Prosopodesmus

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Prosopodesmus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Diplopoda
Order: Polydesmida
Family: Haplodesmidae
Genus: Prosopodesmus
Silvestri, 1910
Type species
Prosopodesmus jacobsoni
Silvestri, 1910
Synonyms
  • HomodesmusChamberlin, 1918
  • RhipidopeltisMiyosi, 1958

Prosopodesmus is a genus of flat-backed millipedes in the family Haplodesmidae. [1] These millipedes are found primarily in Australia and southern Japan. [2] This genus includes the species P. panporus , which is notable for exhibiting sexual dimorphism in segment number: Whereas adult females of this species feature the usual 20 segments (counting the collum as the first segment and the telson as the last) usually observed in the order Polydesmida, the adult males of this species feature only 19 segments. [3]

Contents

Discovery and distribution

This genus was created by the Italian zoologist Filippo Silvestri in 1910 to contain the newly discovered type species P. jacobsoni. [4] Although Silvestri based the original description of this species on type material collected from Java, this species has since proven to be a pantropical synanthrope, [2] found in Louisiana, Florida, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Panama, Brazil, India, Taiwan, and Fiji, among other places. [5] In 1920, the French myriapodologist Henri W. Brölemann originally described P. hilaris as a subspecies of P. jacobsoni found in Zanzibar, [6] but some authorities now regard this millipede to be a separate species. [7]

In 1980, the British myriapodologist John Gordon Blower and Adrian J. Rundle described another species in the same genus, P. panporus. [8] They based the original description of this species on several specimens collected from the hothouses for tropical plants in the Kew Gardens in England. [5] [8] The geographic origin of this species remained a mystery until 2012, when the zoologist Robert Mesibov reported the discovery of P. panporus specimens collected in 1986 from a remote tropical rainforest in the Cape York peninsula of Queensland in Australia, [5] which authorities now consider likely to be the native range of this species. [2]

In 2009, authorities deemed the genus Rhipidopeltis to be a junior synonym of Prosopodesmus. [9] This synonymy moved two more species to the genus Prospodesmus, both found in Japan: The species P. sinuatus was first described by the Japanese myriapodologist Yasunori Miyosi in 1958 and is found in southern Honshu, [10] whereas the species P. similis was first described by A. Haga in 1968 and is found in Kyushu. [5] [11]

Finally, in 2012, Mesibov described three new Prosopodesmus species, all found in the Wet Tropics of north Queensland in Australia. The species P. crater is found in the rainforest in the Atherton Tableland southwest of Cairns in Queensland. The species P. kirrama is found in the rainforest in the mountains northwest of Ingham and southwest of Tully in Queensland. The species P. monteithi is found in the rainforest from Daintree National Park west of Cape Tribulation to the Malbon Thompson range on the coast southeast of Cairns in Queensland. [5]

Description

Adults in this genus feature 20 segments (including the telson), [9] except for adult males of the species P. panporus, which have only 19 segments. [8] The species in this genus range in size from P. panporus, which reaches a maximum length of only 4.3 mm and is one of the smallest millipedes known, [8] to P. monteithi, which reaches a maximum length of 15 mm and is the largest known species in the genus Prosopodesmus. [5] These millipedes are not capable of volvation. The paranota are well developed and sloping, and the tergites feature three transverse rows of tubercles. The gonopods are shaped like hooks and are fairly simple, with no separate solenomere branch. [9]

Species

This genus includes eight species: [1]

Related Research Articles

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Polydesmida is the largest order of millipedes, with more than 5,000 species, including all the millipedes reported to produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN). This order is also the most diverse of the millipede orders in terms of morphology. Millipedes in this order are found in all regions of the world other than Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xystodesmidae</span> Family of millipedes

Xystodesmidae is a family of millipedes in the suborder Leptodesmidea within the order Polydesmida. The family Xystodesmidae was created by the American biologist Orator F. Cook in 1895 and named after the genus Xystodesmus. This family includes more than 390 known species distributed among 62 genera. Many species, however, remain undescribed: for example, it is estimated that the genus Nannaria contains over 200 species, but only 25 were described as of 2006. By 2022, 78 species in Nannaria have been described.

Tridontomidae is a small family of millipedes. Its members are endemic to Guatemala. These millipedes range from 22 mm to 28 mm in length and are uniformly grayish in color; their legs and antennae are unusually long and slender. This family includes the remarkable species Aenigmopus alatus, in which adult males feature no gonopods. This millipede is the only species in the infraclass Helminthomorpha without gonopods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. A. W. Jeekel</span> Dutch myriapodologist and entomologist

Casimir Albrecht Willem Jeekel was a Dutch myriapodologist and entomologist known for his major contributions to the taxonomy of millipedes. His 1971 monograph Nomenclator Generum et Familiarum Diplopodorum is credited as launching the "modern era" of millipede taxonomy, and has been considered the "most important single work ever published on the Diplopoda". He served as director of the Zoological Museum Amsterdam, and authored over 150 works on the taxonomy of millipedes and other myriapods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haplodesmidae</span> Family of millipedes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthroleucosomatidae</span> Family of millipedes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metopidiotrichidae</span> Family of millipedes

Metopidiotrichidae is a family of millipedes in the order Chordeumatida. This family includes more than 70 species. These millipedes are found in Indochina, Australia, and on Pacific islands from New Zealand to Japan.

<i>Brachydesmus</i> Genus of millipedes

Brachydesmus is a genus of millipedes belonging to the family Polydesmidae. The Czech zoologist Camill Heller first described this genus to contain the type species B. subterraneus. This genus now includes about 75 described species.

Kirkayakidae is a family of millipedes belonging to the order Chordeumatida. This family was formerly known as Altajellidae. Adult millipedes in this family have 28 segments rather than the 30 segments usually found in chordeumatidans.

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Termitodesmidae is a family of millipedes belonging to the order Glomeridesmida. These millipedes are found in India, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. The five known species in this family are notable in that they are found only in termite mounds. Termitodesmidae is the only myriapod family known to depend on insects in such a commensal relationship.

Devillea is a genus of flat-backed millipedes in the family Xystodesmidae. These millipedes are rare and limited to caves. Species in this genus are found in Sardinia, Capri, and southern France in the Maritime Alps. These species are notable for featuring more than the 20 segments usually found in the order Polydesmida. This genus is one of only two genera in this order to feature these extra segments and the first such genus to be discovered.

Opisthocheiron is a genus of millipedes in the family Opisthocheiridae. These millipedes are found in France and Spain. The French entomologist Henri Ribaut created this genus in 1913 to contain the newly discovered type species Opisthocheiron penicillatum. This genus also includes the cave-dwelling species Opisthocheiron canayerensis, notable as one of only a few species in the order Chordeumatida with only 26 segments in adults, four fewer segments than typically found in adults in this order.

Chamaesoma is a monotypic genus of millipede in the family Chamaesomatidae, and Chamaesoma broelemanni is the only species in this genus. This millipede is notable as one of only a few species in the order Chordeumatida with only 26 segments in adults, four fewer segments than typically found in adults this order. This species lives on the surface of the soil and is distributed across most of France and Luxembourg. The genus Chamaesoma and its only species were first described by the German zoologist Karl W. Verhoeff in 1913 based on type material found by the French zoologists Henri Brölemann and Henri Ribaut under wet leaf litter near St. Béat in the Pyrenees in France.

Tianella is a genus of millipedes in the family Entomobielziidae. This genus includes eleven species found in Nepal, one species found in Kazakhstan, and one species found in Kyrgyzstan. This genus is notable for including the only species in the order Chordeumatida with 29 segments in adults. Most species in this genus have 29 segments in adults rather than the 30 segments usually observed in this order.

Neocambrisoma is a genus of millipedes in the family Metopidiotrichidae. Millipedes in this genus are found in Tasmania and New South Wales in Australia. Like other genera in this family, this genus features 32 segments in adults of both sexes, rather than the 30 segments usually observed in adults in the order Chordeumatida. Accordingly, female adults in this genus have 54 pairs of legs, which is not only the maximum number observed in this order but also the maximum number fixed by species in the class Diplopoda.

Devilliea tuberculata is a species of flat-backed millipedes in the family Xystodesmidae. Like other members of the genus Devillea, this species is limited to caves. This millipede has been found in several caves in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. This species is notable as the first millipede in the order Polydesmida found to feature more than the 20 segments usually found in this order.

Neocambrisoma raveni is a species of millipede in the family Metopidiotrichidae. These millipedes are found in New South Wales in Australia. Like other species in this family, N. raveni features 32 segments in adults of both sexes, rather than the 30 segments usually observed in adults in the order Chordeumatida. Accordingly, adult females of this species have 54 pairs of legs, which is not only the maximum number observed in this order but also the maximum number fixed by species in the class Diplopoda.

Prosopodesmus panporus is a species of flat-backed millipede in the family Haplodesmidae. Also known as the hothouse millipede, this species was first discovered in hothouses for tropical plants in England, where it is well established, but is probably native to Australia. This species features a unique distribution of ozopores, which appear on all segments with two pairs of legs. The species P. panporus is named for this complete series of ozopores and is the only species in the order Polydesmida with this distribution. This millipede is also notable for exhibiting sexual dimorphism in segment number: Whereas adult females of this species feature the 20 segments usually observed in the order Polydesmida, the adult males of this species feature only 19 segments.

References

  1. 1 2 "MilliBase - Prosopodesmus Silvestri, 1910". www.millibase.org. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  2. 1 2 3 Enghoff, Henrik; Golovatch, Sergei; Short, Megan; Stoev, Pavel; Wesener, Thomas (2015-01-01). "Diplopoda — taxonomic overview". Treatise on Zoology – Anatomy, Taxonomy, Biology. The Myriapoda, Volume 2: 363–453 [402]. doi:10.1163/9789004188273_017. ISBN   9789004188273.
  3. ↑ Enghoff, Henrik; Dohle, Wolfgang; Blower, J. Gordon (1993). "Anamorphosis in Millipedes (Diplopoda) — The Present State of Knowledge with Some Developmental and Phylogenetic Considerations". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 109 (2): 103–234 [147–148]. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1993.tb00305.x.
  4. ↑ Silvestri, Filippo (1910). "Descrizioni preliminari di nuovi generi di Diplopodi. I. Polydesmoidea". Zoologischer Anzeiger (in Latin). 35: 357–364 [360–362].
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mesibov, Robert (2012-05-04). "New species of Prosopodesmus Silvestri, 1910 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Haplodesmidae)from Queensland, Australia". ZooKeys (190): 33–54. Bibcode:2012ZooK..190...33M. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.190.3276 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   3349066 . PMID   22639530.
  6. ↑ Brolemann, Henry Wilfred (1920-08-03). "Myriapodes III. Diplopoda". Voyage de Ch. Alluaud et R. Jeannel en Afrique orientale (1911-1912). Résultats scientifiques. 16: 49–298 [226–231].
  7. ↑ "MilliBase - Prosopodesmus hilaris Brölemann, 1920". www.millibase.org. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Blower, J. Gordon; Rundle, Adrian J. (1980). "Prosopodesmus panporus, an interesting new species of polydesmoid millipede from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England" (PDF). Myriapodologica. 1 (4): 27–34.
  9. 1 2 3 Golovatch, Sergei; Geoffroy, Jean-Jacques; Mauriès, Jean-Paul; VandenSpiegel, Didier (2009-04-07). "Review of the millipede family Haplodesmidae Cook, 1895, with descriptions of some new or poorly-known species (Diplopoda, Polydesmida)". ZooKeys (7): 1–53 [40, 43]. Bibcode:2009ZooK....7....1G. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.7.117 . ISSN   1313-2970.
  10. ↑ Miyosi, Yasunori (1958). "Beiträge zur Kenntnis japanischer Myriopoden. 25. Aufsatz: Über eine neue Gattung und eine neue Art von Diplopoden". Zoological Magazine (in Japanese and German). 67 (10): 297–300 – via NDL Digital Collections.
  11. ↑ Golovatch, Sergei I.; Mikhaljova, Elena V.; Korsós, Zoltán; Chang, Hsueh-Wen (2010-04-01). "The Millipede Family Haplodesmidae (Diplopoda, Polydesmida) Recorded in Taiwan for the First Time, with the Description of a New Species". Tropical Natural History. 10 (1): 27–36 [33]. ISSN   2586-9892.
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