Sphaeromimus andrahomana Wesener

Wesener, Thomas, Le, Daniel Minh-Tu & Loria, Stephanie F., 2014, Integrative revision of the giant pill-millipede genus Sphaeromimus from Madagascar, with the description of seven new species (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida, Arthrosphaeridae), ZooKeys 414, pp. 67-107 : 88-90

Sphaeromimus andrahomana Wesener sp. n. Figs 1C, 16C, D, 18

Sphaeromimus 'sp. n. V Grotte’: Wesener et al. 2010: 1185 (molecular phylogenetic analysis)

Material examined.

Type material. Holotype. 1 ♂, FMNH-INS 562214, N of village of N of Ankapaky, close to the Grotte d’Andrahomana, 25°11'18.87"S, 46°38'45.14"E, 70 m, dry forest plateau with deep ravines, coll. Wesener & Schütte, 20.v.2007

Other material examined. 1 ♂, FMNH-INS 56211, Grotte Andrahomana, 24°51.006'S, 046°55.907'E, inside humid cave, coll. Wesener & Schütte, 20.v.2007.

Diagnosis.

Small matte-black pill millipede with a dark brown head and collum. Similar to Sphaeromimus andohahela but differs from the latter in weakly developed cuticular patterns and presence of numerous small pits on movable finger of posterior telopod. Genetical distance of the COI gene between both species is 10-11.4%.

Description.

Measurements (holotype): 21.1 mm long, 9.8 mm (2nd), 10.7 mm (8th - widest) wide, 5.5 (2nd), 7.0 mm (10th, highest) height.

Colouration of tergites black, collum and head brown. Paratergite impressions light brown to olive-greenish, legs and antennae olive green (faded to white in ethanol), pleurites light brown, eyes green.

Head: Eyes with>55 ocelli. Antennae short, posteriorly protruding to coxa 5. Antennomeres 1-5 with few longer setae, 6 densely pubescent. Antennomere 6 towards disc with single row of sensilla basiconica. Male with 58/61 apical cones. Mouthparts not dissected.

Collum glabrous except few setae at margins.

Thoracic shield smooth and glabrous, few setae in grooves. Grooves deep. Tergites 3-12 smooth, except for paratergite depressions. Paratergite tips of midbody tergites weakly projecting posteriorly.

Anal shield well-rounded, lacking pubescent area.

Endotergum inner section with few short triangular spines and long setae (Fig. 16C). Between ridge and inner area two rows of weakly impressed, circular cuticular impressions. Externally two dense rows of marginal bristles (Fig. 16C). Bristles long, protruding above tergite margin.

First stigma-carrying plate with a well-rounded not-projecting apex.

Leg 1 with 2 or 3, 2 with 5 or 6, 3 with 10 or 11 ventral spines. Leg pairs 4-21 with 12-14 ventral spines. Coxa process well developed (Fig. 18A), only weakly developed at anterior legs. Femur 1.6, tarsus 3.0 times longer than wide (Fig. 18A).

Male gonopore typical for the genus.

Anterior telopod (Fig. 18C, D): Harp carrying three stridulation ribs (Fig. 18C). Shape usual for the genus, telopoditomere 4 as long as 2 and 3 combined, with one large triangular spine and 2 or 3 smaller ones (Fig. 18C, D). Podomere 3 with three small spines juxtaposed to process of telopoditomere 2 (Fig. 18D).

Posterior telopod (Fig. 18E, F): Podomere 3 weakly curved, 3 times longer than wide, longer than immovable finger (Fig. 18E). Both sides with conspicuous pits (Fig. 18E, F). Hollowed-out inner margin with single lobe and five sclerotized spines, posterior aspect with ca. 24 small crenulated teeth (Fig. 18F). Immovable finger apically strongly tapering, its apex strongly curved and overlapping podomere 3. Podomere 1 and 3 glabrous except for a few marginal hair with few setae, podomere 2 on posterior side glabrous (Fig. 18F), on anterior side with several hair (Fig. 18E).

Female unknown.

Etymology: ‘andrahomana’, noun in apposition, after the famous cave close to the type locality, the Grotte d’Andrahomana.

Distribution.

Relic occurrence in the Grotte D’Andrahomana. The single individual found close to the village Ankapaky might be an indication of a more widespread occurrence in the little explored Vohisandria and Amboalaingo hills N. of Ankapaky and S. of Ranopiso.

Discussion.

Intraspecific variations: The cave specimen shows a distinct colour pattern: tergites very light brown with dark brown posterior margins (Fig. 1C), head and collum light brown, legs and antenna, at least apically red. The endotergum shows fewer spines and hair in the cave specimen (Fig. 16D) when compared to the holotype (Fig. 16C). Furthermore, the leg of the cave specimen is distinctively slenderer at its basal joints (Fig. 18B), the femur being 2.2 (holotype 1.6), the tarsus 3 (holotype 3) times longer than wide. Despite their large morphological difference show both specimens the same COI haplotype.