Eutrichodesmus digitatus Liu & Tian, 2013, sp. n.
Creators: name: Liu, Weixin
name: Tian, Mingyi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Polydesmida
Haplodesmidae
Eutrichodesmus
Eutrichodesmus digitatus

description: Eutrichodesmus digitatus sp. n.
Figs 1–2
Material: Holotype male (SCAU), China, Guangdong Prov., Qingyuan City, Jintan Town, Mi Dong, 0 5.2011, leg. Tian Mingyi (CHIgd11-LWX01). Paratypes: 1 male, 2 females (SCAU), same locality, together with holotype.
Name: To emphasize the gonopod telopodite having a conspicuous, bifid, digitiform, distofemoral process at about midway.
Diagnosis: Differs from other congeners by metaterga 2-13 supporting four transverse mixostictic rows of tubercles, and the gonopod telopodite with a conspicuous, bifid, digitiform, distofemoral process (dp) at about midway while the acropodite has several differentiated lobes.
Description: Length of adults of both sexes ca 8.0- 8.5 mm, width 1.5-1.8 mm. Holotype ca 8.5 mm long and 1.8 mm wide. Coloration uniformly pallid (Fig. 1).
Adults with 20 segments, body subcylindrical, conglobation complete, pattern of volvation typical, starting from segment 5. Head (Fig. 1 A) slightly transverse (wider than high), rather densely pilose, microgranular and microvillose just below antennae and on vertex, with a pair of rounded, paramedian knobs; isthmus between antennal sockets about as wide as antennal socket diameter. Axial suture conspicuous. Antennae (Fig. 1 A) rather short and clavate; antennomere 6 longer than 5th, both with an evident dorso-apical pit containing a tight group of minute bacilliform sensilla; antennomere 8 with usual four sensory cones apically. Collum subtrapeziform, rather large, broader than head, not covering the head from above; with six transverse rows of round setigerous tubercles (Fig. 1 B). Prozona very finely alveolate, collum and metaterga covered with a cerotegument crust held by abundant microvilli; stricture between pro- and metazona broad and shallow, more finely alveolate-microgranular than prozona. Limbus microcrenulate, partly hidden by nearby abundant microvilli. Metaterga 2-13 with four transverse mixostictic rows of tubercles, following metaterga with more than four transverse rows of tubercles; three frontal rows highest and best expressed in anterior body part (Figs 1 B, D, E); each tubercle crowned with an abraded seta. Paraterga with evident shoulders anteriorly, strongly declivous, broad and usually trilobate laterally, evidently extending down below level of venter; paraterga 2 strongly enlarged, with three lobulations anterolaterally, schism and hyposchism both very small; paraterga 3 and 4 slightly shorter than others, usually bilobate laterally; paraterga 6-14 laterally with three, following paraterga with four, distinct lobulations, somewhat caudolaterally at base with 1 or 2 distinct lobulations. Pore formula normal, ozopores very indistinct, located near top of caudolateral lobulation. Pleurosternal ridges present only in ♂ segments 2 and 3. Epiproct short, also with differentiated tubercles, directed ventrocaudad, with usual four cones below tip. Hypoproct and paraprocts normal (Figs 1 C, D).
Sterna usually with a deep, narrow, transverse depression between coxae, but sterna between ♂ coxae 5-7 and 9 much wider. Gonopod aperture transverse-oval, far from reaching lateral sides of segment 7 (Fig. 1 G). Legs rather long and slender, nearly reaching tips of paraterga; femur somewhat longer than tarsus; claw normal, simple, very slightly curved ventrad (Fig. 1 F).
Gonopods (Figs 1 H, 2A, B) relatively complex. Coxae large, microtuberculate and abundantly setose ventrolaterally. Telopodite a little longer than coxite, slender throughout, setose in its basal half, with a conspicuous, bifid, digitiform, distofemoral process (dp) at about midway. Acropodite with several differentiated lobes; seminal groove terminating subapically with a hairpad.
Remarks: This pallid species is a typical “doratodesmid”, possibly a troglobite which is somewhat unusual in showing differentiated metatergal tubercles, coupled with rather long and slender legs.
description: Published as part of Liu, Weixin & Tian, Mingyi, 2013, Four new cavernicolous species of the millipede genus Eutrichodesmus Silvestri, 1910 from southern China (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Haplodesmidae), pp. 281-291 in Zootaxa 3734 (2) on pages 281-284, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3734.2.11, http://zenodo.org/record/218501