Lissodesmus cornutus Mesibov 2005, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Mesibov, Robert
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Polydesmida
Dalodesmidae
Lissodesmus
Lissodesmus cornutus

description: Lissodesmus cornutus sp. nov.
Figures 28, 29, 30, 69 cor, 70cor, 71cor, 74 (map)
Lissodesmus sp. SW1.— Mesibov, 1996: 18.
Material examined. Holotype. Male, Australia, Tasmania. Scotts Peak Dam, DN 425343 (43°02'29''S 146°17'38''E), 280 m, pitfall samples WY and WZ collected 12-16.xi.2001, D. Driscoll, QVM 23:45827 (ex QVM 23:24824).
Paratypes. Male, Birchs Inlet, approx. CN753875 (42°33'16''S 145°28'51''E), 18.x.1993, J. Griffith, QVM 23: 12036; 2 males, details as for holotype, AM KS91172 (ex QVM 23:24824); 5 males, details as for holotype, QVM 23: 24824, 2 dissected; female, W of Strathgordon, DN175655 (42°45'30''S 145°59'30''E), 410 m, 1.x.2003, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:25476.
Other material. 63 males and at least 9 females and juveniles from Acheron Cave area, Darwin, Deadmans Bay, Denison River valley, Edgar Dam, Franklin River valley, Gelignite Creek, Gordon River valley, Hibbs Lagoon, Kutikina Cave area, Mt McCutcheon, Olga River valley, Orange River valley, Scotts Peak Dam and Wedge Inlet (see “ Lissodesmus supplement” for details).
Description. Male c. 17 mm long, H = 1.6 mm. In alcohol, most specimens under low magnification near-white, the only pigmentation a red tinge distally on antennae. Antennae long and slender (Fig. 69 cor), about 2.25X a socket diameter apart. Paranota wide, highly modified, R = 1.5 (Fig. 70 cor), posterior corners extended as large, upwardly curved, conical structures with ozopore opening midway to tip at anterior end of lateral groove (Fig. 28). Legs slender, tarsus about as long as femur, tibia with slight ventral distal swelling (Fig. 71 cor), sphaerotrichomes lacking on leg 6 femur and prefemur. Telopodite (Figs 29, 30) somewhat sinuous, widening just proximal to prefemoral process origin, with sparse, long setae extending posterolaterally to just distal of tibiotarsus origin, reaching leg 6 when retracted. Solenomere arising at one-third the telopodite height, directed posteriorly at nearly a right angle to telopodite axis, curving distally and laterally, terminating with a small, pointed subapical projection at about one-third the prefemoral process height. Tibiotarsus much wider and somewhat longer than solenomere, directed more or less parallel to solenomere in mesal view but strongly curved laterally, flattened, widening at the apex and terminating in two large, widely spaced, bluntly pointed teeth with 1 or 2 smaller teeth between. Femoral process arising well distal to solenomere origin at about one-quarter the prefemoral process height, blade-like, pressed close at its base to the prefemoral process, directed posterodistally and curving distally and slightly mesally to terminate at two-thirds the prefemoral process height with two small apical teeth, with a large, posterobasally directed branch arising at nearly half the process length. Prefemoral process nearly as wide as telopodite base below solenomere origin, curving mesally, then laterally, then again mesally, flexing slightly posteriorly at about two-thirds its length and tapering slightly to a broad, rounded tip, with a comb of c. 15 long, posterobasally directed teeth on mesal edge of flexed distal section. Uncus large, arising centrally at about half the prefemoral process height (well distal of solenomere tip).
Distribution and habitat. Known from wet eucalypt forest and cool temperate rainforest over c. 5000 km 2 in south-west Tasmania (Fig. 74), from Darwin in the north to Deadmans Bay in the south, east to the Scotts Peak Dam Road, and from sea level to at least 600 m.
Etymology. Latin cornutus (“horned”), adjective, for the horned shape of the posterior projections of the paranota.
description: Published as part of Mesibov, Robert, 2005, The millipede genus Lissodesmus Chamberlin, 1920 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania and Victoria, with descriptions of a new genus and 24 new species, pp. 103-146 in Memoirs of Museum Victoria 62 (2) on pages 113-114, DOI: 10.24199/j.mmv.2005.62.4, http://zenodo.org/record/8064747