Otostigmus amballae Chamberlin, 1913

Lewis, J. G. E., 2002, A re-examination of 11 species of Otostigmus from the Indo- Australian region described by R. V. Chamberlin based on type specimens in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard (Chilopoda; Scolopendromorpha; Scolopendridae), Journal of Natural History 36 (14), pp. 1687-1706 : 1688-1690

Otostigmus amballae Chamberlin, 1913

(gures 1–7) Otostigmus amballae Chamberlin, 1913: 74 . Otostigmus (O.) amballae: Attems, 1930: 153 .

Material examined

Holotype labelled Otostigmus amballae TC- 632 Type. Amballa , India, 1873 Carleton.

Description

(Chamberlin’s data in parentheses where appropriate). Length 38 mm. Head capsule with ne puncti and large widely separated pits. Antennomeres 17, the basal two and a third glabrous. Forcipular coxosternal teeth 41 4, the process of the femoroid with two small inner teeth (gure 1).

Tergites with paramedian sutures complete from 3, marginate from 6 with a low median keel from 3. The paramedian sutures each in a sulcus from about 13, forming two lateral keels on each side giving ve low keels in all and a slight indication of two further lateral keels on each side from 14 (gure 2). The keels with a few small tubercles/spines from 14 (all plates excepting the rst two and the last one with a low median keel, one each side of this geminated by the sulcus and two between the sulcus and the lateral margin, these more lateral keels being more or less broken and bearing inconspicuous tubercles along edges; keels most distinct on the caudal segments). Tergite 21 with a weak median keel in anterior third and median longitudinal depression in posterior half (gure 3).

Sternites with complete paramedian sutures from 2 to 20 with a median longitudinal depression from 2 to 15 and a round median posterior depression from 4 to

Otostigmus species of R. V. Chamberlin 1689 15 (gure 4). Sternites 14–20 with low tubercles (gure 5). Sternite 21 with sides converging posteriorly and posterior border weakly concave (gure 6).

Coxopleural process of moderate length (extending caudad of ventral plate about two-thirds the length of the latter), the left process with two end spines, one subapical, one lateral and two dorsal spines (gure 7), the right process with two end spines, two lateral spines and one dorsal spine but the more distal lateral spine is the same as the subapical spine on the left (gure 6) (terminating in four spines or points, and also with a fth spine on coxopleural margin near caudoectal corner).

End leg prefemora each with three ventrolateral, two ventromedial, three medial, two dorsomedial and one corner spine.

Many legs missing. Legs 1 and 2 with two tarsal spines, legs 10 and 13–21 with

1690 J. G. E. Lewis one (at least the rst three pairs of legs with two tarsal spines, the others, or all but a few succeeding these, to the 20th inclusive with one tarsal spine).

Remarks

Attems (1930) used tergites at least from 7, with seven to nine sharp and nely toothed keels, to separate four species including O. amballae , from species without keels, apart from a median keel, or with posterior segments with shallowly arched keels. The keels are, however, not as strongly marked in O. amballae as Attems’ wording suggests and similar to those found in some specimens of O. rugulosus Porat, 1876 (Lewis, in press). In O. rugulosus , however, the keels, if present, lack spines/tubercles, there are 21 antennomeres rather than 17 (possibly 17–19, see below) in O. amballae , sternite paramedian sutures occupy only the anterior half, or a little more, of sternites in the mid trunk; they are complete in O. amballae .

Attems (1930) described the posterior sternites as ‘granuliert’. The structures are the same as the tubercles (Attems’ ‘runden blasigen Pusteln’) that characterize O. asper Haase, 1887 , O. proponens Chamberlin, 1920 , O. tuberculatus (Kohlrausch, 1878) and O. sumatranus (Haase, 1887) . These species lack tergite keels.

Lewis (1992) described O. amballae from Nepal which diVered from the type in the possession of 18 antennomeres rather than 17, the tergites strongly keeled and the sternites without tubercles. Khanna (1994) examined 14 specimens from Uttar Pradesh, India with 17–19 antennomeres with tergite paramedian sutures rst complete between 2 and 4, coxopleural end spines varying from one to four and apparently no dorsal spine. Schileyko (1995) described the species from Vietnam as covered by spines (tergites, sternites and especially headplate) and prefemur of last legs with two ventral spines. These and some other characters are not those of O. amballae . All specimens hitherto assigned to O. amballae should be reassessed.