Search

A new pill millipede, Rhopalomeris nagao sp. nov., is described from Vietnam. It is recognized by the following combination of characters: antennal tip with numerous sensory cones; telopods with short prefemoral and femoral trichosteles, with long, straight and acute tuberculiform femoral process, and with shorter lobuliform tibial process; syncoxial lobe being slightly concave medially, syncoxial horns being longer than lobe. A fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene is also provided for the new species. The K2P genetic distance of the COI between the new species and other Vietnamese glomeridans is from 10.7% to 16.9%. Two genera, Hyperglomeris and Hyleoglomeris, are considered to be non-monophyletic, but more data and samples will be needed for confirmation.

Sphaeropoeus hercules Brandt, 1833, the type species of one of the oldest genus names in Sphaerotheriida, is redescribed for the first time based on its fragmented type specimen. While damaged, the specimen shows characters clearly different from other, diverse and similar genera of the family Zephroniidae, such as Zephronia Gray, 1832 and Castanotherium Pocock, 1895. S. hercules has a record number of >180 apical cones on the antennae, more than any other millipede. The species, together with another species of the genus Castanotherium , C. insigne (Brandt, 1833) is added to an existing character matrix currently comprising 100 characters and 46 species. A second never-revised species of Sphaeropoeus , S. variegatus Pocock, 1895, is also redescribed based on type material. The latter seems to belong to the genus Sphaeropoeus , but its provenance remains currently unknown. S. variegatus could not be added to the character matrix because several important characters could not be studied. The phylogenetic analysis resolved the position of Sphaeropoeus in the Zephroniidae, but gave no resolution of the intrafamiliar relationships of the family’s numerous genera.

A new genus and species of the pill millipede order Glomerida, Nearctomeris inexpectata n. sp., n. gen., is describedfrom the Eastern United States. The description of Nearctomeris brings the total number of American Glomerida generato three. In two of three known localitites, Nearctomeris co-occurs with species of the genus Onomeris Cook, 1896. Onomeris and Nearctomeris have almost an identical size (4–5.5 mm) and dark colour, but can be readily distingusihedby numerous non-sexual and sexual characters. Sexual characters of the male telopod also place Nearctomeris into thefamily Glomeridae, while the third American pill millipede genus Glomeroides Chamberlin, 1922 belongs to theProtoglomeridae. A key to all American genera of Glomerida is presented. For the first time in the order Glomerida, thepartial cytochrome c oxidase I mitochondrial gene was analyzed for the three American genera of the Glomerida, Glomeroides, Onomeris, and Nearctomeris together with European genera currently placed in different families, Glomeridella and Trachysphaera, as outgroups. Distance, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods wereemployed. Maximum parsimony and likelihood analyses did not lead to a well-resolved phylogeny, but found a weaklysupported sister-group relationship between Nearctomeris and Onomeris. All five analyzed pill millipede genera differgreatly in their uncorrected basepairs (15–22%), and moderately in their amino acids (5–10%). As in Onomeris, the closestrelative of Nearctomeris can probably be found among the Asian genera Hyleoglomeris Verhoeff, 1910 or Hyperglomeris Silvestri, 1917. In America, more attention should be given to the search for other small-bodied, cryptic, rare Glomerida.