Mecophilus neotropicus Silvestri 1909
Creators: name: Calvanese, Victor C.
name: Brescovit, Antonio D.
name: Bonato, Lucio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Chilopoda
Geophilomorpha
Aphilodontidae
Mecophilus
Mecophilus neotropicus

description: Mecophilus neotropicus Silvestri, 1909
(Figs 3B, 29, 31, 40E, 41H)
Mecophilus neotropicus Silvestri 1909a: 269 (in key; original description); Silvestri 1909b: 60 (description), plate XIV, figs 1–4; Chamberlin 1914: 209; Attems 1928: 193; Attems 1929: 317 (description), fig. 285; Bücherl 1940: 313; Bücherl 1942b: 213; Bücherl 1942a: 365; Dobroruka 1978: 99; Foddai et al. 2000: 106; Bonato et al. 2011: 408; Bonato et al. 2015: 219.
Type specimens. Holotype: ♂, from “cascata dell’Iguazù (Paranà, Brasile)” (Silvestri, 1909a), without collector name and collection date, deposited in MCSG “ Vase type XXVI”, without specific code.
Type locality. Brazil: Paraná: Foz do Iguaçu.
Notes on nomenclature. The holotype, which was originally identified as a female by Silvestri (1909a, 1909b), was actually found to be a male by direct examination of the specimen by one of us (VCC).
Material examined. BRAZIL. Paraná: Foz do Iguaçu, 1♂ [holotype] (MCSG “Vase type XXVI”).
Diagnosis. A species of Mecophilus with: known body length in adults more than 8 mm; cephalic plate trapezoidal, with posterior part wider than anterior part (Figs 29B, 31B); forcipular tergite elongated, trapezoidal (Figs 29B, 31B); denticle of tarsungulum relatively short and positioned close to mid-length of tarsungulum (Figs 29C, 31D); distal denticle of trochanteroprefemur and denticle of femur distinctly spaced (Figs 29C, 31D).
Recorded specimens: a single specimen, ♂.
Distribution. Brazil—Paraná: Foz do Iguaçu (Silvestri 1909a, 1909b).
Description of holotype. Male (MCSG “Vase type”).
Entire body: length 8, maximum width 0.2. Cephalic plate: trapezoidal, with posterior margin 1.5 times as wide as anterior margin; length 0.33 and maximum width (near posterior margin) 0.24 (length/width ratio 1.37). Antenna: length 0.56, 1.7 times as long as cephalic plate; AA II–XIII length/width ratio 0.44–0.95; LAA ca. 3.5 times as long as AA XIII.
Clypeus: 2+2 LS, 1+1 PS, 5+5 SCS. Mandible: PL with about 20 denticles. First maxillae: TFM length 0.02 and width 0.01. Second maxillae: left TSM length 0.02 (ca. 1.1 times as long as TFM) and maximum width (basal margin) 0.01; T3 with 1 large apical SE.
Forcipular segment: FTE length 0.20 (0.83 times as long as cephalic plate) and width 0.18 (length/width ratio 1.1); FPT length 0.11 (0.55 times as long as cephalic plate) and width 0.10; FCX length 0.30 and width 0.21 (length/ width ratio 1.4); FRL length 0.18, surpassing anterior margin of cephalic plate, and maximum width (basal margin) 0.09; FRL with 2 denticles in TFF and 1 in TI; FD1 relatively large, pointed and with 1 apical SE; FD2 pointed, with 2 large apical SE; FD3 bilobate and relatively small, with 1 large apical plus 3 subapical SE; TA 0.61 times as long as TFF; DTA relatively small and positioned in median region of TA.
Walking legs: 35 pairs; left FL length 0.17, 0.87 times as long as the second leg; left leg 17 length 0.20. Tergum from the first to penultimate leg-bearing segment: TE 17 length 0.13 and width 0.22 (length/width ratio 0.59), with one anterior row of 7 SE and one posterior row of 7 slightly smaller SE; PT 0.42 times as long as TE and with two parallel rows of 5 SE. Sternum from the first to penultimate leg-bearing segment: STF rectangular, length 0.14 long and width 0.09 (length/width ratio 1.52); ST 17 length 0.16 and width 0.11 (length/width ratio 1.45).
Ultimate leg-bearing segment: MTL trapezoidal, length 0.07 and maximum width 0.11 (length/width ratio 0.66); UPS exposed and not divided, length 0.01 and width 0.11. Ultimate legs: with a single tarsal article and without terminal claw; slightly thickened when compared to penultimate leg, length 0.46, ca. 1.7 times as long as penultimate leg; each CXP with 4 little COP which are weakly grouped near MTL and 1 COP further away. Postpedal segments: GM biarticulated; GM1 with 3–4 SE in one row; GM2 with 4 scattered SE.
description: Published as part of Calvanese, Victor C., Brescovit, Antonio D. & Bonato, Lucio, 2019, Revision of the Neotropical species of Aphilodontinae (Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae), with eight new species and a first phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily, pp. 1-72 in Zootaxa 4698 (1) on page 39, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4698.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3542876