Lithobius (Lithobius) iranicus , Attems 1951
Creators: name: Akkari, Nesrine
name: Macek, Oliver
name: Edgecombe, Gregory D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Chilopoda
Lithobiomorpha
Lithobiidae
Lithobius
Lithobius iranicus

description: Lithobius (Lithobius) iranicus Attems, 1951
Figs 1–5, 6A–H, J, 7, 8A–C, 9–10
Lithobius (Alokobius) iranicus Attems, 1951: 403, fig. 15.
Lithobius rhiknus Attems, 1951: 403, fig. 16. Syn. nov.
Lithobius inaequidens Attems, 1951: 404, fig. 17. Syn. nov.
Diagnosis. Lithobius (Lithobius) with 44–52 antennal articles. Ocelli 1+12–1+23, in four rows; Tömösváry’s organ about as large as adjacent ocelli. Forcipular coxosternal margin most commonly with 4+4 teeth alternating in size from small to large distally, varying from 3+4 or 4+3 to 4+5 or 5+6, innermost tooth the most posterior; spiniform porodont distal to outermost tooth (4+4) or between outer pair of teeth (>4 teeth). Angulation or short projection on T9, well developed projections on TT11 and 13. Coxal pores usually ovate, slit-shaped in some large males. Female gonopod with 3+3 spurs, inner spur small; claw bipartite. Males with pair of dorsal sulci on femur and tibia of legs 14 and 15, on femur and variably tibia of leg 13. Legs 13–15 consistently with DaF and DpF; 13DaT, 13DpT, 14VaC, 15VaC consistently present.
Material examined.
Lectotype: IRAN ● ♀ NHMW MY3963; lectotype here designated; “Lahidschan, Buchenwald Löffler F106”.
Paralectotypes: ● 2 ♂♂ NHMW MY10383, 10384; Lahidschan, same collection as lectotype ● 1 ♂ NHMW MY3964; “Löffler H.57”.
Non-type material: Lithobius iranicus: IRAN ● 1 ♀ NHMW MY5700 ● 1 ♂ NHMW MY5701; “F101” [Lahidschan] ● 1 ♂ NHMW MY10387; close to a road between Razekeh and Peren; 36°17'42.86"N, 52°21'47.26"E, 424 m; 15.12.2017; H. Ghanavi leg.
Other material:
Lithobius inaequidens Attems, 1951. IRAN ● 1 ♂ syntype NHMW MY3962; “F111”, “Tscheran Ham” ● 1 ♂ syntype NHMW MY10385; “ Teheran Hain I.50”
Lithobius rhiknus Attems, 1951. IRAN ● 1 ♀ syntype NHMW MY3942; “ Mazandaran, H82 Löffler”; ● 1 ♂ syntype NHMW MY4044; “ Mazandaran, H87”.
Description based on female lectotype.
Size. Length (anterior margin of cephalic plate to posterior margin of telson) 21 mm (Fig. 1A).
Colour (in ethanol). Cephalic plate orange-yellow; anterior tergites yellow, darker orange-yellow from posterior half of trunk; antennae and legs yellow (Fig. 1A, B).
Cephalic plate. Width slightly greater than length. Lateral marginal interruption distinct. Posterior border faintly convex backwards (Fig. 1B).
Antennae. 50/48 articles, extending back to anterior part of T7 (Fig. 1A). Ultimate article twice as long as penultimate.
Ocelli. 1+16 and 1+13 ocelli (left and right side of cephalic plate, respectively), in four rows (4, 4, 3, 4). Posterior ocellus ovoid, its long axis nearly twice the diameter of largest seriate ocellus.
Tömösváry’s organ. Slightly separated at anteroventral edge of ocellar field, about as large as adjacent ocelli (Fig. 1D).
Forcipular coxosternite. 4+4 teeth; inner tooth the smallest, positioned posterior to the others; second and fourth (outer) teeth equal sized, third tooth distinctly smaller (Figs 1C, 2A). Median diastema shallow, curved. Porodont at a small, blunt shoulder; porodont spiniform, tapering to a point, translucent (Fig. 2 C). Anterior part of coxosternite bearing numerous long setae.
Tergites. T1 95% width of cephalic plate and T3. T9 with a triangular projection on left side and an angulation on right; TT11 and 13 with strong projections, slenderer on T13 (Fig. 2B).
Legs. Tarsal articulation well defined on all legs. Leg 15 with accessory apical claw. Plectrotaxy as in Table 2.
Coxal pores. 5565/5665, ovate, separated by less than their diameter (Fig. 2D).
Female gonopods. 3+3 conical spurs, inner spur about 60% length of largest (outer) spur. Claw bipartite, its two denticles subequal in size or outer spur slightly larger. First article of gonopod bearing 10–12 ventral setae, second article nine, third article three (Figs 2D, 8A).
Description of the newly collected specimen (male NHMW MY10387).
Size. Length (anterior margin of cephalic plate to posterior margin of telson) 24.5 mm (Fig. 3A).
Colour (in 96% ethanol). Cephalic plate purple-brownish-yellow; anterior tergites purple-yellow, darker from posterior half of trunk; antennae and legs pale purple-yellow (Fig. 3A, B).
Cephalic plate. Width slightly greater than length. Lateral marginal interruption distinct. Posterior border faintly convex backwards (Fig. 3B).
Antennae. 45+ (broken)/50(detached) articles (Fig. 3A, B, D).
Ocelli. 1+16 and 1+15 ocelli (left and right side of cephalic plate, respectively), in four rows. Posterior ocellus ovoid, its long axis nearly twice the diameter of largest seriate ocellus.
Tömösváry’s organ. Slightly separated at anteroventral edge of ocellar field, about as large as adjacent ocelli (Fig. 3C).
Forcipular coxosternite. 4+4 teeth; inner tooth positioned posterior to the others; second and fourth (outer) teeth larger, equal sized; third tooth similar in size to inner one (Figs 3D, 4A). Median diastema V-shaped. Porodont translucent, shorter and stouter than in the described type (Fig. 4A). Anterior part of coxosternite bearing numerous long setae.
Tergites.T1 almost 95% width of cephalic plate and T3. T9 with short, blunt projections; TT11 and 13 with strong projections, slenderer on T13 (Fig. 4B).
Legs. Tarsal articulation well defined on all legs. Leg 15 with accessory apical claw. Plectrotaxy as in Table 7.
Coxal pores. 7776/7766, ovate, separated by less than their diameter (Fig. 4C).
Male sexual characters. Legs 13 with paired sulci on prefemur,14 and 15 with paired sulci on prefemur and femur, faintly visible on tibiae (Fig. 5B). Posterior margin of first genital sternite gently concave. Gonopod twosegmented, both articles bearing several setae (Fig. 4C).
Variability. See Table 1 for meristic characters and Tables 2–9 for plectrotaxy of all specimens referred to L. iranicus and its subjective synonyms. L. inaequidens syn. nov. and L. rhiknus syn. nov. Variably present spines are 13VpT (usually present), 14VmT (usually present), 14DaT (usually present), 15VmT (present or absent in similar frequency), and 15DpT (usually absent). Between type specimens, either second or fourth coxosternal tooth positioned most anteriorly. Median diastema ranging from shallow to relatively deeply U- or V-shaped.
Males with pair of dorsal sulci on (prefemur) femur and tibia of legs 14 and 15, on femur and variably tibia of leg 13 (Fig. 5).
Attems (1951) gave similar type localities for his nominal species Lithobius inaequidens syn. nov.: “Tscheran Ham. Lahidschan, Buchenwald. Sabzawaran”. The label data accompanying the specimens bear different codes, viz. F111, which is according to Starmühlner & Edlauer (1957): Lahijan (Gilan), loamy steep slope (N-exposed). We chose the same coordinates as the lectotype of L. iranicus. The second label “ Teheran Hain I.50”, which translates to “ Teheran grove”, cannot be assigned to a precise locality. The locality “Sabzawaran” corresponds today to Jiroft with a precision of ca 20 km. No label data associated with Attems’ material indicate what specimen(s) of L. inaequidens came from Sabzawaran and, given that is far to the south of the two records that can be corroborated, we do not map its occurrence in Sabzawaran/Jiroft.
We opted against the selection of a lectotype for the name-bearing types of Lithobius rhiknus syn. nov. as it remains impossible to pinpoint the type localities with precision as according to the label data, both syntypes originate from two different localities in Mazandaran (“H82” and “H87”), a province also located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Attems (1951) stated “Chorramabad. Dschungel bei Tschalous” (translating Khorramabad. Jungle in Chalus) as type localities of the species, which most likely also correspond to the cities Khorramabad and Chalus, both in Prov. Mazandaran.
description: Published as part of Akkari, Nesrine, Macek, Oliver & Edgecombe, Gregory D., 2024, Revision of some historical types of the genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 (Chilopoda, Lithobiomorpha) from the 1949 / 50 Austrian Iran Expedition, with new molecular data for L. iranicus Attems, 1951, pp. 401-422 in Zootaxa 5424 (4) on pages 404-412, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5424.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10821452