First report of geophilid centipedes of the genus Ribautia <br />(Myriapoda: Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) from the Atlantic Forest biome, with description of a new miniature species from Misiones Province, Northeastern Argentina

Abstract

Ribautia paranaensis sp. nov. a new miniature species of geophilid centipede from the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest (the westernmost of the fifteen ecoregions comprising the Atlantic Forest biome sensu Di Bitetti et al. 2003), is herein described and illustrated. The new species is characterized by having the coxal organs grouped in clusters (one of these in each coxopleuron of the ultimate leg-bearing segment) and a claw-like pretarsus in the ultimate legs; these traits being shared by three other Neotropical members of the genus, i.e., R. combinata Pereira, Uliana & Minelli, 2006 (from the Amazonian rainforest of Peru), R. jakulicai Pereira, 2007 (from the Yungas rainforest of Northwestern Argentina), and R. lewisi Pereira, 2013 (collected in a gallery forest in the Mesopotamian region, Northeastern Argentina). R. paranaensis sp. nov. represents the first report of Ribautia Brölemann, 1909 in the entire Atlantic Forest biome, and the third confirmed record of the taxon from Argentina.

First record of the endemic Neotropical genusHyphydrophilus(Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae) from Argentina, with description ofH. minelliisp. nov., a new centipede with small tentorial process, inhabiting the Yungas

“…The spermathecae of H. minellii (Figure 48) and those of two other tiny geophilids, i.e. Ribautia paranaensis Pereira, 2014 (figure 70 Arrangement of spermatozoa in the spermathecae of the aforementioned taxa also show different particularities (Pereira 2014a). Our current knowledge on morphological features of spermathecae in diverse groups of the Geophilomorpha remains very incomplete, and requires further investigation.…”

“…A detailed account of the epimorphic centipedes, for which the maximum body length measured in adults is 11 mm or less, can be found in Bonato et al (2015). Several other species with reduced body size are known to occur for diverse families of the Geophilomorpha (see Crabill 1960;Pereira et al 1994Pereira et al , 1995Pereira et al , 2000Foddai & Minelli 1999;Minelli et al 2000;Foddai et al 2003;Minelli 2003;Uliana et al 2007;Pereira 2009Pereira , 2011Pereira , 2012Pereira , 2013aPereira , 2013bPereira , 2013cPereira , 2014aPereira , 2014bMoretto et al 2015).…”

A new species ofRibautiaBrölemann, 1909 (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Geophilidae) from Peruvian Amazonia, with a key to the Neotropical species of the genus with coxal organs grouped in clusters

“…As is the case for R. williamsi sp. nov. (with 12 mm body length), a few other Neotropical species of Ribautia have a similar small body size (see Pereira 2014). Several other occurrences of species with reduced body size are known for the Geophilomorpha; besides the Geophilidae, this is known to occur in some genera of the Aphilodontidae, Ballophilidae, Linotaeniidae, Macronicophilidae, Mecistocephalidae, and Schendylidae (see Foddai & Minelli 1999;Minelli et al 2000;Pereira et al 2000;Foddai et al 2003;Minelli 2003;Uliana et al 2007;Pereira 2009Pereira , 2011Pereira , 2012Pereira , 2013aPereira , 2013cPereira , 2013dPereira , 2014.…”

“…The genus Ribautia Brölemann, 1909 is one of the most widely distributed of the geophilid genera, and is actually pantropical (Pereira et al 1997;Minelli 2006;Pereira 2007Pereira , 2010Pereira , 2013bPereira , 2014Bonato et al 2009). In the Neotropics the taxon is currently known from South American mainland, where it has been recorded from Peru, Colombia, Guyana, Brazil, French Guiana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Argentina. A recent examination of myriapods collected in the rainforests of the Lower Urubamba Region, southeastern Peru (Amazon basin), resulted in the discovery of a new dwarf species of Ribautia, which is described herein under the name of R. williamsi, representing the 14th member of the genus to be recorded from this country.…”

The phylogenetic position of Dinogeophilus and a new evolutionary framework for the smallest epimorphic centipedes (Chilopoda: Epimorpha)

“…Notes. 1 both specimens are suspected to be juveniles (Lewis, 2011a); 2 the congeneric C. gracillimus Machado, 1951 is known for a single specimen, 6.0 mm long, which however is almost certainly a juvenile (Lewis, 2013); 3 the very similar Newportia sandrops (Schileyko, 2009) is known for a single specimen, 11-12 mm long (Schileyko, 2009); 4 the single known specimen has been considered a juvenile (Chagas Junior & Shelley, 2003); 5 measured specimens up to 12 mm long belong to either this species or the very similar G. minimus, and a single specimen of G. piae has been measured 15 mm long but it features as an outlier ; 6 the taxonomic position is uncertain, possibly a species of Ribautia (Pereira, 2014); 7 the single known specimen has been reported as a…”