Alluropus Silvestri 1911
Creators: name: Schileyko, Arkady A.
name: Vahtera, Varpu
name: Edgecombe, Gregory D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Chilopoda
Scolopendromorpha
Scolopendridae
Alluropus

description: (!) Alluropus Silvestri, 1911
Figs 110–112
Type species. Alluropus demangei Silvestri, 1911 (by monotypy). This species was synonymized with A. calcaratus (Pocock, 1891) (former Rhysida calcarata) by Siriwut et al. (2018: 1029).
Diagnosis. Median tooth of labrum well developed. Forcipular tooth-plates present, trochantero-prefemur with well-developed process (Fig. 111). Tergites lacking longitudinal keels. Sternites with paramedian sutures which may be incomplete. LBS 7 with spiracles, the spiracles with atrium (fig. 21J in Siriwut et al. 2018). Legs with tarsal spur(s), legs 1 with prefemoral spur (Fig. 111). Coxopleural process normally developed, with spines (Fig. 110). Prefemur of the ultimate leg with numerous spines ventro-medially and ventro-laterally (not with “a row of shallow tubercles” as written in Edgecombe & Bonato 2011: 402). This prefemur with well-developed corner spine of characteristic shape: long and enlarged in males (Fig. 110) and visibly smaller, comb-like in females (Fig. 112, fig. 22H in Siriwut et al. 2018). Ultimate tarsus 1 in males considerably swollen, with short, blunt dorsodistal projection (Fig. 110) followed by a disproportionately slender tarsus 2; pretarsus well-developed, with accessory spines.
Number of species. 1.
Sexual dimorphism. Present.
Remarks. Treated as a genus in Edgecombe & Bonato (2011: 402), Siriwut et al. (2018: 1005). The latter authors wrote in the Diagnosis of Alluropus (p. 1029): “… leg 1 with prefemoral … spurs. … Ultimate legs with male secondary sexual characters, such as swollen structure of tarsus 1 and dorsomedian projection [= corner spine] on prefemur” and (p. 1032): “The original description of R. calcarata also indicated characteristics of Alluropus, such as … and a prefemoral process on the ultimate legs that has not been reported in most South-East Asian Rhysida such as R. longipes, R. singaporiensis, R. immarginata and R. monticola ”. Based on re-investigation of ZMMU’s material of both Rhysida (see Remarks above) and Alluropus calcaratus (Pocock, 1891) —an adult female ca 30 mm long from Central Laos (Rc 7161), mentioned by Schileyko (2007: 83) as Rhysida calcarata Pocock, 1891 —we confirm these characters as diagnostic for Alluropus. None of the re-studied specimens of Rhysida (from either South-East Asia or the Neotropics, see above) have a prefemoral spur on leg 1 or a corner spine on the ultimate prefemur (Fig. 107). The re-studied specimen of Alluropus calcaratus has a coxopleural process of medium length with apical and subapical + lateral (or posterior coxopleural?) spines (i.e. as in the corresponding pictures of Siriwut et al. 2018), relatively short ultimate legs, the prefemur with spines and a very characteristic comb-like corner spine (figs 22G, 22H of Siriwut et al. 2018). These characters are virtually identical to those of females of A. calcaratus as presented in Siriwut et al. (2018).
description: Published as part of Schileyko, Arkady A., Vahtera, Varpu & Edgecombe, Gregory D., 2020, An overview of the extant genera and subgenera of the order Scolopendromorpha (Chilopoda): a new identification key and updated diagnoses, pp. 1-64 in Zootaxa 4825 (1) on pages 50-53, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4825.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4402145