Abstract
Lithobius (Ezembius) longibasitarsussp. n. and Lithobius (Ezembius) datongensissp. n. (Lithobiomorpha: Lithobiidae), recently discovered from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, are described. A key to the species of the subgenus Ezembius in China is presented. The partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I barcoding gene was amplified and sequenced for eight individuals of the two new species and the dataset was used for molecular phylogenetic analysis and genetic distance determination. Both morphology and molecular data show that the specimens examined should be referred to Lithobius (Ezembius).
Highlights
The myriapod fauna of China has been poorly investigated and this is especially the case with centipedes of the order Lithobiomorpha, with only approximately 80 species/subspecies of lithobiomorphs are known from the country
20 species of Lithobius (Ezembius) have been recorded from China, but none of them have been reported from Qinghai Province (Pei et al 2018)
The centipede subgenus Ezembius was erected by Chamberlin (1919) as a monotypic genus to receive Lithobius stejnegeri Bollman, 1893 from Bering Island and was formally proposed as new and described by Chamberlin (1923)
Summary
The myriapod fauna of China has been poorly investigated and this is especially the case with centipedes of the order Lithobiomorpha, with only approximately 80 species/subspecies of lithobiomorphs are known from the country. The centipede subgenus Ezembius was erected by Chamberlin (1919) as a monotypic genus to receive Lithobius stejnegeri Bollman, 1893 from Bering Island and was formally proposed as new and described by Chamberlin (1923). It accommodates a group of 58 species/subspecies known mostly from Asia, and western North America and spans a wide range of habitats from the arctic and sub-arctic to tropical and sub-tropical forests, to steppe and overgrazed stony areas of central Asia, and Himalayan montane forests, from the sea shore up to 5500 m (Himalayas) (Zapparoli and Edgecombe 2011). Ezembius is characterized by antennae with ca. 20 articles, ocelli 1+4–1+20, forcipular coxosternal teeth usually 2+2, porodonts generally setiform but sometimes stout, tergites generally without posterior triangular projections, tarsal articulation of legs 1–13 distinct, female gonopods with uni-, bi- or tridentate claw, 2+2–3+3, rarely 4+4 spurs (Zapparoli and Edgecombe 2011)
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