Morphology and phylogeny of Dicellophilus, a centipede genus with a highly disjunct distribution (Chilopoda: Mecistocephalidae)

Abstract

The centipede genus Dicellophilus Cook, 1896 (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Mecistocephalidae) has been revised by means of a comparative examination of representative specimens of all the species: morphological variation has been documented by means of both light and scanning electronic microscopy, the geographical distribution has been reassessed and updated based on published and new records, and the phyletic relations between the species have been analysed based on morphological evidence. Dicellophilus is confirmed as a highly distinct lineage, supported by synapomorphies in the labrum and in the pattern of coxal organs. Four species are morphologically recognized, each of them occurring in one of three limited, highly disjunct areas in a restricted boreal temperate belt: Dicellophilus carniolensis (C.L. Koch, 1847) is limited to central Europe (central-eastern Alps, Dinarids, Carpathians, and Dobrogea), Dicellophilus pulcher (Kishida, 1928) occurs in Japan (Honshu), and Dicellophilus anomalus (Chamberlin, 1904) and Dicellophilus limatus (Wood, 1862) both occur in the south-western part of North America (California and Oregon). High support has been found for the following phyletic relationships: (D. carniolensis (D. pulcher (D. anomalus + D. limatus))). Dicellophilus carniolensis is strongly distinct in some autapomorphic traits, including enlarged clypeus and fewer mandibular lamellae, whereas the sister species D. anomalus and D. limatus share some derived features, including an elongated head and associated appendages, longer antennal setae, and stronger forcipular tubercles. The peculiar geographical distribution of Dicellophilus and the historical scenario suggested by the phylogeny are very unusual in respect to the biogeographical patterns known in all other major groups of terrestrial animals.

Phylogeny of Geophilomorpha (Chilopoda) inferred from new morphological and molecular evidence

“…SEM was particularly effective in evaluating minute integumental features especially in the clypeus, the maxillae, the spiracle atria, the ventral surface of the trunk, the tip of the ultimate legs, and the female gonopods (Figs ). SEM is broadly used to study the morphology of many other arthropods, but to date it has been applied scarcely to Geophilomorpha, and only for a comparative screening of selected anatomical features such as leg claws (Bonato et al., ), epipharynx, hypopharynx, and mandibles (Koch and Edgecombe, ).…”

Correct Authorships, Synonymies, and Remarks on the Type Series of Fourteen Names of Centipedes Introduced by Yoshioki Takakuwa in 1934 and <i>Mecistocephalus takakuwai</i> (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha and Scolopendromorpha)

“…2675;Miyosi and Takakuwa 1971: 737. Dicellophilus pulcher: Uliana et al 2007: 27-30, figs 32-35 [Kishida (1928 cited as original description, with authorship of latifrons attributed to Takakuwa (1934b)]; Bonato et al 2010: 524, 525, figs 5-9, tables 1, 3 [Kishida (1928 cited as original description, with authorship of latifrons attributed to Takakuwa (1934b)]; Shinohara et al 2015: 895, 909, fig. 9 (895) (no attribution).…”

The centipede genusClinopodesC. L. Koch, 1847 (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha, Geophilidae): reassessment of species diversity and distribution, with a new species from the Maritime Alps (France)

“…Th e genus Clinopodes was established by C. L. to accommodate two new species, C. carniolensis and C. fl avidus. Since Meinert (1870), these species have been recognized as so distantly related as to deserve separation in distinct genera in diff erent families: the mecistocephalid C. carniolensis was assigned fi rst to Mecistocephalus Newport, 1843 or Lamnonyx Cook, 1896, then eventually to its current genus Dicellophilus Cook, 1896 (see Bonato et al 2010a, for a historical overview); however, the geophilid C. fl avidus was almost universally assigned to Geophilus Leach, 1814, under an early broad concept of this genus encompassing the vast majority of the geophilids known to that time. Because none of the two originally included species had been selected as the type species, Clinopodes was repeatedly listed, at least tentatively, among the synonyms of both Mecistocephalus and Geophilus (e.g., Meinert 1870;Fedrizzi 1878;Latzel 1880;Selivanov 1884;Daday 1889;Attems 1903).…”