (Hemipodoiulus) bipartitum Verhoeff, 1910: 202 –203, figs XIII, XIV, XX, XXIV. Schizophyllum fissum Verhoeff, 1921: 76 –77, figs 29–31. Synonymized by Mauriès & Vicente 1977: 541. Schizophyllum involutum Verhoeff, 1925: 116, figs 36–38. Synonymized by Mauriès & Vicente 1977: 541. Ommatoiulus moreleti subsp. Lienharti Brolemann, 1921: 182 –184, figs 1, 5. Synonymized with involutum by Mauriès & Vicente 1977: 543.

Schizophyllum (Hemipodoiulus) fissus – Machado 1953: 92. Ommatoiulus lienhardti [sic!] – Mauriès 1971: 114.

Ommatoiulus bipartitus – Mauriès & Vicente 1977: 541. — Vicente 1985: 321. — Akkari & Enghoff 2012: 31.

Material examined

PORTUGAL: 3 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀, 3 juveniles, Porto District, Leixões, 25 Aug. 1904, F. Ohans leg. (ZHM); 1 ♂, Porto District, Murgido, 41.220995 N, 7.937537 W, alt. 878, 24 Apr. 2012, M.G. París and N. Percino leg. (NHMW 8740).

Distribution

Northwest Portugal, North Spain, Southwest France.

Comments

Ommatoiulus bipartitus was described from Corunna (now: A Coruña) in NW Spain. All the Portuguese bipartitus specimens agree perfectly with Verhoeff’s (1925) description of Schizophyllum involutum described from Portugal (Braga) and later synonymised with O. bipartitus (see Mauriès & Vicente 1977, Vicente 1985). The similarities between the two nominal species are unquestionable; however, the consistency in the shape of the paracoxite in the Portuguese/Galician population is rather striking. It differs from the ‘real’ bipartitus in having more square than rounded and curved margins, exhibiting an apical fold and bearing additional processes/teeth (see Fig. 5 B). The promerite of the ‘ involutus ’ morphotype is a little more voluminous with a notably more prominent lateral margin, a larger mesoapical process and without the mid-apical tooth. The ‘ involutus ’ morph seems to occur in western Iberian sector, being also identified from Galicia. Another nominal species of relevance here is Ommatoiulus lienharti described from the Arcachon in southwestern France (see Brolemann 1921) and later recorded in northern Spain. O. lienharti shows important similarities with both morphotypes mentioned above (Fig. 5 C). Mauriès (1971) included O. lienharti in his list of millipedes from Cantabria and Spanish Pyrenees, being certain that the species must occur in the area. A few years later, Mauriès & Vicente (1977) recorded O. lienharti from northern Portugal as a synonym of Schizophyllum involutum before synonymising the latter under O. bipartitus . In this work, we treat all these morphs as a single species under the oldest name, Ommatoiulus bipartitus, waiting for future detailed morphological/molecular analyses to help better delineating the nature of their phylogenetic relationships and clarifying their taxonomic status.