Melaphe apamea Hoffman & Lohmander, 1968

Melaphe apamea Hoffman & Lohmander, 1968 View in CoL

Melaphe apamea Hoffman & Lohmander, 1968: 109-110 View in CoL , figs. 49, 50.

M. apamea Enghoff 2006: 189 View in CoL .

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: occurrenceID: 67E83CBC-6484-573C-B58A-CB772FFC18A0; Location: continent: Asia; country: Turkey; countryCode: TR; municipality: Dinar; verbatimCoordinates: 38 04 N 30 10 E; Identification: identificationID: female; identifiedBy: Richard L. Hoffman & H. Lohmander; Event: eventID: collection; eventDate: May 1955; year: 1955; month: 5; eventRemarks: leg. H. Couffait; Record Level: institutionID: Museum of Nature Hamburg, Germany; collectionID: ZMH-ARA-A 0029195; institutionCode: MNHG; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen GoogleMaps

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceID: 42A0972B-C72E-54E7-AA9D-1FA5ADEA3611; Location: continent: Asia; country: Turkey; countryCode: TR; municipality: Dinar; verbatimCoordinates: 38 04 N 30 10 E; Identification: identifiedBy: Richard L. Hoffman & H. Lohmander; Event: eventID: collection; eventDate: May 1955; year: 1955; month: 5; eventRemarks: leg. H. Couffait; Record Level: institutionID: Museum of Nature Hamburg, Germany; collectionID: ZMH-ARA-A 0029196; institutionCode: MNHG; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen GoogleMaps

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: occurrenceID: 64839FF7-42F2-5F8A-B884-C92E5724ABB0; Location: continent: Asia; country: Turkey; countryCode: TR; municipality: near Denizli; locality: Dodurgaköyü Cave ; Identification: identificationID: female; identifiedBy: Richard L. Hoffman & H. Lohmander; Event: eventID: collection; eventDate: Nov. 1946; year: 1946; month: 11; eventRemarks: leg. C. Kosswig; Record Level: institutionID: Museum of Nature Hamburg, Germany; collectionID: ZMH-ARA-A 0029196; institutionCode: MNHG; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceID: 6A9FEEFE-1348-571D-B893-3877590D8483; Location: continent: Asia; country: Turkey; countryCode: TR; stateProvince: Antalya; municipality: Beskonak; locality: Toros Mts, 15 km north of Beskonak ; verbatimElevation: 1500 m a. s. l.; locationRemarks: soil sample collected in Cedrus - Cupressus forest; Identification: identificationID: male; identifiedBy: Sergei I. Golovatch; Event: eventID: collection; samplingProtocol: soil sample; eventDate: 10. Oct. 1980; year: 1980; month: 10; day: 10; habitat: Cedrus - Cupressus forest; eventRemarks: leg. L. Peregovits

Description

The posterior part of the single male specimen is broken-off; it has only 14 body rings (Fig. 1 a).

The length of broken part is only 30 mm, mid-body width at ring 10 with paranota, 5.5 mm, metatergal length, 2.1 mm, collum width, 5.3 mm, median collum length, 2.1 mm.

Colour in ethanol completely faded, yellowish-white, no pattern traceable (Fig. 1).

Head smooth, epicranial suture distinct, 2 + 2 frontal setae, 1 + 1 pre-antennal setae, 1 + 1 inter-antennal setae, a row of short supra-labral setae.

Antennae straight, slender, antennomere 1 globose; antennomeres 2–6 elongated, subequal in length, antennomere 7 smaller than previous ones, rectangular, with 4 apical sensory cones. Collum subtrapezoid in shape, convex, 2 times as long as metatergum 2, anterior margin straight, without ridge, posterior margin undulated.

Rings 2–5 narrower than following ones, rings 6–14 parallel-sided, last rings missing. Proterga completely smooth, metaterga very weakly striolate, each with a pale transverse depression in the middle (Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ). All rings with weak anterior and lateral ridges, posterolateral corner only very weakly pointed, almost rounded. Pore formula normal, pores on rings 5, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 13, all dorsal and located near lateral margins of paranota. Terminal rings (15–20) missing, but, according to Hoffman and Lohmander (1968): 110), epiproct, paraprocts and hypoproct without pecularities.

Bases of mid-body leg-pairs well separated, sterna smooth and wide. Coxa stout, as long as wide; prefemur twice as long as coxa, without prefemoral spine, but ventrally with a single distal seta; femur slender, about twice as long as prefemur, no femoral pads; postfemur shot, stout, similar to prefemur; tibia slender, about 1.2 times as long as postfemur; tarsus more slender, about 1.2 times as long as tibia, densely setose; claws normal (Fig. 3 b).

Male characters: Coxae of second leg-pair each with a small, triangular coxal process or gonapophysis (cxp, Fig. 3 a). Gonopods barely divided into a coxite and a telopodite (Fig. 4). Coxite (cx) strong, stout, without apophyses, with two long setae on its anterior side; prefemorite (pf) about twice as long as wide, usually densely setose, slightly curved dorsad; femorite (f) slender, straight, with a number of short setae along its ventral margin; acropodite (a) slender, bent ventromesad at a perfect right angle, its length about half of femorite, at its mid-way with a small tooth (t) on a slightly twisted and flattened flap; tip of acropodite small, turned backwards; prostatic groove (pg) running mesad in the middle of a whole gonopod, opening just in front of a curved tip of acropodite.

Female characters: The species was originally described from females ( Hoffman and Lohmander 1968), whose somatic characters are in agreement with the present male. However, no specific female characters, such as cyphopods, were mentioned in the description. Without examining the types or new material, we cannot add new information.

Diagnosis

A moderate-sized species of Melaphe , easily recognisable by the larger paranota which are set high and nearly horizontal; dorsum of metazonites with distinct scattered tubercles especially on the bases of the paranota ( Hoffman and Lohmander 1968). Male coxae of second leg-pair with small coxal processes (= gonapophyses); gonopods similar to M. vestita , but femorite straight and slender, without lobes, acropodite with a small tooth at mid-length.

Taxon discussion

The first male of the species has been identified and described.