Chaleponcus circumvallatus Enghoff 2014, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Enghoff, Henrik
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Spirostreptida
Odontopygidae
Chaleponcus
Chaleponcus circumvallatus

description: Chaleponcus circumvallatus sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 67292AA6-2D3C-4DE4-BCF0-55719766C6E7
Figs 4–6, 9, 21
Diagnosis
Large. Gonopod coxa (Fig. 9) without a lateral process; metaplical shelf-spine long. Telomere with a smooth anterior lamella and a posterior lamella ending in two long spines. Claws of walking legs surrounded by ‘palisade’ of setae, a character shared only with C. ibis sp. nov.
Etymology
The name is a Latin adjective meaning ”surrounded by palisade” and refers to the ‘palisade’ of setae surrounding the claws.
Material studied (total: 2 ♂♂)
Holotype
TANZANIA: ♂, Tanzania, Iringa Region, Udzungwa Mts, Udzungwa Scarp FR, above Chita village, 1600–1650 m, 8–12 Nov. l984, montane rain forest, N. Scharff leg. (ZMUC).
Paratype
TANZANIA: 1 ♂, Iringa Region, Iringa District, West Kilombero Scarp FR, 07°50’ 38.4” S, 36°22’ 17.6” E, montane forest, 1390–1410 m asl, plot Paradiso, 18 Nov. 2000, Frontier Tanzania UMPS leg. (ZMUC).
Type locality
TANZANIA: Tanzania, Iringa Region, Udzungwa Mts, Udzungwa Scarp FR, above Chita village, 1600–1650 m, montane rain forest.
Description (male)
DIAMETER. 2.8 mm, 48 podous rings.
COLOUR. After 14 years in alcohol uniform straw yellow, metazonites slightly darker, no traces of a dorsal light band.
ANAL VALVES (Fig. 6B). Each with a very long and stout, slightly curving dorsal spine and a very long and slender ventral one; marginal rim raised; setiferous tubercles well developed, on small ‘ravelins’.
LIMBUS (Fig. 4J). Almost rectilinear, with just the slightest indication of lobes.
TARSAL SETATION (Fig. 5 B–C). Unusual: claws surrounded and almost hidden by numerous stiff setae, accessory claw much longer than claw.
GONOPOD COXA (Figs 9, 21). Stout, ca. 3 × as long as wide. Lateral margin slightly convex in basal 2/3, then straight, then continuing in smooth curve in apical margin; cucullus (cu) hence regularly rounded. Metaplical flange ending in long triangular process (mfp); metaplica posterior-mesally with large triangular process (mp), delimiting semicircular sinus together with base of metaplical shelf. Metaplical shelf (ms) regularly rounded, projecting mesad as well as posteriad. Metaplical shelf-spine (mss) originating from anterior-mesal end of ms, massive, long, regularly curved, first anteriad, then distomesad.
GONOPOD TELOPODITE (Fig. 21). Solenomere with a very long, straight, mesad proximal spine (ps). Telomere distally with two branches, both curving anteriad:
• a rounded anterior lamella (al) with small, rectangular accessory lamella (al’) on its mesal surface,
• a posterior lamella (pl) ending in an apicad and a basad-anteriad spine.
Distribution and habitat
Known from West Kilombero Scarp FR and Udzungwa Scarp FR. Altitudinal range 1390–1650 m asl. Habitat: montane forest.
Coexisting species
C. hamerae sp. nov. and C. nikolajscharffi sp. nov. also occur in Udzungwa Scarp FR. In West Kilombero Scarp FR C. netus sp. nov. was found in the same sample as C. circumvallatus sp. nov. In addition, C. basiliscus sp. nov., C. gracilior sp. nov., C. ibis sp. nov. and C. tintin sp. nov. occur in West Kilombero Scarp FR.
Notes
Resembles the smaller C. nectarinia sp. nov. and the similar-sized C. krai sp. nov. in gonopod morphology, including in the possession of a telomeral lobe with a long spine. Differs from these species in the detailed shape of this lobe. Differs from all other species in the C. dabagaensis group except C. ibis sp. nov. by the peculiar distal setation of the walking leg tarsi. Although females are generally not considered in this study, it deserves mention that a female specimen found together with the male C. circumvallatus sp. nov. from West Kilombero Scarp FR and sharing its size and general morphology, also has the strange tarsal setation. The function of this is uncertain; maybe it is an adaptation for walking on soft substrates (I.B. Enghoff pers. comm.).
description: Published as part of Enghoff, Henrik, 2014, A mountain of millipedes I: An endemic species-group of the genus Chaleponcus Attems, 1914, from the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Odontopygidae), pp. 1-75 in European Journal of Taxonomy 100 (100) on pages 41-44, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2014.100, http://zenodo.org/record/3860450