@article {1089, title = {Two new species of the giant pill-millipede genus Zephronia Gray, 1832 from Thailand (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida: Zephroniidae)}, journal = {Tropical Natural History}, volume = {21}, year = {2021}, month = {01/04/2021}, pages = {12{\textendash}26}, abstract = {

Two new species of Zephronia sensu stricto, both coming from Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand, are described: Z. lannaensis, new species and Z. phrain, new species. Both these species seem to be especially similar to Z. laotica Wesener, 2019, but clearly distinct by telopoditomere 2 of the anterior telopods showing a sclerotized process located inside a membranous area, coupled with leg-pair 3 featuring one or two dorso-apical spine(s).

}, keywords = {arthropod, giant pill-millipede, new species, Taxonomy, Thailand}, issn = {2586-9892}, url = {https://li01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/tnh/article/view/247730}, author = {Likhitrakarn, Natdanai and Sergei Ilyich Golovatch and Srisonchai, Ruttapon and Sutcharit, Chirasak} } @article {390, title = {The first representatives of the millipede family Glomeridellidae (Diplopoda, Glomerida) recorded from China and Indochina}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {954}, year = {2020}, month = {29/07/2020}, pages = {1-15}, abstract = {

A new species of glomeridellid millipede is described from Guizhou Province, southern China: Tonkinomeris huzhengkuni sp. nov. This new epigean species differs very clearly in many structural details, being sufficiently distinct morphologically and disjunct geographically from T. napoensis Nguyen, Sierwald \& Marek, 2019, the type and sole species of Tonkinomeris Nguyen, Sierwald \& Marek, 2019, which was described recently from northern Vietnam. The genus Tonkinomeris is formally relegated from Glomeridae and assigned to the family Glomeridellidae, which has hitherto been considered strictly Euro-Mediterranean in distribution and is thus new to the diplopod faunas of China and Indochina. Tonkinomeris is re-diagnosed and shown to have perhaps the basalmost position in the family Glomeridellidae. Its relationships are discussed, both morphological and zoogeographical, within and outside the Glomeridellidae, which can now be considered as relict and basically Oriental in origin. Because of the still highly limited array of DNA-barcoding sequences of the COI mitochondrial gene available in the GenBank, the first molecular phylogenetic analysis of Glomerida attempted here shows our phylogram to be too deficient to consider meaningful.

}, keywords = {DNA barcode, Evolution, Glomeridella, key, molecular phylogram, new diagnosis, new species, new transfer, Tonkinomeris, Typhloglomeris, Vietnam, zoogeography}, issn = {1313-2989}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.954.54694}, url = {https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/54694/}, author = {Liu, Weixin and Sergei Ilyich Golovatch} } @article {295, title = {Some new or poorly-known Zephroniidae (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida) from Vietnam}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {930}, year = {2020}, month = {28/04/2020}, pages = {37-60}, abstract = {

Three new species of the giant pill-millipede family Zephroniidae are described from southern Vietnam: Sphaerobelum pumatense sp. nov., Sphaeropoeus honbaensis sp. nov. and Sphaeropoeus bidoupensis sp. nov. Two species, Sphaerobelum bicorne Attems, 1938 and Sphaeropoeus maculatus (Verhoeff, 1924), are redescribed, the former from new material, the latter from type material with lectotype designation. A new transfer is proposed: Zephronia manca Attems, 1936, to the genus Sphaeropoeus Brandt, 1833, giving the new combination, Sphaeropoeus manca (Attems, 1936) comb. nov.

}, keywords = {biological observations, giant pill-millipede, Sphaerobelum, Sphaeropoeus, Taxonomy}, issn = {1313-2989}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.930.47742}, url = {https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/47742/}, author = {Semenyuk, Irina and Sergei Ilyich Golovatch and Wesener, Thomas} } @article {288, title = {Diversity, distribution patterns, and fauno-genesis of the millipedes (Diplopoda) of mainland China}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {930}, year = {2020}, month = {28/04/2020}, pages = {153 - 198}, abstract = {

Based on all available information, 339 species from 71 genera, 26 families, and eleven orders of Diplopoda have hitherto been recorded from mainland China, the fauna thus being very rich, albeit far from completely known, comprising various zoogeographic elements and populating very different environments. Diplopods mainly occur in various woodlands, in caves, and high in the mountains. Most species (\> 90 \%, usually highly localised, including 160 cavernicoles), 18 genera, and one family are strictly endemic to continental China. Mapping not only the horizontal, but also the vertical distributions of Diplopoda in China shows the bulk of the fauna to be expectedly restricted to forested lowland and mountain biomes or their remnants. Yet some Chordeumatida, Callipodida, Polydesmida, Julida, and even Spirobolida seem to occur only in the subalpine to alpine environments and thus may provisionally be considered as truly high-montane. The long-acknowledged notions of China being a great biogeographic zone transitional between the Palaearctic and Oriental regions generally find good support in millipede distributions, in particular at the higher taxonomic levels (generic, familial, and ordinal). While the Palaearctic/Holarctic components expectedly dominate the fauna of the northern parts of the country, the Oriental ones prevail in its south and along the Pacific coast. Both realms are increasingly mixed and intermingled towards China\’s centre. However, in addition to the above traditional views, based on distribution patterns alone, southern China seems to harbour a rather small, but highly peculiar faunal nucleus or origin centre of its own, whence Himalaya, Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina and/or Taiwan could have become populated by younger lineages. The millipede fauna of continental China is thus a tangled mixture of zoogeographic elements of various origins and ages, both relict and more advanced. The few anthropochores must have been the latest faunal \“layer\” to populate China.

}, keywords = {continental China, Diplopod fauna, zoogeography}, issn = {1313-2989}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.930.47513}, url = {https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/47513/}, author = {Sergei Ilyich Golovatch and Liu, Weixin} } @article {287, title = {Diversity and distribution of the millipedes (Diplopoda) of Georgia, Caucasus}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {930}, year = {2020}, month = {28/04/2020}, pages = {199-219}, abstract = {

The diplopod fauna of Georgia, Transcaucasia, is very rich given the country\’s relatively small territory; it presently comprises 103 species from 44 genera, 12 families, and 7 orders. Most of the Diplopoda known from Georgia (86 species, or 83\%) demonstrate Caucasian distribution patterns, 36 and 46 species, as well as 8 and 9 genera being endemic or subendemic to the country, respectively. A single Holarctic family, Anthroleucosomatidae (order Chordeumatida), contains 44 Caucasian species and 20 genera, of which 27 species and 14 genera are endemic or subendemic to Georgia. Likewise, all species from the orders Polyzoniida, Siphonocryptida, Glomerida and Chordeumatida, as well as most species of Julida and Polydesmida are native, also endemic or subendemic to the Caucasus, but the genera and families they represent are widely distributed at least across the Euro-Mediterranean Realm. Most of the presumed troglobionts in the Caucasus appear to be confined to western Georgia\’s karst caves (14 species, 5 genera). Within Georgia, the fauna of the western part (= Colchis) is particularly rich and diverse, while that of the central and eastern parts of the country grows increasingly depauperate inland following the gradual climatic aridisation from west (Black Sea coast) to east (Armenia and Azerbaijan). The vertical distribution of the Diplopoda in Georgia, as well as the Caucasus generally, shows the bulk of the fauna restricted to forested lowland to mountain biomes or their remnants. Only very few Chordeumatida and Julus species seem to occur solely in the subalpine to alpine environments and thus may provisionally be considered as high-montane elements. Ongoing and future research on the millipedes of the Caucasus, especially in cave and montane environments, will undoubtedly allow for many more novelties and details of the diversity and distribution of Georgia\’s Diplopoda to be revealed or refined.

}, keywords = {checklist, Colchis, endemism, fauna, Myriapoda}, issn = {1313-2989}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.930.47490}, url = {https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/47490/}, author = {Kokhia, Mzia S. and Sergei Ilyich Golovatch} }