Bothropolys biserialis Gu, Pei & Ma 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Gu, Shiyi
name: Pei, Sujian
name: Ma, Huiqin
name: Zhang, Zixuan
name: Zheng, Keying
name: Zhao, Siqi
name: Zhang, Zihan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Chilopoda
Lithobiomorpha
Lithobiidae
Bothropolys
Bothropolys biserialis

description: Bothropolys biserialis Gu, Pei & Ma sp. nov.
Materials
Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Ma Hui-Qin; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: FD5CD38E-3352-545B-827D-88A60185501B; Taxon: scientificName: Bothropolys biserialis sp. nov.; kingdom: Animal; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Chilopoda; order: Lithobiomorpha; family: Ethopolyidae; genus: Bothropolys; Location: country: P. R. China; stateProvince: Chongqing; locality: Red flag management and protection station, Yintiaoling National Nature Reserve, Wuxi County, Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China; verbatimElevation: 2169 m; verbatimCoordinates: 31°32′14.95′′N, 109°41′53.65′′E
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Ma Hui-Qin; individualCount: 2; sex: 1 male, 1 female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 0C87EAEB-6750-540A-9A0F-3506DFEED232; Taxon: scientificName: Bothropolys biserialis sp. nov.; kingdom: Animal; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Chilopoda; order: Lithobiomorpha; family: Ethopolyidae; genus: Bothropolys; Location: country: P. R. China; stateProvince: Chongqing; locality: Red flag management and protection station, Yintiaoling National Nature Reserve, Wuxi County, Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China; verbatimElevation: 2169 m; verbatimCoordinates: 31°32′14.95′′N, 109°41′53.65′′E
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Ma Hui-Qin; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 2906A727-DC89-50FD-90D6-9A39595A7DB0; Taxon: scientificName: Bothropolys biserialis sp. nov.; kingdom: Animal; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Chilopoda; order: Lithobiomorpha; family: Ethopolyidae; genus: Bothropolys; Location: country: P. R. China; stateProvince: Chongqing; locality: Guanshan management and protection station, Yintiaoling National Nature Reserve, Wuxi County, Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China; verbatimElevation: 1844 m; verbatimCoordinates: 31°28′25.45′′N, 109°47′6.97′′E
Description
Body (Fig. 1). Body 21.96–25.05 mm long, cephalic plate 2.00– 2.92 mm long, 2.23–2.93 mm wide; holotype body 25.05 mm long, cephalic plate 2.56 mm long, 2.96 mm wide.
Colour. The antennae brown to greyish-brown and then to yellow, tergites dark brown to light brown or greyish-brown and then to dark brown, TT 1, 2, 14 and 15 darker. The cephalic plate dark brown, pleural region grey-white, sternites pale brown to dark brown. The distal part of forcipules dark brown, basal and proximal parts of forcipules, forcipular coxosternite grey-brown and SS 14 and 15 dark yellow-brown. All the legs gradually turn from grey to yellow, with the distal part of the tarsi being a darker colour.
Antennae. Some 19–20 articles, usually 20 + 20 articles, holotype 19 + 20 articles. The first antennal article is approximately equal in length and width, the remaining articles obviously longer than wide, the distalmost articles still significantly longer than wide, 2.6–3.0 times as long as wide (Fig. 1); abundant setae on the antennal surface, fewer on the basal articles, gradual increasing in density to approximately the seventh article, then more or less constant.
Cephalic plate. Smooth, convex, approximately equal in length and width; tiny setae emerging from pores scattered very sparsely over the whole surface and the whole surface of cephalic plate is covered with a fine hexagonal mesh; frontal marginal ridge with shallow anterior median furrow; short to long setae scattered along the marginal ridge of the cephalic plate. The lateral marginal ridge discontinuous, posterior margin continuous, almost straight, evidently wider than lateral marginal ridge, especially in the middle (Fig. 2 A).
Ocelli. Some 21–27, commonly 25, holotype ocelli 27, oval to rounded ocelli on each side, arranged in five irregular rows, the posterior ocellus the largest. Ventral ocelli closely arranged than the dorsal, domed, translucent and usually dark purple pigmented (Fig. 2 B).
Tömösváry’s organ (Fig. 2 B). Close to the ocelli, situated at anterolateral margin of the cephalic plate, the surrounding sclerotised area narrow, slightly smaller than the adjoining ocelli.
Coxosternite. Subtrapezoidal (Fig. 2 C), anterior margin wide, lateral margins approximately equal to medial margins; median diastema moderately deep, a slightly wider U shape; the whole surface of coxosternite is covered with a fine hexagonal mesh, anterior margin with 8–11 acute triangular teeth, commonly 9 + 9, holotype 9 + 9; porodonts slightly thicker, almost transparent, between the fourth and fifth outer teeth, one specimen between the fifth and sixth outer teeth with slight bulge at base (Fig. 2 C – E); long scattered setae on the ventral side of coxosternite, longer setae near the dental margin.
Tergites. With wrinkles, dorsum slightly convex; short to long tiny setae emerging from pores scattered sparsely over the entire surface, near the margin with few long setae. Posterior margin T 1 almost straight, posterior margin of TT 3 slightly concave, posterior margin of TT 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 14 concave (Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 A). The lateral marginal ridges of all tergites continuous, posterior marginal ridge of TT 1 and 3 continuous, posterior marginal ridge of TT 5, 8, 10, 12 and 14 discontinuous. The posterior angles of TT 4, 6 and 7 with obvious triangular projections, the posterior angles of TT 9, 11 and 13 with acute triangular projections, TT 8 and 10 are nearly equal, widest. Posterior angles of all tergites rounded, without triangular projections. From short and thick, but miniscule setae scattered very sparsely over the surface, with more setae at both the anterior and the posterior corners, especially in anterior corners and they are mostly short.
Sternites. Posterior side of sternites narrower than anterior, generally inverted trapezoidal, smooth; setae emerging from sparsely scattered pores on the surface and lateral margin, very few short setae scattered sparsely amongst them, with more setae at both the anterior and the posterior corners. In male, only S 14 has extremely dense, short and coarse setae, especially in the latter part (Fig. 3 B); in females, the setae on SS 14 and 15 are denser compared to the others (Fig. 3 C).
Legs. Relative robust, tarsi well-defined on legs 1–15. All legs with moderately long curved claws; legs 1–14 with anterior and posterior accessory spurs, anterior accessory spurs moderately thinner and shorter, forming a moderately small angle with the claw, posterior accessory spurs slightly longer and more robust, forming a comparatively large angle with the claw; lacking posterior accessory spurs of legs 15. From short to long setae very sparsely scattered over the surface of coxa, trochanter, prefemur, femur and tibia of legs 1–13; more setae on the tarsal surfaces, especially in the ventral, setae on the dorsal and ventral surfaces slightly longer than the anterior and posterior, some obvious thicker setae arranged in one row on the ventral surfaces of tarsi of legs 1–13; with setae significantly uniform and homogeneous on legs 14 and 15, having dense glandular pores on the inside from femur to tibia of legs 14 and 15. Legs 14 and 15 longer and thicker than the anterior legs in both of the female and male, male legs 15 moderately thicker and stronger than those of the female. Ta 2 6.4–10.6 times longer than wide, Ta 2 57.0 % – 64.3 % length of Ta 1 on legs 15 in female; Ta 2 5.9–11.1 times longer than wide, Ta 2 54.0 % – 68.6 % length of Ta 1 on legs 15 in male. Leg plectrotaxy given in Table 1 and Table 2.
Coxal pores. Slightly oval or round, 13–25 irregularly arranged, the number of coxal pores in legs 15 is slightly less than that in the front, with more than 13 to 20, 18 / 17–22 / 20 – 25 / 23 – 18 / 17 in holotype. Coxal pore-field set in a relatively shallow groove, its fringe with a slight prominence and moderately long setae sparsely scattered over the surface.
Female. S 15 anterior margin broader than posterior, generally an inverted trapezoid, posterior angles rounded, postero-medially straight. Moderately long to short setae relatively densely scattered on S 15 surface. Surface of the lateral sternal margin of genital segment well chitinised, posterior margin of genital sternite deeply concave between condyles of gonopods, except for a small, median tongue-shaped bulge. Relatively long setae very sparsely scattered over ventral surface of the genital segment, slightly more setae on posterior part, especially along the posterior edge. Gonopods: first article fairly broad, bearing 23–25 moderately long setae, arranged in four irregular rows, with 4 + 4 small coniform spurs, inner two spurs slightly smaller than the outer, arranged in two rows (Fig. 4 A – C and F – G); second article with 9–10 long setae in the ventral, arranged in three irregular rows; third article with 4–5 long setae in the ventral, arranged in two irregular rows, with a tridentate apical claw (Fig. 4 D – E).
Male. S 15 posterior margin narrower than anterior, postero-medially straight, generally an inverted trapezoid, sparsely covered with long to short setae, the setae on the edges being longer; sternite of genital segment evidently smaller than the female, usually sclerotised; posterior margin deeply concave between the gonopods, without medial bulge. Short to long setae equally scattered on the ventral surface of the genital segment. Gonopods short and wide, flat, with 2–4 long setae, apically slightly sclerotised (Fig. 4 H).
Habitat. The specimens here studied were collected under the deciduous leaves of pine trees around the mountain road.
Diagnosis
In accordance with the grouping of species proposed in the genus Bothropolys, the new species differs from other congeners in having the antennae composed of 19–20, commonly 20 + 20 articles, ocelli 21–27, usually 25 on each side, arranged in five irregular rows, with the posterior ocellus the largest, Tömösváry’s organ slightly smaller than the adjacent ocelli; commonly 9 + 9 coxosternal teeth, porodonts lying between the fourth and fifth outer teeth; the posterior angles of TT 4, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13 with obvious triangular projections; coxal pore formula 13–20, irregularly arranged. Female gonopods with 3 + 3 or 4 + 4 moderately small coniform spurs, apical claw of the third article tridentate.
Etymology
The specific name meaning is " two rows ", and is intended to emphasise that the spurs of the first article of female gonopods are arranged in two rows.
Notes
To assist in the identification of the Chinese species belonging to the genus Bothropolys, an identification key is offered, emphasising characters that can be examined without high-magnification microscopy; moreover, these characters are specific to the taxa occurring in China. A map with the collection localities of the 12 Chinese species of the genus Bothropolys Wood, 1862 is also presented (Fig. 5).
description: Published as part of Gu, Shiyi, Pei, Sujian, Ma, Huiqin, Zhang, Zixuan, Zheng, Keying, Zhao, Siqi & Zhang, Zihan, 2025, A new species of Bothropolys Wood, 1862 (Lithobiomorpha, Lithobiidae) from south-western China, pp. e 149393 in Biodiversity Data Journal 13 on page e149393, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.13.e149393