Lamyctes coeculus Brolemann 1889
Creators: name: Edgecombe, Gregory D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2004
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Chilopoda
Lithobiomorpha
Henicopidae
Lamyctes
Lamyctes coeculus

description: Lamyctes coeculus (Brölemann, 1889)
Figs. 1–31
Lithobius coeculus Brölemann, 1889: 273.
Remylamyctes straminea (Attems, 1951):184–186, figs. 24–32, n. synonymy Lamyctes coeculus: Edgecombe & Giribet, 2003: 4 (with synonymy).
Material examined: Syntypes of Remylamyctes straminea, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NMW) 3919, all female, leg. P. Remy, 1947. Three slide mounted specimens (Madagascar: Tananarive, Fort Dauphin; Réunion); 9 tubes in alcohol: [Madagascar: Tananarive, 17. viii.1947, 1 specimen, head and posterior end on slide; Tananarive, 18. viii.1947, 1 specimen; Lac Djabalbe, 9. ix.1947, 1 specimen; Fort Dauphin, 29. x.1947, 2 specimens; Tananarive, Institut Pasteur, 22. xi.1947, 2 specimens; Tuléar, undated, 2 specimens. Réunion: St. Denis, rue Monthyon, 6–8. x.1947, 1 specimen; St. Denis, undated, 3 specimens; St. Gilles, 14. x.1947, 2 specimens].
Description: The following description is based on syntypes of Remylamyctes straminea.
Maximum length of body (anterior margin of head shield to posterior end of telson) 5.4 mm; maximum length of head shield 0.65 mm. Head and tergites yellow or pale orange­brown; where yellow, increasingly orange on posterior segments; legs and antenna pale yellow.
Head shield as wide as T3, about 90% width of T8. Frontal margin with strong median notch. Region distal to antennocellar suture similarly pigmented and sclerotised as rest of head shield; ocellus absent. Border slightly wider posterolaterally than posteromedially.
Antenna with 17–24 articles (specimen with 17 articles on one side has at least 22 on the other), most commonly 24/24; basal two articles much larger than others; articles 3 and 4 frequently short, each pair of succeeding articles (5–6, 7–8, etc.) of similar proportions; distal articles mostly submoniliform (Fig. 26) except for elongate terminal article (Fig. 24). Proximal part of basal article with cluster of sensilla microtrichoidea on dorsal side. Trichoid sensilla arranged in two or three imprecisely aligned whorls on most articles (Figs. 26, 27); cluster of about 5 sensilla brachyconica at apex of terminal article, shorter than trichoid sensilla (Fig. 25); single clavate thin­walled basiconic sensillum on dorsal side of antenna at distal end of articles 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 19 (Fig. 28), 21 (Fig. 26) and 22, variably present on article 17; one similarly­sized thin­walled basiconic sensillum at about three­quarters length of distal article on its dorsal side (Figs. 24, 25).
Clypeus with single pair of setae in front of labrum. Transverse seta projects from pit in labral sidepiece towards midpiece (Fig. 14). Labral margin concave where small fringe of branching bristles projects beyond margin (Fig. 15).
Maxillipede coxosternum trapezoidal (Fig. 12), anterolateral margins nearly straight or converging slightly more strongly towards dental margin (Fig. 2). Dental margin weakly curved, with 2+2 large teeth; stout, spine­like pseudoporodont at anterolateral corner, separated from outer tooth by equal distance to that between the two teeth (Fig. 13); median notch with rounded V­shape, moderately deep; weakly bulging shoulder between median notch and inner tooth. A few short setae and a pair of long setae on anterolateral part of coxosternum; one long seta based just behind dental margin between second tooth and pseudoporodont (Figs. 2, 13). Pretarsal part of tarsungulum slightly longer than tarsal part.
Mandible with four paired teeth (Fig. 16). Four aciculae, each with up to eight large, rounded or weakly pointed pinnules on both margins (Fig. 17). Fringe of branching bristles skirts aciculae; ventral bristles with even, dense, spine­like branchings along entire length; abrupt transition to rows of flat, multifurcating scale­like bristles against second tooth; scale­like bristles arranged two­ or three­deep, composed of up to 22 slender branches in a single row (Fig. 18). Grooved ridge bearing row of large, conical accessory denticles on three dorsal teeth; most accessory denticles in the form of flattened scales that bear several parallel, distally­blunt rods (Fig. 18). Smooth scale­like region separates denticle field from furry pad (Fig. 19). Furry pad composed of numerous simple bristles, a few multifurcating bristles.
First maxillary sternite small, triangular with concave lateral margins (Fig. 30). Coxal process fused to basal article of telopodite; two moderately large, simple setae and a small simple seta at apex of coxal process. Distal article of telopodite with paired rows of seven or eight plumose setae along inner margin, each with a simple seta near its base; three simple setae aligned just lateral to these rows, remainder of ventral surface of this article bearing only two or three small setae.
Second maxilla with anterior margin of coxa weakly to gently concave. Joint between trochanter and prefemur defined on inner part of telopodite. Inner face of tarsus with about ten plumose setae (Fig. 20), densely branching along their distal two­thirds (Fig. 21); outer face with simple setae concentrated on distal half (Fig. 21). Pretarsal claw composed of four or five digits of varied length and thickness (Fig. 22).
Tergites smooth; all posterior angles rounded, without projections (Fig. 1). Posterior margins of TT1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 faintly concave; TT10 and 12 gently concave; posterior margin of T14 nearly transverse or gently concave. Tergites of first genital segment and telson sclerotised similar to other trunk tergites. Several short, slender setae along lateral margins of tergites.
Spiracles on segments 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 14.
Slender distal spinose projections on tibiae of legs 1–11 (Fig. 23), lacking on legs 12– 15 (Figs. 4–7). Legs 12–15 with length ratios 1: 1.15: 1.5: 2.2. Leg 15 distitarsus about 95% length of basistarsus (Fig. 7); basitarsus about 80% length of tibia; tibia 4–4.5 times longer than maximal width, basitarsus 5–5.5 times, distarsus 8–8.5 times. Basitarsus very slightly shorter than distitarsus on leg 14 (Fig. 6). Most setae on legs fine, slender; a few slightly thickened setae on ventral side of prefemur and femur; a thickened seta at ventrodistal edge of femur and tibia on legs 1–12; tarsal setae uniformly fine on all legs. Anterior and posterior accessory claws each about 35% length of main claw, gently divergent (Fig. 11), gently curved, with closely­spaced linear ridges on their surface (Fig. 10). Main claw curved along its distal half, subdivided along its length into elongate scales with ornament of linear ridges similar to that on accessory claws (Fig. 9). Pores lacking beneath accessory claws. Posteroventral spine long, slender, about 55% length of main claw (Fig. 8); short subsidiary spine at upper margin of posteroventral spine (Fig. 9).
Coxal pores: round; 1,2,2,1/1,2,2,1 or 1,2,2,2/1,2,2,2.
Sternite of segment 15 fringed with up to nine short setae a short distance in front of posterior margin, numerous short setae scattered across rest of sternite except anterolaterally (Fig. 3). Sternite of first genital segment with setation confined to posteromedial part except for one or a few setae posterolaterally. Basal article of gonopod bearing up to eight scattered setae; second article with three or four setae aligned in a transverse band; third article with two setae (Figs. 3, 31). Pair of spurs on basal article slender, conical, equal in size. Claw simple.
Discussion: The types of Lamyctes straminea are identical with the widespread, usually parthenogenetic L. coeculus (Enghoff 1975; Edgecombe & Giribet 2003). Relative to other species of Lamyctes, noteworthy shared characters include a lack of ocelli, enlargement and posterior displacement of the Tömösváry organ (Fig. 29), a usual count of 24 antennal articles, identical maxillipede dentition including the size and structure of the pseudoporodont (Edgecombe et al. 2002: Fig. 3 K for L. coeculus from Australia), slender distal spinose projections on the tibiae of legs 1–11 (see Silvestri, 1909, fig. I9 for L. coeculus from Mexico), and the same coxal pore counts.
The synonymy of Lamyctes straminea adds Madagascar and Réunion to the distribution of L. coeculus, already known from tropical Africa (Enghoff 1975; Edgecombe & Giribet 2003) among many other occurrences (temperate and tropical North and South America, Cuba, Australia, Hawaii, Israel, the Canary Islands, European greenhouses). Given that the distribution of this species is probably largely synanthropic, its presence in Madagascar and Réunion, where no males are known, is likely to be due to introduction.
description: Published as part of Edgecombe, Gregory D., 2004, Remylamyctes (Chilopoda: Lithobiomorpha), a henicopid centipede from Madagascar and Réunion, pp. 1-11 in Zootaxa 686 on pages 3-10, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.158560