Tropostreptus kipunji, Enghoff, Henrik, 2017

Enghoff, Henrik, 2017, A new East African genus of spirostreptid millipedes (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae), with notes on their fungal ectoparasite Rickia gigas, Zootaxa 4273 (4), pp. 501-530 : 521

Tropostreptus kipunji sp. nov.

Figs 2 , 4 B, 7F, 8F

Diagnosis. A small species of Tropostreptus ( Fig. 2 ). Differs from other species, except T. droides , by the combination of size and the latero-basad direction of the metaplical process corresponding to the birdhead-shaped process of most other species. Differs from T. droides by smaller size, a more pointed tip to the latero-basad metaplical process and a shorter, less curved antetorsal process (atp) of the telopodite.

Etymology. The name is a noun in apposition and refers to the Kipunji ( Rungwecebus kipunji [ Ehardt, Butynski, Jones & Davenport, 2005, in Jones et al. 2005]), a distinctive species of monkey, belonging to a monotypic genus, discovered as late as 2003 and with a distribution restricted to Mt. Rungwe and the Ndundulu Forest Reserve in the Udzungwa Mts ( Jones et al. 2005; Davenport et al. 2006).

Material studied (total: 3 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀)

Holotype: ♂ TANZANIA, Mt. Rungwe , forest above Rungwe Mission Station, 9°10’S, 33°35’E, 1600–1800 m asl, ultimo i. 1996. M. Andersen, P. Gravlund & A. Jakobsen leg. ( ZMUC).

Paratypes: 2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀ same data as holotype ( ZMUC).

Type locality: TANZANIA, Mt. Rungwe , forest above Rungwe Mission Station, 9°10’S, 33°35’E, 1600–1800 m asl.

Description. SIZE ( Fig. 2 ). Length 5½– 7 cm; vertical body diameter 4.5–4.8 mm (males), up to 6.8 mm (females), 44–47 podous rings.

COLOUR. After 21 years in alcohol head antennae, legs and telson yellow, collum marbled brownish with darker margin, orange yellow with dark margins, body rings yellow back to suture, blackish- brown, then (posterior ca. 1/8) amber.

GONOPODS ( Figs 7 F, 8F). Sternum bell-shaped, not reaching as far as paracoxites. Proplica ending in blunttriangular process (mpl) separated by sinus from large apico-lateral, sub-semicircular lobe (lpl). Process mpl reaching further distad than process lpl. Metaplica apically with rounded small mesal tip and a pointed, slender, latero-basad process (corresponding to the birdhead-shaped process of most other congeners). Telopodite shortly after emergence from coxa with very long, slender, pointed, sinuous antetorsal process (atp); overall direction of process basad. Telopodite distal to antetorsal process without outgrowths.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality on Mt. Rungwe in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, 1600–1800 m asl.

Coexisting congeners. None.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Size of Tropostreptus males, expressed as number of podous rings and midbody vertical diameter. Females reach higher diameters than males. See Figs. 11 and 13 for details on T. hamatus and T. sigmatospinus sp. nov.

FIGURE 4. Tropostreptus spp., mouthparts. A: T. droides sp. nov., left mandibular gnathal lobe, dorsal / anterior view, B: T. kipunji sp. nov., right mandibular gnathal lobe, mesal view. C: T. hamatus, male, gnathochilarium and right mandible, oblique ventral view. — Scales 0.1 mm. me = mentum, mf = molar furrow, msl = mandibular stipital lobe, od = odontomere, pl = pectinate lamellae, pm = prementum, ps = psectromere, se = sectile edge.

FIGURE 7. Tropostretus spp., gonopods, anterior view. A: T. hamatus, East Usambara Mts, B: T. hamatus, Udzungwa Mts., left telopodite missing, C: T. sigmatospinus sp. nov., D: T. microcephalus sp. nov., E: T. droides sp. nov., F: T. kipunji sp. nov. Scales 0.5 mm. atp = antetorsal process, bh = birdhead-shaped metaplical process, lpl = apicolateral proplical lobe, map = mesapical metaplical process, mp = metaplica, mpl = mesapical proplical lobe, pp = proplica, px = paracoxite, st = sternum, tlp = telopodite.