Escaryus kirgizicus

Escaryus kirgizicus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Myriapoda
Class:	Chilopoda
Order:	Geophilomorpha
Family:	Schendylidae
Genus:	Escaryus
Species:	E. kirgizicus
Binomial name
Escaryus kirgizicus Titova, 1973

Escaryus kirgizicus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. ^[1] As the species name suggests, this centipede is found in Kyrgyzstan. ^[1] This species is known only from high mountains and is notable for being found at one of the highest altitudes (3,500 m) recorded for any centipede in the order Geophilomorpha in Central Asia. ^[2]

Discovery

This species was first described in 1973 by the Russian myriapodologist Lidia P. Titova. She based the original description of this species on five specimens (three females and two males). ^[3] These specimens were found in alpine sedge meadows in the high mountain steppe (at an altitude of 3,500 m) of the inner Tian-Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan. ^{[3] [2]}

Description

This species features 39 or 41 pairs of legs in both sexes. This centipede is small, measuring only about 20 mm in length. The head is yellow, and the body is light yellow. The head is somewhat elongated. The posterior margin of the labrum features a relatively deep concave arch in the middle and 19 or 20 large denticles. The denticles in the middle of the labrum are blunt but the lateral denticles are pointed. One pair of lappets extend from the lateral margins of the telopodites of the first maxillae. The forcipules end in claws that are thin and sharp. Each article of the forcipule features a small tubercle. The sternites are long, with dense but short setae. The sternite of the ultimate leg-bearing segment has the shape of a wide trapezoid. The basal element of each of the ultimate legs features eight large pores. The ultimate legs end in claws that are as large as those at the distal ends of the preceding legs. The ultimate legs of the male are slightly thicker than those of the female. The telson features small anal pores. ^{[3] [4]}

This species shares many traits with other species in the genus Escaryus . For example, like other species in this genus, this species has an elongated head, denticles in the middle of the labrum, and lappets on the first maxillae. Furthermore, the ultimate legs in this species, like those of other species in this genus, end in claws, and these legs are thicker in the male than in the female. ^{[3] [5] [6]}

Several other traits, however, distinguish this species from three other Escaryus species found in Kyrgyzstan: E. latzeli , ^[7] E. oligopus , ^[8] and E. retusidens . ^[9] For example, anal pores are present in E. kirgizicus but absent in the other three species. ^{[3] [5] [10]} Furthermore, whereas E. kirgizicus is only about 20 mm long and features only eight pores on each ultimate leg, the other three species reach larger sizes and feature more pores on their ultimate legs. The species E. latzeli features nine to twelve such pores, and the corresponding pores on E. oligopus and E. retusidens are even more numerous. Moreover, whereas E. kirgizicus features 39 or 41 leg pairs, E. oligopus can have fewer leg pairs (with as few as 35), E. latzeli can have more (with 41 or 43), and E. retusidens has several more (with 47 to 55). ^[11]

References

1. Bonato, L.; Chagas Junior, A.; Edgecombe, G.D.; Lewis, J.G.E.; Minelli, A.; Pereira, L.A.; Shelley, R.M.; Stoev, P.; Zapparoli, M. (2016). "Escaryus kirgizicus Titova, 1972". ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2024-06-08.
2. Dyachkov, Yurii V. (2023-09-12). "On the Chilopoda fauna of the Pamir Mts, Tajikistan, with notes on the highest records of chilopod species in Middle Asia". Ecologica Montenegrina. 65: 67–75 [72-73]. doi: 10.37828/em.2023.65.9 . ISSN   2336-9744.
3. Titova, L.P. (1973). "New species of the genus Escaryus Cook & Collins (Schendylidae, Chilopoda)". In Ghilarov, M.S. (ed.). Ekologiya Pochvennykh Bespozvonochnykh (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka Publisher. pp. 94-119 [107-108].
4. Bonato, Lucio; Edgecombe, Gregory; Lewis, John; Minelli, Alessandro; Pereira, Luis; Shelley, Rowland; Zapparoli, Marzio (2010-11-18). "A common terminology for the external anatomy of centipedes (Chilopoda)". ZooKeys (69): 17–51. Bibcode:2010ZooK...69...17B. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.69.737 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   3088443 . PMID   21594038.
5. Dyachkov, Yurii V.; Bonato, Lucio (2024-04-23). "An updated synthesis of the Geophilomorpha (Chilopoda) of Asian Russia". ZooKeys (1198): 17–54 [36-37]. Bibcode:2024ZooK.1198...17D. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1198.119781 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   11061560 . PMID   38693975.
6. Pereira, L.A.; Hoffman, R.L. (1993). "The american species of Escaryus, a genus of holoarctic centipeds (Geophilomorpha: Schendylidae)" (PDF). Jeffersoniana. 3: 1–72 [8].
7. Bonato, L.; Chagas Junior, A.; Edgecombe, G.D.; Lewis, J.G.E.; Minelli, A.; Pereira, L.A.; Shelley, R.M.; Stoev, P.; Zapparoli, M. (2016). "Escaryus latzeli (Sseliwanoff,1881)". ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2024-06-08.
8. Bonato, L.; Chagas Junior, A.; Edgecombe, G.D.; Lewis, J.G.E.; Minelli, A.; Pereira, L.A.; Shelley, R.M.; Stoev, P.; Zapparoli, M. (2016). "Escaryus oligopus Attems, 1904". ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2024-06-08.
9. Bonato, L.; Chagas Junior, A.; Edgecombe, G.D.; Lewis, J.G.E.; Minelli, A.; Pereira, L.A.; Shelley, R.M.; Stoev, P.; Zapparoli, M. (2016). "Escaryus retusidens Attems, 1904". ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2024-06-08.
10. Attems, Carl August Theodor Michael von (1904). "Central - und hoch - asiatische Myriopoden gesammelt im Jahre 1900 von Dr. von Almassy und Dr. von Stummer". Zoologische Jahrbücher (in German). 20: 113–130 [121-122]. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.18578 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
11. Dyachkov, Y.V.; Tuf, I.H. (2018). "New data on the genus Escaryus Cook et Collins, 1891 (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Schendylidae) from Kazakhstan" (PDF). Arthropoda Selecta. 27 (4): 293–299 [298].