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| Sphaerobelum turcosa Srisonchai & Pimvichai, in Srisonchai, Likhitrakarn, Sutcharit, Backeljau et Pimvichai, 2023. |
Abstract
A new species of the giant pill millipede genus Sphaerobelum is described: Sphaerobelum turcosa sp. nov. from the northeastern part of Thailand. Species delimitation is based on morphological characters and COI sequence data. The new species can be clearly discriminated from congeners by its greenish-blue body color, the face mask-like appearance of the thoracic and anal shields jointly when rolled up, and the combination of the following four characters: (1) the coxa of the second leg laterally with a sharp and long process, (2) the tarsi of legs 4–21 with 6–7 ventral spines, (3) the anterior telopods consisting of four conspicuous telopoditomeres, and (4) the immovable, slender (not strongly humped) and distally curved finger of the posterior telopods without a membranous spot. The interspecific COI sequence divergence between the new species and other Sphaerobelum species ranges from 17% to 23% (mean 20%). The intergeneric COI sequence divergence between the new species and Zephronia species ranges from 18% to 21% (mean 20%). The relationships among Sphaerobelum and Zephronia species based on the COI sequence data were not resolved in this study. Sphaerobelum turcosa sp. nov. is restricted to limestone habitat in Loei province and is probably endemic for the Thai fauna.
Key words: Biodiversity, limestone karst, soil fauna, Southeast Asia, taxonomy
Family Zephroniidae Gray, 1843
Subfamily Zephroniinae Gray, 1843
Tribe Zephroniini Gray, 1843
Genus Sphaerobelum Verhoeff, 1924
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| Sphaerobelum turcosa sp. nov. A–C ♂ holotype D, E ♀ paratype A first left coxa with stigmatic plate B coxa of second leg with gonopore C ninth right leg D coxa and prefemur of second leg with vulva E subanal plate. Scale bars: 0.5 mm. |
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| Habitus, live coloration. Sphaerobelum turcosa sp. nov., ♀ paratype A, E sublateral views B–D enrolled, sublateral, lateral, dorsal views, respectively. Scale bars: 5 mm. |
Sphaerobelum turcosa Srisonchai & Pimvichai, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Coxal process on leg 2 sharply projecting, tarsi of legs 4–21 with 4/5/6/7/8 ventral spines. Similar in these respects to S. lachneeis, S. schwendingeri and S. laoticum, but S. turcosa sp. nov. differs from them by the combination of several characters, viz. body yellow contrasting to dominant greenish-blue color (vs. dark green/black); mesal margin of femur with teeth (vs. without teeth); vulva board and large, covering mesal 2/3 of coxa (vs. narrower, covering mesal 1/3 or half of coxa); anterior telopod consisting of 4 conspicuous telopoditomeres (vs. 3 telopoditomeres); immovable fingers of posterior telopod slender (vs. strongly humped and swollen).
Etymology: The specific name is a Latin adjective, meaning ‘turquoise, greenish-blue mineral,’ and refers to the general body color of living specimens.
กิ้งกือกระสุนเทอร์คอยส์, กิ้งกือกระสุนสีเทอร์ควอยซ์
Ruttapon Srisonchai, Natdanai Likhitrakarn, Chirasak Sutcharit, Thierry Backeljau and Piyatida Pimvichai. 2023. A New Jewel-like Species of the Pill-millipede Genus Sphaerobelum Verhoeff, 1924 (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida, Zephroniidae) from Thailand. ZooKeys. 1181: 41-57. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1181.109076
