Abstract
Lissodesmus nivalis sp. n. is described from 1450–1550 m elevation on the treeless, alpine Ben Lomond plateau in northeast Tasmania, Australia. The new species is distinguished from all other Tasmanian and Victorian Lissodesmus species by a unique combination of gonopod telopodite features: solenomere without a pre-apical process, tibiotarsus Y-shaped, femoral process L-shaped with forked tips, prefemoral process with a long comb of teeth below an irregularly dentate apical margin, and a roughened “shoulder process” near the base of the prefemoral process.
Highlights
Several species of the millipede family Dalodesmidae can be found in treeless alpine areas of Tasmania, among them Dasystigma margaretae (Jeekel, 1984), which was collected on an alpine “cushion plant” at 1150 m at the type locality on Tasmania’s Central Plateau (Mesibov 2003)
Its discovery in 2017 was remarkable for another reason: northeast Tasmania has been intensively sampled for millipedes by the author and other collectors over many years (Fig. 1A)
All specimens are stored in 80% ethanol in the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVM)
Summary
Several species of the millipede family Dalodesmidae can be found in treeless alpine areas of Tasmania, among them Dasystigma margaretae (Jeekel, 1984), which was collected on an alpine “cushion plant” at 1150 m at the type locality on Tasmania’s Central Plateau (Mesibov 2003). A new, alpine species of Lissodesmus Chamberlin, 1920 from Tasmania, Australia... The new Ben Lomond species is a large and conspicuous addition to the Tasmanian and Victorian genus Lissodesmus Chamberlin, 1920, which includes 30 species (Mesibov 2006–2018).
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