Megaphyllum austriacum (Latzel, 1884)

Iulus austriacus Latzel, 1884: 296 –300, Figs 157–159.

Iulus (Chromatoiulus) austriacus: Verhoeff 1894a: 153 .

Megaphyllum (Chromatoiulus) austriacus: Verhoeff 1895: 240 .

Brachyiulus austriacus: Verhoeff 1896: 219, Fig. 29; 1897: 112–113; 1901b: Fig. 6.

Brachyiulus (Chromatoiulus) austriacus: Verhoeff 1899a: 194 .

Brachyiulus (Chromatoiulus) dahli Verhoeff, 1901b: 231 –232, Fig. 7.

Chromatoiulus austriacus dahli: Attems 1927: 238 .

Chromatoiulus austriacus: Attems 1927: 237 –238, Figs 323–324; 1929a: 330; Strasser 1965: 14; 1966a: 195, 210; 1971a: 40; 1971b: 344; 1976: 616–617; Mršić 1987: 272; Ceuca 1992: 424.

Chromatoiulus dahlii: Attems 1929a: 331 .

Chromatoiulus (Chromatoiulus) austriacus: Attems 1940: 306, Fig. 27; 1959: 305.

Chromatoiulus dahli: Strasser 1971a: 40; Ceuca 1992: 425.

Chromatoiulus (Chromatoiulus) dahlii: Attems 1959: 305 .

Megaphyllum austriacum: Ćurčić & Makarov 1997: 194; Mauriès et al. 1997: 290; Ćurčić et al. 1999: 18 P; Makarov et al. 2004: 258 –259; Enghoff & Kime 2009.

Megaphyllum dahli: Enghoff & Kime 2009

Material examined. MNB: ZMB 12720a: gonopods, 1st and 2nd leg-pair, dahli syntype, slide preparation, Herzegovina, Verhoeff leg.; ZMB 2493a (Nr. 1745 Coll. Verhoeff) dahli syntype, gonopods, microscope preparation (Nr. 1744 Coll. Verhoeff), Herzegovina, Verhoeff leg.; ZMB 4377: 13, 1Ƥ, Fiume; ZMB 1769: 333, 3ƤƤ, Steiermark, leg. Verhoeff; HNHM: 13, 1 juv. Croatia: Croatian coastline, “III.3.132.”, Brachyiulus austriacus Latz. det. Verhoeff; ZMUC: 13 Brachyiulus austriacus Latz., “Verhoeff, 6/I 1922 ”, prep 1507 H. Enghoff.

Distribution in the Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mostar, “Orien–Gebirge” (today: Orjen Mt., type locality of dahli) (Verhoeff 1901b); Croatia: Croatian coastline: Cres Island, Lošinj and Krk, Crikvenica (Vinodol), Selce (Srtasser 1965); Bjokovo: Jama below Skokom and Jama near Vilenjača (Mršiċ 1987); Podgorje, Opatija, Jurdani, Fiume, Zengg, Sveti Juraj, Bribirtal at Novi Vinodol (Attems 1929a); Republic of Macedonia: along the Treska River, near Skopje (Makarov et al. 2004); Montenegro: Prcanj (Attems 1929a), Cetinje, Črna Gora (Makarov et al. 2004); Serbia: Kosmaj Mt., Central Serbia, Peċina in Barskom Ridu, Divna Gorica, Suva Planina Mt. (Makarov et al. 2004); Slovenia: Divača, Občina Repen Tabor Lipica, Rosandratal (Glinščica) at Triest, Inner Carniolan (Notranjska) mountains, karst of Triest and North Istria (Strasser 1966a).

World distribution. Apart from Balkan also present in Italy (Foddai et al. 1995) and North Serbia (Deliblatska Peščara, Fruška Gora Mt.) (Makarov et al. 2004).

Remarks. Though called austriacum, this species is absent from Austria (Thaler et al. 1993). The type locality is not clear, but refers to the Austro–Hungarian Empire (Latzel 1884). The drawings in the description are small and the gonopod’s description lacks detail, which caused some confusion in the species’ identity in the following years (Lazányi & Korsós 2011). At least for a decade – until the species diversity became evident – most Central East European Megaphyllum individuals (dissected by EL in the Collections of NHMW and HNHM) were identified as M. austriacum, without careful examination, i.e. dissection of adult males (e.g. M. recticauda identified as M. austriacum by Daday, see later).

The form dahli was based on certain small differences in the promere and opisthomere, i.e. the promere of M. dahli is apically more oblique, the solenomere is thinner, the caudal process of the solenomere is shorter than in M. austriacum (s and scp on Figs 2–3, 5–6 and 8, respectively) (Verhoeff 1901b). Attems (1927) thought these differences so small that he degraded M. dahli to subspecific level. As M. dahli has not been recollected since its description we could investigate only the two type slide preparations of the gonopods (additional, freshly dissected individual with gonopod parts like M. dahli were found, see later). Both of the type specimens (Figs 1–3) and one of the freshly dissected non-types identified by Verhoeff (HNHM, Figs 4–6) showed asymmetry on the opisthomere, i.e. one side looked like M. dahli (Figs 2 and 6), the other side resembled M. austriacum, and this difference was not only due to positioning (Figs 3 and 5). Also, opisthomeres of the M. austriacum individual from ZMUCidentified, though not dissected by Verhoeff, Fig. 8 —resembled M. dahli, although the promeres (Fig. 7) were rounded like M. austriacum . The individual from HNHM, from the Croatian coastline not only had asymmetrical opisthomeres, but promeres that were typical M. dahli (far from the single M. dahli type locality, but in the middle of the distribution range for M. austriacum) (Fig. 4). In conclusion we suggest synonymizing M. dahli with M. austriacum or accepting only the nominotypical subspecies (if we follow Attems (1927) who treated the two forms as subspecies), on the following grounds: differences in the opisthomeres seem to be due to (sometimes individual) variability; the two types of promere shapes (rounded vs. oblique) do not show distinct distribution patterns (as they should in subspecies).

One of the specimens from the Croatian coastline (HNHM) lacks vulvae and gonopods although it is in stadium XII and externally looks like a large adult female, with swollen first leg-pairs; it is here classified as a juvenile.