Mitocybe auriportae Cook and Loomis, 1928

Shelley, Rowland M., 2010, Rediscovery, redescription, and illustrations of the milliped, Mitocybe auriportae Cook and Loomis, 1928 (Colobognatha: Platydesmida: Andrognathidae), Zootaxa 2475, pp. 39-47 : 45-46

Mitocybe auriportae Cook and Loomis, 1928

Figs. 1–12 .

Mitocybe auriportae Cook and Loomis, 1928:20 –21, figs. 5a–b. Chamberlin and Hoffman, 1958:184–185. Gardner, 1975:18 –19, figs. 8–11. Hoffman, 1999:188. Shelley, 2002:93.

Type specimens. 3 holotype ( NMNH) and one 3 ( VMNH) and two Ƥ ( FSCA, NMNH) paratypes collected by H. F. Loomis, 23 November 1919, in Spring Valley on Mt. Tamalpais, Marin Co., California, USA. As stated previously, the locations of one 3 and one Ƥ paratypes are unknown.

Diagnosis. With the characters of the genus ( Figs. 1–11 ).

Preserved coloration. All specimens are uniformly light tawny yellow.

Ecology. According to Cook and Loomis (1928), the types were found beneath the surface layer of leaves over stony soil in thick oak woods. Habitat data were not provided for the Santa Cruz sample.

Having seen a second sample of M. auriportae , I understand why it had not been recollected. The milliped is basically just a thread and, with its inconspicuous yellowish coloration, would be nearly impossible to spot intermingled among similarly shaped mycelial threads and twigs in the litter and humus. Unless a collector discovered a colony of individuals, whose wriggling and writhing caught his/her eye as may have happened to Loomis, (s)he would be unlikely to even notice M. auriportae . It is as inconspicuous and invisible as any diplopod that I have seen; individuals are no broader than the veins of the decaying leaves they inhabit. As the Santa Cruz female was in a cave, perhaps it stood out in contrast against the bare substrate. Berlese sampling seems the most effective method of recovering M. auriportae , but unless individuals fall through lengthwise, they are long enough to be caught on the mesh and still not be detected.

Distribution. Same as that of the genus ( Fig. 12); the following new record is available. USA: CALIFORNIA: Santa Cruz Co., Vanished River Cave, Davenport Limestone Quarry, ca. 10 mi (16 km) ENE Santa Cruz (city), Ƥ, 21 September 1985, D. Clardy (CAS).

Remarks. The Santa Cruz female is 26 mm long, 1.4 mm wide, and has + 97 segments including the epiproct. I counted 55 segments on the holotype, which brings the total to 63 when the (at least) eight missing segments are added; it measured approximately 15.0 mm long and 0.6 mm wide. Cook and Loomis (1928) reported a male with 64 segments, which must be the holotype that is missing the head and the nine, rather than eight, anteriormost segments. I counted 81 segments including the epiproct on the NMNH female paratype, which is consistent with the 80 segmented female cited by the authors. Its anterior end (head and ca. 10 segments) was tightly coiled against the venter, and I obtained measurements of 25.4 mm in length and 1.3 mm in width.

Mitocybe auriportae is a long, thread-like, dorsoventrally flattened milliped with truly glabrous prozona and metaterga that are so densely pubescent as to appear glabrous in dorsal view. The pubescence is so dense that it does not appear to exist; the short, fine hairs are packed so tightly that they are indistinguishable in dorsal view and are best detected in profile ( Figs. 3–4 ). The milliped has short but distinct paranota ( Figs. 5– 7 ), in contrast to the characterization in the tribal diagnosis ( Hoffman 1980:118).

The Santa Cruz female could represent a new species, but this cannot be determined without males, and I assign it to M. auriportae . With the absence of external ornamentation, there is little structure to describe, and species distinctions in Mitocybe should be based on gonopodal details.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Female of M. auriportae from Santa Cruz Co., California. 1, lateral view of entire specimen. 2, lateral view of anterior end. 3, lateral view of caudal end backlit to show pubescence. 4, sublateral view of caudal end.

FIGURES 5 – 8. Mitocybe autiportae, somatic features of female paratype, pubesence omitted. 5, left side of head, collum, and segments 2 – 5, dorsal view. 6, left side of midbody segments, dorsal view. 7, epiproct and right side of caudalmost segments, dorsal view. 8, head, anterior view. C, collum; 2 – 5, segment numbers. Scale line = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 9 – 11. Mitocybe auriportae, gonopodal features of male paratype. 9, left gonopods, anterior view. 10, the same, lateral view. 11, right gonopods, caudal view. A 1 - 6, podomeres of anterior gonopod; P 1 - 6, podomeres of posterior gonopod; S, sternum. Scale line = 0.05 mm.