Scolopendra alternans, Leach, 1815: 383

alternans Leach, 1815:383 View in CoL .

Neotype ( NMNH); neotype locality: Fat Hog’s Bay, Tortola , British Virgin Islands; Shelley (2002) designated a neotype from a British possession because the species was named by Leach and likely came from such rather than a territory of another European country .

Original rank: species. Current rank and status: valid species ( Kraepelin 1903; Brölemann 1909; Attems 1930; Bücherl 1939, 1942 a, 1974; Shelley 2002).

Anatomical illustrations: Shelley (2002, figs. 43–48).

Distribution: the southern tip of Florida, USA ( Collier, Dade, & Monroe cos.) to at least northern South America. Scolopendra alternans is common in the Caribbean and is known from the Bahamas ( Andros, Bimini, Cat, Exuma, Little Inagua, New Providence, Salt and Rum Cays, & San Salvador), Cuba, Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic & Haiti), Puerto Rico, U. S. Virgin Islands ( St. John , St. Thomas , & St. Croix ), British Virgin Islands ( Caiba, Guana, Pete’s I., Sombrero I., & Tortola), St. Barthélemy, St. Eustaceus , St. Kitts, Saba, Barbuda, Antigua, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, & Trinidad (references summarized in Shelley (2002)). In South America , it has been recorded from Venezuela & Brazil ( Shelley 2002), and while the northern coast of Venezuela is plausible for S. alternans , its occurrence in Brazil requires corroboration. Map: Shelley (2002, fig. 49 in part, occurrence in the continental US).

Remarks: Scolopendra alternans is the only indigenous species of Scolopendra in the New World that lacks the anterior transverse sulcus on the 1st tergite, a characteristic of Old World species. It has always been credited to Leach, 1813, in vol. 7 of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, which is the citation provided by Leach (1815). I ( Shelley 2002) gave 1813 as the publication date but could not provide a page because that volume of the Encyclopedia is not available in the US. Through the courtesy of my colleague A. Minelli, I have finally seen a copy of this work, and S. alternans is not mentioned therein. The actual publication date therefore reverts to 1815, where Leach named this species and provided a descriptive sentence in the account immediately preceding that of S. subspinipes .