Cormocephalus anceps ( Porat, 1871 )

Simaiakis, Stylianos Michail & Edgecombe, Gregory D., 2013, Scolopendromorph centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) in the Natural History Museum (London): A review of the hitherto unidentified species collected in Africa, with remarks on taxonomy and distribution, and a new species of Otostigmus (Parotostigmus), Zootaxa 3734 (2), pp. 169-198 : 185

18. Cormocephalus anceps ( Porat, 1871)

Material examined. South Africa: Bare Town , leg. P.I. Felater, 2 exx., BMNH 01.3.10.26; South Africa: Simons Town , 15/5/1894, leg. Capt. H.W. Whyte, 1 ex., BMNH 1919.12.4.3; South Africa: Somerset East , leg. Leppan, 1 ex., BMNH 03.6.25.192; Swaziland: Umbuluzi , found in dung, 3/9/1965, leg. R . C.H. Sweeny, 1 ex., BMNH ?. ( Fig. 30 ).

Type locality. South Africa (Kapland) ( Porat 1871) .

General distribution. Southern Africa: South Africa (ZA), Swaziland (SZ) (new region record) ( Lawrence 1955; Schileyko and Stagl 2004).

Remarks. Cormocephalus anceps was recognised as a species until it was transferred to C. westwoodi as a subspecies by Schileyko and Stagl (2004). Molecular phylogenetic studies Vahtera et al. (2013) indicate that C. anceps is not most closely related to other putative subspecies of C. westwoodi , i.e., C. westwoodi westwoodi ( Newport, 1844) and C. w. elegans Kraepelin, 1903. Rather than recognizing a polyphyletic species, we return C. w. anceps to species rank.

Figures

FIGURE 30. Asanada socotrana, Cormocephalus anceps and C. cupipes, distribution records of specimens from Africa housed in the NHM collection.