Trichopeltis jiyue Wu, Zhang, Qin & Cong, 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wu, Zhenfei
name: Zhang, Sihang
name: Qin, Fuxue
name: Cong, Peiyun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Polydesmida
Cryptodesmidae
Trichopeltis
Trichopeltis jiyue

description: Trichopeltis jiyue sp. nov.
Type material.
Holotype: • ♂ (YNU-MD 0151), China, Yunnan Province, Pu’er City, Jingdong Yi Autonomous County, 24 ° 54 ' 78 " N, 101 ° 03 ' 58 " E, 2450 m elev., 4. X. 2021, leg. Peiyun Cong, Sihang Zhang, Zhenfei Wu & Fuxue Qin. Paratypes: • 4 ♂, 9 ♀ (YNU-MD 0152-165) same location as the holotype.
Etymology.
Jiyue (Chinese spelling) alludes to the bright white appearance when the animal emerges from the leaf mold, like the moon appearing from behind a dark rain cloud.
Diagnosis.
Trichopeltis is characterized by the relatively long and stout setae on the gonopodal coxae, with the posterior part having two conspicuous wing-like processes (cxp); gonopodal telopodites glabrous and four-branched; and the acropodite curved caudolaterad. The living animal is uniformly bright white.
Description.
Length of ♂ ca 17.2–17.8 mm, paratype ♀ ca 17.0– 17.4 mm, width of midbody pro- and metazonae 2.2–2.4 mm and 5.3–5.4 mm (♂), 2.2–2.5 mm and 5.1–5.4 mm (♀), respectively.
Coloration of tergites uniformly bright white (Fig. 1 A); fed 1–2 months with local mor and leaves, yellow (Fig. 1 B); in alcohol, after months of preservation, whitish-yellow to yellow (Fig. 1 C, D). Antenna whitish-yellow (proximal) to reddish-purple (distal).
Adults body with 20 segments, collum plus 17 podous and 1 apodous tergites, plus 1 telson. In width, head << collum <segment 2 <3 <4 <5 <6 <7-17, thereafter body tapered towards telson.
Head sparsely pilose, epicranial suture present (Fig. 2 A). Antennae short and clavate, reaching tergite 4 when stretched ventrally; in length, antennomere 6> 3> 2 = 4> 5> 1> 7 (Fig. 2 A); antennomeres 5–7 each with a bacilliform sensilla field apico-laterally, the numbers of bacilliform sensilla are 100, 67, and 34, respectively.
Collum completely covering the head from above, inverted subtrapeziform, regularly convex at peripheric margin, caudal margin slightly concave (Fig. 2 B); arranged with 12 or 13 regular, transverse rows of small, spherical, setigerous tubercles on the surface, tubercles 8-13 + 8 - 13 per row, surrounded with spherical granulations, seta on each tubercle directed caudad (Fig. 2 B).
Prozona of segments following collum finely shagreened, metazona densely tuberculate and setose; fore and caudolateral margins of collum, anterolateral, lateral and caudal margins of following paraterga of segments besides telson with obvious dentiform-lobulate lobules, smallest at mid-dorsal region and slightly larger bidirectionally at caudal margins of paraterga.
Dorsum convex, postcollum paraterga flat, very broad and long, narrowly rounded laterally, axial line absent. Metatergal segments 2–16 with four or five irregular transverse rows of similarly small, spherical, setigerous tubercles. Tubercles decreasingly extend to paraterga, but each of the latter only with three or four irregular rows of similar tubercles (Fig. 2 C), surrounded by spherical granulations, same to collum; following metatergal segments 17 and 18 with 6–8 rows of smaller tubercles.
Paraterga very strongly developed (Fig. 2 C), regularly declivous, the tips extending down below level of venter (Fig. 2 D). Segments 2–15 slightly projecting forward, each with 6–9 small, crown-like dentiform, lateral lobules (Fig. 2 I) and 7–9 tongue-shaped to squarish caudolateral lobules; all evident, setigerous and microvillose segments 16–19 projecting caudally, each with 5–7 small, crown-like dentiform, lateral lobules and 9–13 tongue-shaped to squarish, caudolateral lobules; all evident, setigerous, and microvillose.
Sterna sparsely setose; axial line present; tergite stricture divided into pro- and metazone parts. Limbus, with a row of tongue-shaped lobules, microdenticulate apically (Fig. 2 G). Pore visible, lying on the ventral paraterga of segment 5, ozopores formula not discernable.
Telson (Fig. 2 F) conical, with numerous spherical granulations; epiproct flattened dorsoventrally, microtuberculate, with four strong apical papillae. Hypoproct roundly subtrapeziform, 1 + 1 caudal setae separated, surface rugged.
Legs (Fig. 2 D, H) long and slender, without modifications, longer than paraterga when stretched straight, about 1.2 times as long as the width of paraterga. In length, femur ≈ tarsus >> prefemur> coxa = tibia> postfemur> claw.
Gonopods complex (Figs 3, 4). Coxae with relatively long stout setae; with two conspicuous wing-like processes (cxp). Telopodite complex, with four-branched process (p), clearly curved (Figs 3, 4), approximately as long as coxa, divided by a notch (Fig. 3 D); prefemur glabrous; femorite (p 1) one leaf-shaped lobe on the inner side mesally; branch p 2 leaf-shaped, three times as long as p 1, rather thick, curved caudolaterally, with dense micro-setae on surface, distal margin with serrate process; p 3 subconical, with three apical processes; p 4 leaf-shaped, close to the p 2, the distal margin consists of numerous conical processes, forming a corolliform pulvillus; with no distinct solenomere.
Remarks.
The specimens were found on a stoney roadside, which some researchers usually walk around. As compared with virgin forests, the surroundings were relatively densely populated. However, the environment is undeveloped, and it the new species seemed abundant.
description: Published as part of Wu, Zhenfei, Zhang, Sihang, Qin, Fuxue & Cong, Peiyun, 2024, A new epigean species of Trichopeltis Pocock, 1894 from southwest China (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Cryptodesmidae), pp. 17-26 in ZooKeys 1216 on pages 17-26, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1216.128080