Geophilus richardi explained
Geophilus richardi is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae.[1] This centipede is found in France and Monaco in the Western Alps and on the Italian mainland, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Ionian Islands. This species is notable as one of only two in the family Geophilidae to include centipedes with as few as 29 leg pairs.[2]
Discovery
This species was first described by the French myriapodologist Henri W. Brölemann in 1904. The original description of this species is based on two female specimens found in Monaco. Brölemann named this species for the French oceanographer Jules Richard, director of the Musée Océanographique de Monaco, who collected these specimens in 1902.[3]
Description
Females of this species have 33 pairs of legs, whereas males can have either 29 or 31 leg pairs,[4] but are usually recorded with 31 pairs.[5] [6] This centipede is small, reaching only 10 mm in length, and has no carpophagus pits. The second maxillae end in a short curved claw that tapers gradually.[7] This species features short setae on the head, trunk, and legs.[8]
This species lacks the clusters of pores typically observed on the ventral surface of most soil centipedes, which usually feature pores from 2 to 4 micrometers in diameter that are each surrounded by a cuticular ring. Instead, the sternites in G. richardi bear a small number of pores from 0.5 to 1 micrometer in diameter. These pores are bounded by a cuticular ring, like the pores typically observed in other species and unlike smaller micropores, which lack such a ring. The small pores observed in G. richardi are possibly the remnants of typical ventral pores, their smaller size being a byproduct of overall miniaturization.[9]
Notes and References
- Web site: Bonato . L. . Chagas Junior . A. . Edgecombe . G.D. . Lewis . J.G.E. . Minelli . A. . Pereira . L.A. . Shelley . R.M. . Stoev . P. . Zapparoli . M. . 2016 . Geophilus richardi Brölemann, 1904 . 2024-06-08 . ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda).
- Bonato . Lucio . Minelli . Alessandro . Drago . Leandro . Pereira . Luis Alberto . 2015-09-25 . The phylogenetic position of Dinogeophilus and a new evolutionary framework for the smallest epimorphic centipedes (Chilopoda: Epimorpha) . Contributions to Zoology . 84 . 3 . 237–253 . 10.1163/18759866-08403004 . 1875-9866 . free . free . 11577/3146565.
- Brölemann . H.W. . 1904 . Chilopodes Monégasques. I. Liste des chilopodes du territoire de la principauté ou dans ses environs immediats. II. Description de geophilides nouveaux. III. Un nouvel Himantarium monstrueux . Bulletin du Musée Océanographique de Monaco . French . 15 . 1-15 [9-11] . Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Pereira . Luis Alberto . 2013-01-01 . Discovery of a second geophilomorph species (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) having twenty-seven leg-bearing segments, the lowest number recorded up to the present in the centipede order Geophilomorpha . Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia . en . 53 . 13 . 163–185 . 10.1590/S0031-10492013001300001 . 1807-0205. free . 11336/3449 . free .
- Book: Brolemann, H.W. . Éléments d'une faune des myriapodes de France. Chilopodes . Imprimérie Toulousaine . 1930 . Toulouse . 185-186 . French.
- Zapparoli . Marzio . 2011 . New records and remarks on the centipede fauna of endogean habitats of Sardinia (Chilopoda) . Conservazione Habitat Invertebrati . 5 . 223–242 [237].
- Bonato. Lucio. Stoev. Pavel. 2015. At the end of the rope: Geophilus hadesi sp. n. – the world's deepest cave-dwelling centipede (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae. ZooKeys. 510. 95–114. 10.3897/zookeys.510.9614. 26257537. 4523767. free.
- Foddai . D. . 1999-02-01 . A troglomorphic geophilomorph centipede from southern France (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Geophilidae) . Journal of Natural History . en . 33 . 2 . 267–287 . 10.1080/002229399300416 . 0022-2933.
- Minelli . Alessandro . The sternal pore areas of geophilomorph centipedes (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 1995 . 115 . 2 . 185–209 . 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1995.tb02327.x . 29 March 2022.