Abstract
A new species of the previously monotypic Malagasy pachybolid genus Zehntnerobolus Wesener, 2009, Z. hoffmani new species, is described. The diagnosis of the genus Zehntnerobolus is updated and new characters of potential phylogenetic importance for the classification of Malagasy Spirobolida are described. The here described specimens are the first known representatives of Zehntnerobolus collected since 1900. The late discovery of another Zehntnerobolus is a clear indication of how little we know about the soil arthropod macrofauna of Madagascar. Particularly the eastern rainforest region and the north of Madagascar are still underexplored. The specimens were collected in the eastern montane rainforest more than 380 km south of the known distribution of the other Zehntnerobolus species. The collection method used, as well as morphological parameters of Zehntnerobolus indicate that its species live in the leaf litter of Malagasy rainforests.
References
De Saussure, H. &, Zehntner, L. (1897) Atlas de l’histoire naturelle des Myriapodes, In: Grandidier (Ed.), Histoire Physique, Naturelle et Politique de Madagascar 27 (53), Alfred Grandidier, Paris, France, plates 1–12.
De Saussure, H. & Zehntner, L. (1901) Myriopoden aus Madagaskar und Zansibar. Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, 26, 429–460.
Enghoff, H. (2003) Diplopoda, Millipedes. In: S. M. Goodman & J. P. Benstead (Eds.), The Natural History of Madagascar, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 617–627.
Fisher, B.L. (2005) A Model for a Global Inventory of Ants: A Case Study in Madagascar. In: N.G. Jablonski (Ed.), Biodiversity: A Symposium Held on the Occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, U.S.A., pp. 78–89.
Goodman, S.M. & Benstead, J.P. (2005) Updated estimates of biotic diversity and endemism for Madagascar. Oryx 39: 73–77.
Hoffman, R.L. (1980) Classification of the Diplopoda. Genève, Switzerland: Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle Genève, 237 pp.
Pitz, K. & Sierwald, P. (2010) Phylogeny of the millipede order Spirobolida (Arthropoda: Diplopoda: Helminthomorpha). Cladistics, 26 (5), 497–525.
Silvestri, F. (1897) Systema Diplopodum. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, 38, 651–653.
Vandenspiegel, D. & Golovatch, S.I. (2007) The millipedes of the Comoro Islands (Myriapoda: Diplopoda). Journal of Afrotropical Zoology, 3, 41–57.
Vieites, D.R., Wollenberg, K.C., Andreone, F., Köhler, J., Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (2009) Vast underestimation of Madagascar’s biodiversity evidenced by an integrated amphibian inventory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, 106, 8267–8272.
Wesener, T. & Enghoff, H. (2009) Revision of the millipede subfamily Spiromiminae, a Malagasy group with Indian connections? (Diplopoda Spirobolida Pachybolidae). Tropical Zoology, 22 (1), 71–120.
Wesener, T., Enghoff, H. & Wägele, J.-W. (2008) Pachybolini – a tribe of giant Afrotropical millipedes: arguments for monophyly and the description of a new genus from Madagascar (Diplopoda: Spirobolida: Pachybolidae). Invertebrate Systematics, 22, 37–53.
Wesener, T., Enghoff, H., Hoffman, R.L., Wägele, J.-W. & Sierwald, P. (2009A) Revision of the endemic giant fire millipedes of Madagascar, genus Aphistogoniulus (Diplopoda, Spirobolida, Pachybolidae). International Journal of Myriapodology, 3, 15–52.
Wesener, T., Enghoff, H. & Sierwald, P. (2009B) Review of the Spirobolida on Madagascar, with descriptions of twelve new genera, including three genera of 'Fire Millipedes' (Diplopoda). ZooKeys, 19, 1–128.