The East Asian to Australasian millipede fam
ily Haplodesmidae is reported from Taiwan for
the first time on the basis of
Eutrichodesmus taiwanensis
n. sp. This new species joins the newly established
peculiaris
-group which also includes the Japanese
Eutrichodesmus peculiaris
(Murakami, 1966),
E.
nodulosus
(Verhoeff, 1939) and
E. silvaticus
(Haga, 1968), as well as
E.
pectinatidentis
(Zhang, 1995),
E.
anisodentus
(Zhang, 1995) and
E. soesilae
Makhan, 2010, this latter trio from continental China
.
The
species group is characterized by complete volvat
ion often showing an unusual overlap pattern which
becomes typical from segment 3 or 4, the presence of only two transverse rows of metatergal tuberculations,
the broad and dorsoventrally flattened epiproct (som
etimes unusually spatulifor
m in the male), and the
gonopods slender, fully to nearly fu
lly devoid of a distofemoral proce
ss, but at least sometimes supplied
with an accessory seminal chamber. All of these seven species are keyed. The genera
Kylindogaster
Verhoeff, 1939 and
Thelodesmus
Miyosi, 1951 are formally allocated in Haplodesmidae, this being
confirmed in the former case and newly established in the latter one. The following new synonymies and
combinations are proposed:
Kylindogaster
Verhoeff, 1939,
Thelodesmus
Miyosi, 1951,
Eucondylodesmus
Miyosi, 1956 and
Nanocondylodesmus
Zhang, 1995 =
Eutrichodesmus
Silvestri, 1910, all syn. n.;
E.
nodulosus
(Verhoeff, 1939), comb. n. ex
Kylindogaster
;
E. armatus
(Miyosi, 1951), comb. n. ex
Thelodesmus
;
E. elegans
(Miyosi, 1956), comb. n. ex
Doratodesmus
Cook
in
Cook and Collins, 1895;
E. silvaticus
(Haga,
1968), comb. n. ex
Dimorphodesmus
Murakami, 1966;
E.
pectinatidentis
(Zhang, 1995) and
E.
anisodentus
(Zhang, 1995), both comb. n. ex
Nanocondylodesmus
;
Prosopodesmus similis
(Haga, 1968), comb. n. ex
Rhipidopeltis
Miyosi, 1958.
