Zinophora Chamberlain 1927
Creators: name: Redman, Guy T.
name: Hamer, Michelle L.
name: Barraclough, David A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2003
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Spirostreptida
Harpagophoridae
Zinophora

description: Zinophora Chamberlin, 1927   
 Zinophora Chamberlin, 1927: 211; Demange 1983; Hamer 1998.   
 Philoporatia Attems, 1928: 376; Lawrence 1965.   
 Poratophilus (Philoporatia) Schubart, 1966.   
 Type species: Zinophora munda Chamberlin, 1927.   
 Diagnosis: Telopodite of gonopod with one or two simple femoral spines, where two present these of similar length and shape. Apical elements comprising three branches: pectinophore, thumb and second lamella. Thumb narrow and falcate (Fig. 111), sometimes reduced (Fig. 75) but never absent (Z. munda group), or a saucer-shaped laminate plate broadening apically with dentate margin (Z. gracilis group) (Fig. 124). Second lamella a hyaline laminate plate broadening apically, curving away from other apical elements and sometimes directed laterally (Fig. 109). Distal ends of telocoxal folds complexly lobed and reflexed, giving rise to anterior and posterior telocoxal folds (Fig. 110). Posterior telocoxal fold lobed and overlapping medially (Z. munda group) (Fig. 105) or subtriangular and not overlapping medially (Fig. 97) (Z. gracilis group). Prefemora not in contact medially. Coxal shelf angular and projecting outwards, syncoxosternum without suture (Figs 9, 104, 112).   
 Distribution: Zinophora is the most widely distributed genus of southern African Harpagophoridae (Figs 2, 3). The distribution of the Zinophora munda group ranges from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa along the east coast into Mozambique, westward across Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the North West Province as far as the Upington area, and northward into Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Its distribution is largely confined to the savanna biome. The Zinophora gracilis group extends from southern Mpumalanga and is largely confined to the central parts of South Africa (Free State and also Lesotho), extending eastwards only as far as the Tugela area, and westwards through the Eastern Cape as far west as Mossel Bay in the Western Cape.   
 Remarks: The generic name Philoporatia Attems, 1928, and the subgeneric name Philoporatia Schubart, 1966, were synonymised with Zinophora by Demange(1983) based on the similarity in the apical elements of the telopodite (three branches) and the distally reflexed telocoxite. Zinophora was originally characterised by the form of the first pair of male legs and the possession of a single femoral spine (Chamberlin 1927). Little attention was paid to the form of the apical elements of the telopodite as an additional generic character. The additional diagnostic characters proposed in this revision are the form of the thumb on the apical elements of the telopodite, and the form of the posterior telocoxal fold. The apical elements of the telopodite, together with the form of the telocoxal folds, indicate that the genus comprises two distinct species groups.
description: Published as part of Redman, Guy T., Hamer, Michelle L. & Barraclough, David A., 2003, Revision of the Harpagophoridae (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida) of southern Africa, including descriptions of five new species, pp. 203-277 in African Invertebrates 44 (2) on pages 230-231, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7666308