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

description: Lissodesmus anas sp. nov.
Figures 4C, 5C, 15, 16, 69 ana, 70ana, 71ana, 74 (map)
Lissodesmus sp. W1.— Mesibov, 1993: 31.
Material examined. Holotype. Male, Australia, Tasmania. Duck Creek, CP 408763 (41°44'56''S 145°05'06''E), 160 m, 6.iii.1999, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:45823 (ex QVM 23:40749).
Paratypes. 2 males, north of Pieman Head, CP261860 (41°39'31''S 144°54'41''E), 10 m, 1.vi.1993, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:17656; 2 males, details as for holotype, AM KS91166 (ex QVM 23:40749); 2 males, details as for holotype, QVM 23:40749, dissected; 5 females, details as for holotype, QVM 23:40748.
Other material. 5 males, 9 females and 15 juveniles from Balfour, Heemskirk Road, Mt Frankland, Newdegate Creek, Pieman Head, Piney Creek, Roger River West, Savage River and Wild Wave River (see “ Lissodesmus supplement” for details).
Description. Male c. 16 mm long, H = 1.5 mm. In alcohol, well-coloured specimens under low magnification with pale brown body colour, slightly darker brown near posterior metatergal margins. Antenna long, slender (Fig. 69 ana). Paranota reduced with markedly oblique anterior shoulders, R = 1.3 (Fig. 70 ana); posterior corners strongly turned up (Fig. 4C), no marginal setae. Legs fairly slender, tarsus about as long as femur, tibia with slight ventral distal swelling (Fig. 71 ana). Spiracles apparently typical for genus but with a “foxtail” of hair-like structures arising just anterior and ventral to anterior spiracle, curving dorsally and posteriorly to obscure anterior spiracle and terminating near posterior spiracle; a small clump of hair-like structures arising just posterior and ventral to posterior spiracle (Fig. 5C). Telopodite (Figs 15, 16) more or less uniform in width, slightly curved posteriorly, reaching leg 5 when retracted, with unusually long, sparse setae. Solenomere arising at about half the telopodite height, directed distally before curving slightly posteriorly and laterally at about half its length, terminating with small subapical projection at about half the prefemoral process height. Tibiotarsus more or less cylindrical, about half the solenomere diameter and directed at almost a right angle to telopodite axis, the tip turned distally and pointed with a small, blunt, subapical projection on the anteromesal surface. Femoral process arising proximal to level of solenomere origin, directed distally, closely pressed to prefemoral process, blade-like with a blunt, wide posterior projection at about half the process length, terminating at about half the solenomere length. Prefemoral process about two-thirds the width of telopodite base at origin, narrowing and bending sharply laterally at about half its length before expanding to very wide, flattened tip curving postero-mesally and aligned parallel to the telopodite axis, terminating in a comb with 20–30 long, posteriorly directed teeth. Uncus prominent, arising at about half the length of prefemoral process (just proximal to solenomere tip), with a few small, blunt teeth subapically on proximal edge.
Distribution and habitat. Known from c. 1300 km 2 in north-west Tasmania, from Roger River West south to Piney Creek (north of Zeehan) (Fig. 74), and from sea level to 450 m. L. anas is an uncommon species and is likely to have been overlooked outside its known range. It has mainly been found in wet eucalypt forest and cool temperate rainforest, but two of the paratypes are from partly wooded heathland near the coast at Pieman Head. One specimen was taken from a cave near Savage River.
Etymology. Latin anas (“duck”), noun in apposition, referring to the type locality, Duck Creek.
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 page 110, DOI: 10.24199/j.mmv.2005.62.4, http://zenodo.org/record/8064747