Dinematocricus philistus Attems, 1914

Golovatch, S. I., Mauriès, J. P. & Akkari, N., 2021, On the collections of Indo-Australian Spirobolida (Diplopoda) kept in the Zoological Museum of the Moscow State University, Russia. 3. Some Rhinocricidae, Arthropoda Selecta 30 (1), pp. 3-27 : 11-14

Dinematocricus philistus Attems, 1914

Figs 36–41 .

Dinematocricus philistus Attems, 1914: 322 , a brief original description in a key couplet; several syntypes from Seram and Ambon islands, Moluccas, Indonesia.

Dinematocricus philistus — Attems, 1915: 11, a detailed and illustrated description [ Attems, 1915].

MATERIAL: 1 ♂ ( ZMUM), eastern Indonesia, Maluku Tengah Prov., Molucca (= Maluku) Islands , northern Seram (formerly Ceram ) Island, near Horale (Saka) village , S02º56′15″, E129º04′54″, shrubs and secondary lowland tropical forest, on road, 6.IV.2009, M. Kalniņš & P. Pipkalēja leg. ; 1 ♀ ( ZMUM), Central Moluccas Province (= Maluku Tengah ), Lease Islands S of Seram , Saparua Island , 1.5 km NE of Kota Saparua, S03º33′31″, E128º39′50″, secondary lowland tropical forest, 10.IV.2009, M. Kalniņš leg.

DESCRIPTION. Topotype ♂ from Seram ca. 80 mm long, 6.0 mm wide, with 53p+T segments. ♀ ca. 82 mm long, 10.0 mm wide, with 57p+T segments. Colouration uniformly blackish to blackish brown; collum narrowly dark reddish along both anterior and caudal margins, following metazonae narrowly cingulate, similarly vague and dark reddish at caudal margin; prozonae often with yellow spots around/near scobinae; legs grey- or red-brown; labrum, antennae and most of telson dark brown, eye patches blackish ( Figs 36–38 ).

All characters as in Propodobolus sp. , except as follows.

Tegument smooth and shining, mostly very delicately incised. Epicranial suture short and fully or almost fully obliterate. Antennae very short and stout, only antennomeres 5–7 densely setose ( Figs 36, 37 ).

Interantennal isthmus ca. 2x diameter of antennal socket. Collum broadly and regularly rounded laterally, anterior and lateral margins clearly, but narrowly bordered ( Fig. 36 ). Midbody segments/rings faintly striate to striolate, more densely and clearly so ventrad, striations on dorsum above ozopore level being strongly obliterate, often abbreviated, but visible ( Figs 36–38 ). Scobinae present, starting with ring 8 and traceable at least until midbody segments: inconspicuous, paramedian, narrow, lunular pits separated from each other by ca. 1.3x their own width, devoid of posterior fields and placed just at anterior margin of prozona ( Fig. 38 ). Ozopores small, inconspicuous disks, starting with ring 6, each pore lying upon line/suture both just before metazona and below longitudinal line. Rather numerous light and irregular spots/sigilla on internal surface of meso- and metazonae. Epiproct small, especially strongly flattened dorsoventrally. Paraprocts only faintly swollen along caudal margin ( Fig. 36 ).

Legs ca. 2/3 (♂) or 1/3 (♀) as long as body height, fully devoid of sole pads, ♂ coxae 3–5 swollen ventrally ( Fig. 37 ), a spine each above and below claw.

Gonopods ( Figs 39–41 ). Anterior gonopods with a very strong, long, unusually broad, median, spear-shaped, apically rounded, sternal process (s), the latter being much longer/ higher than both coxa (cx) and telopodite (t) with its small, apical, rounded, caudolaterally directed process (tp); cx stout, with a strong, mesal, subtriangular projection (mp), t much more slender than cx. Posterior gonopods consisting of a shorter, relatively stout, subcylindrical coxa and a slender, much longer, bipartite telopodite; apicolateral branch (lb) the longest,>2x as long as a similarly flagelliform solenomere (sl).

REMARKS. Based on Attems [1914, 1915], in particular the extended description and figs 19–21, at least the above ♂ topotype is well identifiable as D. philistus , another species with a strongly spear-shaped central sternal process of the anterior gonopods ( Figs 39, 40 ). However, this process s seems to be unusually hypertrophied in D. philistus compared to the remaining congeners from the same species group. Minor variations in D. philistus concern the colouration (uniformly blackish to blackish brown, vs. dark olive to red-brown in the description), body size (♂ ca. 80 mm long and 6.0 mm wide, with 53p+T segments, vs. ≥ 75 mm long and 8– 9.5 mm wide, with 49–59p+T segments in the description), scobinae starting with segment 8 (and present until segment 38, according to the description) etc. Syntypes of D. philistus (NHMW 2364) : 1 dissected ♂, 1 ♀, 2 micro preparations, Indonesia, Molukken, Ambon, L.F. Beaufort leg.

Figures

Figs 36–41. Dinematocricus philistus Attems, 1914, # from Seram. 36 — habitus, lateral view; 37 — anterior part of body, ventral view; 38 — body segments 9–15, dorsal view; 39, 40 — both anterior gonopods and left posterior gonopod, anterior and posterior views, respectively; 41 — isolated right posterior gonopod, posterior view. Designations explained in text. Pictures by K.V. Makarov, taken not to scale. Рис. 36–41. Dinematocricus philistus Attems, 1914, # с острова Серам. 36 — обЩий вид, сбоку; 37 — переднЯЯ часть тела, сниЗу; 38 — сегменты тела 9–15, сверху; 39, 40 — оба передних гонопода и левый Задний гонопод, соответственно спереди и сЗади; 41 — иЗолированный правый Задний гонопод, сЗади. ОбЪЯснениЯ обоЗначений в тексте. Фотографии К.В. Макарова, снЯты беЗ масШтаба.