Xystopyge biacanthus Frederiksen & Enghoff, 2012, n. sp.
Creators: name: Frederiksen, Sara B.
name: Enghoff, Henrik
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Spirostreptida
Odontopygidae
Xystopyge
Xystopyge biacanthus

description: Xystopyge biacanthus n. sp.
Fig. 8, 13–14.
Material: Holotype male: Kenya, Kajiado, 19/I/1977, H. Enghoff, O. Lomholdt and O. Martin leg. (ZMUC 00020503).
Diagnosis: Differs from the other species by the combination of a small proplica, and large sickle-shaped metaplica, a bicuspid distal metaplical flange, and solenomere with a proximad bicuspid lamella distally. Etymology: The name is a noun in apposition and refers to the two solenomeral spines
Description:
Body length 33 mm, diameter 2.5 mm, podous body rings 54, no apodous rings in front of telson.
Coloration (after 35 years in alcohol): Dark brown and yellow banded colour pattern as in X. pelecys. A dark spotted unclear band between the eyes, no yellow spots between the antennae. A thick yellow dorsal stripe running anteroposteriorly starting from body ring 4.
Head and body: 4 supralabral setae. 6 horizontal rows of ocelli. Distal margin of mandibular stipes very shallowly bilobed, ventral lobe big and rounded, dorsal lobe small and pointed. Anal valves with two setae each, the dorsal seta slightly more anteriorly situated than the ventral one. Anal valve spines very small. No postfemoral and tibial pads on the posterior half of the body. Limbus serrate. Ozopores, collum furrows and metazonite furrows as described for X. pelecys.
Gonopods (Figs. 8,13–14): Anterior sternum (st) short and triangular, resembles X. hoffmani. —Coxa: Mesal metaplical flange (mmf) small as in all Xystopyge species. Proplica somewhat larger than mesal metaplical flange, but not as big as in other Xystopyge species, ending in a distad proplical lobe (pl). Metaplica with a very small rounded lateral metaplical process (lmp) with an proximad lateral metaplical lobe (lml) situated just below it, a pointed mediodistad apical metaplical process (amp), a triangular median metaplical process (mmp) projecting anteriad and forming a ‘roof’ over the emerging telopodite stem. Finally a triangular distal metaplical flange (mf), situated between apical metaplical process and median metaplical process, clearly bicuspid in a median view.—Telopodite: Basomere with an extended torsotope, without spines, distally slightly thickened. Solenomere whip-like with a very small triangular lamella about half way and a bicuspid lamella (asl) apically, closely appressed to telomere; solenomere and telomere forming a complete horizontal loop. Telomere ribbon-shaped, c. 1/ 3 along its length with a hook-shaped process (tp) projecting into the telopodital loop. Distally a small sclerotized spine. Posterior sternum not preserved.
Remarks: Resembles X. hoffmani. Coxa almost identical to that species, but with no triangular distolateral metaplical flange (Vandenspiegel & Pierrard 2004: “projection dentiforme”), and a bicuspid distal metaplical flange instead of a sickle-shaped two-pointed apical metaplical process (Vandenspiegel & Pierrard 2004: “une apophyse falciforme a deux pointes”). Another big difference is the solenomere, which in X. biacanthus has a very small triangular lamella mesally and a proximad bicuspid lamella apically, instead of a simple distad pointed lamella apically.
description: Published as part of Frederiksen, Sara B. & Enghoff, Henrik, 2012, East African odontopygid millipedes 1: Five new species of Xystopyge (Attems, 1909) and a proposal for a new gonopod terminology (Diplopoda; Spirostreptida; Odontopygidae), pp. 69-82 in Zootaxa 3485 on pages 78-80, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.212354