A further contribution to the knowledge of Pectiniunguis minutus (Demange, 1968), a little known dwarf schendylid centipede from western equatorial Africa (Chilopoda: geophilomorpha)

Luis Alberto Pereira

doi:10.1590/s0031-10492011002000001

Abstract

The geophilomorph centipede Pectiniunguis minutus (Demange, 1968), a little known dwarf schendylid from Gabon (Western equatorial Africa), is redescribed and illustrated based on the type material and an additional non-type specimen preserved in the collections of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. P. minutus can be easily differentiated from all the other species currently assigned to the genus Pectiniunguis, by the very low number of leg-bearing segments (35 in the males, 37 or 39 in the females) and very small body size (12-16 mm in length). P. minutus is also distinguished by having ventral pore-fields on the anterior region of the body only, this character being shared by a single species of the genus, i.e., P. ascendens Pereira, Minelli & Barbieri, 1994, from the Neotropics (Brazil: State of Amazonas) with which a morphological comparison is given. Comments about other dwarf centipede species belonging to several families of the order Geophilomorpha, are also added.

Highlights

Two hundred and nineteen species, in thirtythree genera are currently recognized in the geophilomorph family Schendylidae
Latest contributions to the knowledge of the Neotropical species of Pectiniunguis can be found in Pereira & Coscarón, 1975(1976); Pereira et al, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001; Shear & Peck, 1992; Pereira, 2010a; the single species from Fiji Islands was revised by Pereira, 1982
The original description of Pectiniunguis minutus mentions as type locality the Bélinga region in Gabon (which according to White (1983) is part of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest)

Summary

Introduction

Two hundred and nineteen species, in thirtythree genera are currently recognized in the geophilomorph family Schendylidae. In sub-Saharan Africa the family currently includes twenty-three species in four genera: six species in the genus Mesoschendyla Attems, 1909; five in Schendylops Cook, 1899; 11 in Ctenophilus Cook, 1896 and one in Pectiniunguis Bollman, 1889. The species of the first two genera are distributed in the equatorial and southernmost regions, while those of the two latter occur in the western equatorial region only These four taxa are widespread elsewhere: Mesoschendyla occurs in Madagascar (one species) and Java (one species); Schendylops in Northern mainland Africa (two species), Madagascar (5 species), and the Neotropical Region (54 species); Ctenophilus in the Neotropics (one species); and Pectiniunguis in Oceania Region (one species in Fiji Islands), and the New World (21 species) distributed in southern North America (U.S.A), Central America (Mexico), Pereira, L.A.: Redescription of Pectiniunguis minutus (Demange, 1968). Latest contributions to the knowledge of the Neotropical species of Pectiniunguis can be found in Pereira & Coscarón, 1975(1976); Pereira et al, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001; Shear & Peck, 1992; Pereira, 2010a; the single species from Fiji Islands was revised by Pereira, 1982

Methods

Results

Conclusion