Atrophotergum silvaticum Mesibov, 2004, n. sp.
Creators: name: Mesibov, Robert
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2004
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Polydesmida
Dalodesmidae
Atrophotergum
Atrophotergum silvaticum

description: Atrophotergum silvaticum n. sp.
Figs. 1, 3, 4, 6; map Fig. 12
Holotype: Male, Winter Brook, Tasmania, DQ154107 (41°27’02”S, 145°59’13”E), 660m, 28.v.1995, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:25493.
Paratypes: 3 males, details as for holotype, AM KS87137; 4 males, 1 female, details as for holotype, QVM 23:25280; 4 males, Flowerdale River, CQ838645 (40°57’44”S, 145°37’08”E), 90m, 17.v.1995, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:25279, 1 dissected; 6 females, same details, QVM 23:25310.
Other material examined: 44 males and 17 females. See Appendix for details.
Diagnosis: Distinguished from other Atrophotergum spp. by the unique form of the gonopod.
Description: As for genus. Males 8–9 mm long, 0.7–0.8 mm in maximum vertical diameter. In alcohol, most specimens are light tan with reddish antennae; occasional more deeply coloured specimens are darker tan with lighter paranota. Dark patches are often visible near ozopores; in some cases these appear to arise from tissue staining (possibly by the defensive secretion), in other cases tissue has retracted from transparent cuticle revealing dark­coloured gut contents.
Gonopod telopodite (Fig. 6) flexed posteriorly at about one­third its length. Solenomerite a strap­like process extending posterodistally and curving laterally from the anterodistal corner of the SF; the process divided near its tip into a flattened anterior portion containing the terminus of the prostatic groove and a shorter, blunter, posterior branch. PDC produced as a finger­like process, slightly curved and parallel to the solenomerite, but not extending distally as far as the solenomerite tip; PBC bent laterally in a smooth curve. TT bent slightly laterally, not extending distally as far as the tip of the process arising from the PDC. MES in two parts: a short, rod­like, pointed process resembling the TT but shorter and narrower, more or less parallel to the long axis of the telopodite; and a much stouter, blade­like process curving posteriorly and laterally. LES flexed slightly mesally, with its distal edge angled so that the blunt, thickened anterior corner is considerably more distal than the posterior corner. The curvature of the LES and the longer process of the MES are such that they cross, with the MES process terminating anterior and slightly basal to the LES.
Anterior sternal process on somite 17 (Fig. 4 D) a low eminence; the anterior portion of the posterior process a low ridge, somewhat excavated mesally, the posterior portion a short, finger­like structure directed ventrally.
Distribution and habitat: Locally abundant in leaf and woody litter in coastal scrub, wet eucalypt forest and Nothofagus rainforest over ca. 9000 km 2 in northwest Tasmania, from sea level to at least 870 m (Fig. 12). Also found in forest plantations (Bonham et al. 2002 [as ‘genus A, sp. 1’]; Mesibov, unpublished results).
Etymology: Latin silvaticus, of forests, adjective.
Remarks: A. silvaticum is somewhat variable in size and colouration. It has probably been collected as females and juveniles from more localities than are shown in Fig. 12, but it has so far not been possible to distinguish these specimens from similar, co­occurring dalodesmids.
description: Published as part of Mesibov, Robert, 2004, A new genus of millipedes (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania, Australia with a mosaic distribution, pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 480 on pages 8-9, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.157291