Riotintobolus aridus Wesener &amp; Enghoff &amp; Sierwald 2009, sp. n.
Creators: name: Wesener, Thomas
name: Enghoff, Henrik
name: Sierwald, Petra
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Spirobolida
Pachybolidae
Riotintobolus

description: <i>Riotintobolus aridus</i> Wesener, sp. n. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 835C43EF-EB42-4673-8C10-60DBEE26A533 <b>Material examined:</b> <i>Holotype:</i> &amp;male; (30 mm long), MNHN, Province Toliara, Angavo, à l’est d’Antanimora, probably spiny forest, 24°50’57” S, 45°48’6” E, leg. R. Decary, “sous des pierres”, 19.VI.1927, entrée 17–1927. <b>Other material examined</b> : 2 &amp;male;, 1 &amp;female;, 10 imm., CASENT 9032799, Province Toliara, Antafiky, gallery forest, 50 m, 23°28’23” S, 44°4’19” E, leg. Frontier Project, millipede dig (3 m x 3 m), 10.X.2001; 2 &amp;female;, 10 imm., CAS MGF009, Province Toliara, Antafiky, gallery forest, 50 m, 23°29’16” S, 44°4’39” E, leg. Frontier Project, millipede dig (3 m x 3 m), 22.VII.2001; 2 &amp;female;, CAS MGF012, Province Toliara, Antafiky, spiny forest thicket, 150 m, 23°28’24” S, 44°4’23” E, leg. Frontier Project, millipede dig (3 m x 3 m), 30.VII.2001; 10 imm., CAS MGF010, Province Toliara, Antafiky, gallery forest, 70 m, 23°28’45” S, 44°3’59” E, leg. Frontier Project, millipede dig (3m x 3m), 13.X.2001; 6 imm., CAS MGF007, Province Toliara, Antafiky, spiny forest thicket, 80 m, 23°29’16” S, 44°4’39” E, leg. Frontier Project, millipede dig (3 m x 3 m), 14.XI.2001. <b>Differential diagnosis:</b> <i>R. aridus</i> has special shaped posterior gonopods, featuring a horn-like process, which is unique and aids in the identification of this species. <b>Description.</b> <i>Measurements</i>: male holotype with 44 podous and no apodous rings, circa 30 mm long (broken), 2.6 mm wide. <i>Coloration</i> at legs light brown, ventrally light brown, dorsolaterally dark brown to black, dorsally with a wide light brown stripe, middle of stripe with a row of black spots located anteriorly on each body ring. Colour altogether similar to <i>R. mandenensis</i>. <i>Eyes</i> with 27 or 28 ocelli arranged in five rows. <i>Antennae</i> protruding back to body ring 2 (Fig. 28B). <i>Legs</i> 3–7 in males with tarsal pads. Male legs reach 0.9 times body diameter (Fig. 28C). <i>Preanal process</i> sharp-edged, protruding above anal valves (Fig. 28A). Anal valves small, with well-developed lips, groove absent (Fig. 28A). <i>Anterior gonopod</i> sternite apically elevated into a wide lobe with a triangular, wellrounded tip (Fig. 28D), almost as high as long mesal coxite process, latter relatively slender, slightly longer than sternite (Fig. 28D). Telopodite on posterior side apically with a large triangular, retrorse process (Fig. 28E), which projects above coxite and telopodite (Fig. 28E). <i>Posterior gonopods</i> telopodite laterally with two large, finger-shaped processes (Fig. 28F). Sperm canal discharging into apical-most process, opening of sperm duct visible in anterior view (Fig. 28F). Apically, a large membrane present, not extending into lobes- membrane apically as wide as basally (Fig. 28G). Telopodite at mesal margin basally of membrane with a slender, long horn (Fig. 28G). In anterior view between horn and membrane with an additional, small finger-shaped process (Fig. 28F). <b>Distribution and ecology</b> : the type specimen collected by R. Decary more than 80 years ago states on the collection label “Angavo, á l’est d’Antanimora”. On Madagascar several places with the name “Angavo” exist, as well as some populated places called Antanimora. However, only a single locality called Angavo is located east of Antanimora. This locality is a hilly area inside the spiny forest region of southern Madagascar (Fig. 25), and was traced using a recent map (Moat and Smith 2007). The collection label indicates that the single known specimen of <i>R. aridus</i> was found under a stone. Additional specimens were recently collected circa 250 km east at Antafoky. <b>Etymology:</b> <i>aridus</i>, adjective, refers to type locality of this species, which is located in one of the driest parts of Madagascar.
description: Published as part of <i>Wesener, Thomas, Enghoff, Henrik &amp; Sierwald, Petra, 2009, Review of the Spirobolida on Madagascar, with descriptions of twelve new genera, including three genera of ' fire millipedes' (Diplopoda), pp. 1-128 in ZooKeys 19 (19)</i> on pages 53-55, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.19.221, http://zenodo.org/record/576503
description: {"references": ["Moat J, Smith P (2007) Atlas of the Vegetation of Madagascar. Kew Publishing, London, 124 pp."]}