New species of Prosopodesmus Silvestri, 1910 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Haplodesmidae) from Queensland, Australia

Four new species of the millipede genus Eutrichodesmus Silvestri, 1910 from Laos, including two with reduced ozopores (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Haplodesmidae)

Laos has large areas of primary forest with a largely unexplored fauna. This is evidenced by millipedes, class Diplopoda, with fewer than 60 species being recorded from the country. In the widespread Southeast Asian “Star Millipede” genus Eutrichodesmus Silvestri, 1910 (family Haplodesmidae), only two of 49 recorded species have been found in Laos. Four new species of Star Millipedes are here described from caves in Laos: Eutrichodesmussteineri Liu & Wesener, sp. n., Eutrichodesmusdeporatus Liu & Wesener, sp. n., Eutrichodesmusparaster Liu & Wesener, sp. n. and Eutrichodesmusparvus Liu & Wesener, sp. n.. A fifth species, for which only a female is available, remains unnamed. The defensive glands (ozopores) are found to be strongly or entirely suppressed in two of the new species, Eutrichodesmusdeporatus Liu & Wesener, sp. n. and Eutrichodesmusparaster Liu & Wesener, sp. n., both troglobionts, which is new to the family. All of the Star Millipedes were collected during Northern Lao-European Cave Project faunal surveys conducted by the Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt. A key to the six species of Eutrichodesmus currently known to occur in Laos is provided.

New species of Agathodesmus Silvestri, 1910 from Australia (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Haplodesmidae)

The genus Agathodesmus Silvestri, 1910 is speciose and widespread in high-rainfall parts of eastern Australia. In addition to the type species Agathodesmus steeli Silvestri, 1910 and Agathodesmus johnsi Mesibov, 2009 from New South Wales and Agathodesmus bucculentus (Jeekel, 1986) from Queensland, the following 18 new species are recognised: Agathodesmus adelphus sp. n., Agathodesmus aenigmaticus sp. n., Agathodesmus agnus sp. n., Agathodesmus anici sp. n., Agathodesmus gayundah sp. n., Agathodesmus hahnensis sp. n., Agathodesmus kerensis sp. n., Agathodesmus kirrama sp. n., Agathodesmus millaa sp. n., Agathodesmus parapholeus sp. n., Agathodesmus quintanus sp. n., Agathodesmus sagma sp. n., Agathodesmus summus sp. n. and Agathodesmus yuccabinensis sp. n. from Queensland; Agathodesmus carorum sp. n. from New South Wales and Victoria; Agathodesmus bonang sp. n. and Agathodesmus morwellensis sp. n. from Victoria; and Agathodesmus chandleri sp. n. from South Australia.

A redescription of the leggiest animal, the millipede Illacme plenipes, with notes on its natural history and biogeography (Diplopoda, Siphonophorida, Siphonorhinidae)

With up to 750 legs, the millipede Illacme plenipes Cook and Loomis, 1928 is the leggiest animal known on Earth. It is endemic to the northwestern foothills of the Gabilan Range in San Benito County, California, where it is the only known species of the family Siphonorhinidae in the Western Hemisphere. Illacme plenipes is only known from 3 localities in a 4.5 km(2) area; the 1926 holotype locality is uncertain. Individuals of the species are strictly associated with large arkose sandstone boulders, and are extremely rare, with only 17 specimens known to exist in natural history collections. In contrast with its small size and unassuming outward appearance, the microanatomy of the species is strikingly complex. Here we provide a detailed redescription of the species, natural history notes, DNA barcodes for Illacme plenipes and similar-looking species, and a predictive occurrence map of the species inferred using niche based distribution modeling. Based on functional morphology of related species, the extreme number of legs is hypothesized to be associated with a life spent burrowing deep underground, and clinging to the surface of sandstone boulders.