Araneopedis porchi, Mesibov, 2025

Araneopedis porchi sp. nov.

Figs 1 View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 , 15 A View Figure 15

Type material.

Holotype. Male, Bogong High Plains, Pretty Valley Road, 1.2 km SE of Mt McKay, site HS 01-C-L 1 , -36.8823, 147.2534 ± 25 m, 1725–1745 m, coll. Nicholas Porch, 2024-04 - 22, 1 m 2 litter sample from closed shrubby snow gum woodland, NMV K 16475 GoogleMaps . Paratypes. 6 M, 11 F, details as for holotype, NMV K 16476 GoogleMaps ; 1 M, same details but site HS 01-C-P 1, pitfall sample, NMV K 16477 GoogleMaps ; 8 M, 11 F, same details but 1.25 km SE of Mt McKay, site HS 01-C-L 2 , -36.8824, 147.2537 ± 25 m, 1730–1750 m, 1 m 2 litter sample, NMV K 16465 GoogleMaps ; 1 M in 95 % EtOH, same details, NMV K 16466 GoogleMaps ; 5 M, 5 F, same details but 1.3 km SE of Mt McKay, site HS 01-C-L 3 , -36.8828, 147.2539 ± 25 m, 1735–1755 m, NMV K 16474 GoogleMaps .

Additional material.

51 M, 64 F, 1 J from nine other sites. See Suppl. material 1 for details.

Diagnosis.

Adult males distinguished from Araneopedis buffalo sp. nov. by the similar sizes of posterior rings vs enlarged rings; from A. buffalo sp. nov. and A. gibbae sp. nov. by the undivided vs divided lateral branch; from A. dargo sp. nov. by the equally tall lateral and medial branches vs much taller medial branch; and from A. bogong sp. nov. by the simply curved solenomere vs solenomere with a wide distal-facing concavity.

Description.

As for the genus, with the following details. Male / female length ca 7 / 7 mm, maximum midbody width 0.6 / 0.6 mm, midbody metatergite width 1.5 × prozonite width.

Telopodite (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ) with basal margin upturned. Telopodite erect, bulging posteriorly at ca 1 / 4 telopodite height, sparsely setose posteriorly at base and posterolaterally, divided at ca 1 / 2 telopodite height into lateral and medial branches of equal height. Lateral branch (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ) somewhat flattened anteroposteriorly, C-shaped with concavity on posterior side, tip directed posteriorly and bluntly pointed. Medial branch with rounded shoulder laterally at base, bent a little laterally before extending distally, widening slightly and bent posteriorly at apex, the tip with blunt tooth at lateral corner. Solenomere arising posterior to telopodite division, expanded posteriorly, curving laterally and flattening mediolaterally, the posterior edge forming a rounded triangle, then tapering strongly and bending posteriorly, the tip pointed posteriorly below lateral and medial branch tips. Prostatic groove running on medial surface of telopodite and along anterior edge of solenomere to open at solenomere tip.

Name.

Noun in the genitive case, in honour of Nicholas Porch (Deakin University), principal investigator for the Hermon Slade Foundation project in which this and other new millipede species were collected.

Distribution.

Collected from two locality clusters near Mt Hotham and Mt McKay in the Victorian mountains (Fig. 15 A View Figure 15 ) with a linear range of ca 16 km, in alpine and subalpine grassland and woodland from 1725 to 1860 m. Possibly parapatric with A. bogong sp. nov.

Remarks.

Although the live colouring of A. porchi sp. nov. is currently unknown, specimens that were pitfall-trapped in propylene glycol are all almost uniformly darker brown (Fig. 2 B View Figure 2 ). Propylene glycol may have stabilised colouring that was partially lost in the ethanol into which litter specimens were collected.