36 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

or slightly eniarginate

from

the abruptly angledlateralcorners (fig.

19,a);the labrum ofthe female of the usual narrowed polydesmid type.

Fig. 19.

—

Aetheandramultiplex, a,head andantenna ofmale, anterior view;

b,segments ito4^ofmale, dorsalview;c,preanalscale;d,gonopods;e,sternum andsecondmaleleg,anteriorview;/,sternum andthirdmaleleg,anteriorview.

Firstsegmentsubsemicircular,broadly depressed along themiddle

;

surface with20 erectthickenedsetae.

Second segmentlonger thananyother;thekeelsproduced forward, lateralmarginseach with 3 thickenedsetae,thedorsalsurface of the

NO. 14 MILLIPEDS OF

WEST

INDIES

AND GUIANA

LOOMIS 37 segments including the keels with 14 erect thickened setae. Setae similarly disposedontheother segments. Males withthelateralkeels

more

sharplyproducedforward, the posterior marginof the segment carriedbackoneither sideof themiddleintoa broadly triangular lobe extendingover thenextsegment(fig. 19, b).

The

thirdmalesegment alsohastwosimilar lobesextendingoversegment4.

The

fourthmale segment withthe

dorsum

veryshort,depressedbelowthelevelof the segments on either side of it, the keels strongly ascending, the six setae between the keels in a single

row

along the posterior margin insteadof there being

two

in front and four behind asonthe other segments.

Ensuing segmentssimilarinthe sexes, the posteriorones narrowing gradually, the posterior angles increasingly

more

produced to seg-

ment

17, afterwhichthey decrease in size

and

are scarcelyapparent

on

segment 19.

The

setae alongthe posteriormargin of segment 19 are about doublethe length of those ontheother segments.

Last segment small, endingina short,horizontal, truncated cone sides emarginate.

Analvalves stronglyconvex,withthin, raised margins.

Preanal scalebroad atbase,thesidesemarginate, the apexbroadly truncated withaseta at each corner (fig. 19, c).

Gonopods

exceedingly simple, consisting oftwo broad, thin, erect, apicallyroundedplates resemblingtinytombstones, the basal portion of eachbroadened^;theplatesoblique-transverseandincontactalong theirmesial sides (fig. 19, d).

The

opening inthe segment through which the gonopods project is widest in front, with the posterior marginraised into a high rim.

First malelegs smallerthanthose of the female.

Second malelegswitheach coxaljointbearing a small tuberclenear the base; second joint

somewhat

produced at the apex posteriorly joints 3, 4,and 5 thinbut greatly expandedvertically

; joint 6thick- enedatthebase,narrowing distally,with a

comb

of finehairs along the ventral side (fig. 19, e).

Third malelegs with each coxaljointproduced intoahighprocess with long hairsbehind and along the inner side to the tip; joints2 and 3 thin but greatly expanded vertically; the three distal joints nearlynormal,the terminalonelackinga ventral

comb

of hairs;ster-

num

verygreatlyelevatedtransverselyintoa broad, thin, posteriorly concave prominence, very woollyin frontand topped by

two

locksof long, twisted hairs; the posterior concave face of the elevation is glabrousandshining (fig. 19, /).

38 SMITHSONIAN"

MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 89

AETHEANDRA MULTIPLEX,

n. sp.

Plate2,figs.4and₅

Three males, four females, and four

young

were collected in the heavy forestnear the top of the ridgebackof Kings Bay, Tobago, February 20, 1932.

They

were found

among

very moist, decaying sheathsandleaves

from

ahuge cabbagepalm,and onbeing disturbed ran rapidly for shelter.

Description.

— The

living color

was

bright light brick-red and the thickened hairswere quiteapparentin spiteof the rather small size of the animals.

The

largest specimen

was

9

mm

long and 1.5

mm

broad. Structural characters have been sufficiently set forth in the genericdescription.

This isavery remarkablemillipedin severalparticulars.

The

fe- malesarenotstrikingly different

from many

other small polydesmids, but themalesdiffer

from them

so

much

thathadthe sexesbeencol- lectedseparatelytheywould have beenconsidered as distinct species, or even as representing different genera, for the secondary sexual modifications of themalenotonly greatlyaffectthe anteriorlegsand sterna, but the shape of thehead and anterior segments is changed inavery unusual manner. Outstanding differences of the head and

dorsum

are not expectedbetween male

and

female in the Polydes- midae, butthisspeciesisexceptionalintheseparticulars, for thehead andfirst foursegmentsareverydissimilar inthe sexes. Althoughit is usually foundthat

some

of the legs in advance of the gonopods differ

from

thecorresponding femalelegs in thisfamily, the modifica- tionsseldom are asextreme or

numerous

asthose of thesecondand thirdmale legs of A. multiplex, and the sternum betweenthelatter legsisremarkablydeveloped. Inviewof the

many

secondarymodi- fications itis surprisingnottofind complex gonopodsasacorollary, but insteadthey are of a simplicity not paralleledinanyother

member

of the family and probably not even surpassed within the order Merocheta.

Type.—

U.S.

'NM.

no. 1099.

AGENODESMUS,

n.gen.

Type.

—

Agenodesmits reticulatus, n. sp.

Diagnosis.-

—

-The generalappearanceof theanimalisthatofa small polydesmid,and althoughthe

dorsum

lackstuberclesor broad,convex areas,thesetaeare rathertypical.

The

shapeof thefirstandlastseg-

ment and

of the lateral carinae, the dorsally placed pores, and the structure of thegonopodsaredefinitelysuggestive of the smaller Poly-

NO. 14 MILLIPEDS OF

WEST

INDIES

AND GUIANA

LOOMIS 39 desmidae, but the tiny, i8-segmented body distinguishes it

from

all other forms except the i8-segmented

Hexadesmus,

which has the dorsal setae slender instead of definitely clavate.

Description.

— Body

^verysmall,abouteight times as long asbroad

composed

^of but i8 segments;

dorsum

lacking tubercles or convex areas butdefinitelyreticulatedand with transverseseriesof strongly clavate setae.

Head

with no

median

furrow evident, the surfacereticulatedand with

many

tiny, erect bristles,those of the vertex shorterthan else- where.

Cardo

of each mandible with short bristles similar to those of the vertex. Antennae strongly clavate, with joint 6 longest and broadest;joints 4, 5and 6each with averylongextremelyfine hair onthe outersidenearthe end.

First segment oval^; narrower than the head or the ensuing seg- ments; surface relatively coarsely reticulated, as is the surface of allthe othersegments;aseriesof 10large,clavatebristlesalongthe anteriormargin,

and

behindthisisa

median

series of 4^similarbris-

tles,anda third

row

ofbristlesalongthe posteriormargin.

Second segment withthe lateralcarinae a little longer thanthose of the next

two

segments, distinctly produced forward, the carinae of theensuingsegmentsdecreasingly so;anteriorandposteriorcorners of all carinae rounded, except on the three segments preceding the last,which havethe posterior corners acuteand moderately produced

backward

;lateralmargins simple,convexin outline.

Posterior subsegments moderately convex, with a distinct trans- verse depression; surface reticulated;the lateralcarinae slightlyde- pressed, not very strongly produced.

Along

the anterior margin of eachsegmentisaseriesof10erect,strongly clavatesetae,andaseries of8similaronesalongthe posterior margin,thebristlesofbothseries directedforward.

On

the foursegmentsin frontof thelast

some

of thebristlesof the anterior

row

are

moved

backand

form

a submedian row. Penultimatesegment with six very long, slightlyclavate hairs projectingstraightback

from

the posteriormargin.

Lastsegmentaslongor longerthanthepenultimatesegment;defi- nitelyproducedintoaslightlydown-curved, papillatemucro.

Repugnatorialporeslarge,rimless,opening

from

thetop of aslight conicswelling of the dorsal surface close to theposterior corner of segments _5,7,g, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16,and17.

Analvalves moderately convex, withraised margins.

Preanal scale long, rounded-triangular.

Sternawiderthan the length of thefirstjointofaleg;crossedeach

way by

a deep mediandepression.

40

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 89

Gonopods

with basal joints large, galeate;each apical jointrather small,biramousattip,curvingoutward and backward

from

theinner sideof the basal joint.

AGENODESMUS RETICULATUS,

n. sp.

A

male (type) and ^several females were collected at

Fond

des Negre, Haiti,June28, 1927, and onthe

same

datetwofemales were found between Petit

Goave

and Leogane,

by

O. F.

Cook

and

H.

F.

Loomis.

A

female that does not differ strikingly

from

the

more

southernspecimens

was

collected at

Le

Borgne,onthe north coast of Haiti on

March

26, 1930, by O. F. Cook.

A

mature female and a younger specimen werecollectedon thenorthslope of

Mount

Misery, St. Kitts, January 24, 1932.

Four

mature females were found on the

Bar

deI'lsle,aboveCastries, St Lucia, February2, 1932,and two

young

were found at Roseau, Dominica; and

two

others

from

near

Grand

Etang,Grenada,the

same

year. These specimens donotdiffer

among

themselves or from Haitian specimens.

Description.

—

Lengthof thelargestspecimen2mm-, width.25

mm.

Number

^of segments 18.

Livingcolorwhitewith aslighttingeof pink.

Head

large, strongly convex^; surface distinctly reticulated and hirsute,vertexwithout amedian furrow.

Antennae

stronglyclavate, joints2and3 subequal,eachlonger thanjoint4^;joint 5broader than long, aboutthe

same

length asjoint 2or 3,considerably shorterthan joint 6, which also slightly exceeds it in thickness; joints densely hairy, especially the outer ones; joints 4, 5, and 6each with a long and extremelyfinehairontheouterside distally.

Firstsegment abouttwice aswideas long,with a broad, transverse depressionatmiddle, otherwise as giveninthe genericdescription.

Ensuing segmentswith characters as given in the genericdescription.

Last segment as long or longer than the penultimate segment, the apex produced^intoaslightly

downcurved

papillatemucro,thelateral margin oneach side with threesetae;dorsalsurfacewitha transverse

row

of four long, erect bristles near the middle, and between this

row

and the

mucro

aretwoadditional bristles.

Gonopods

with each basal ^{jointgaleate,}the surface

somewhat

his- pid;apical joint arising

from

an openingin theinnersurface of the basaljointnear the frontand curving

upward

and backward,thejoint rather simple, terminatingⁱⁿtwo branchessubequalinlength butwith

NO. 14 MILLIPEDS OF

WEST

INDIES

AND GUIANA

LOOMIS 4I the anterior oneheavy

and

definitely foHate near the apex, the pos- terior branch slender, attenuated (fig. 20).

Anterior malelegswithoutlobes or othersecondary specializations.

The

discovery of this tiny species

was

of particular interest be- cause of its having only 18 segments, acondition neverbefore ob- servedinthe Merocheta,no mature

member

^ofwhich hadpreviously been found with

more

than20orless than 19 segments.

Another

closely related i8-segmented milliped

was

later found in

Cuba

and given the

name

of Hexadesmiis lateridens.^ This species

is

now known from

Haiti, St. Kitts,and Carriacouofthe-Grenadines.

Fig. 20. Agcnodesmusreticiilatus. Gonopods.

With

the exceptions of the Oniscomorpha,in which 13 segments

isthe

maximum, and

the

Limacomorpha

with20or 21 segments,none of the remainingorders of Chilocheta contains animals with so few segments as inthe Merocheta. In the Merocheta, species with only 19segmentsare theexception rather than therule,by far thelargest

number

havingthefull complementof 20 segments. In

some

of the smallforms,suchas

Brachydesmus

and Bactrodcsmus,the possession of only 19 segments is believed to be a depauperate condition, and this view seemsto be supported and supplemented by Ageiiodcsinits

and

Hexadesntiis.

Not

onlyisA.reticiilatusnearly the shortest ofall

known

millipeds, butit is decidedly

more

slender

and

delicate thanany other yet dis- covered, the proportions of a polydesmid having been closely main- tained in spiteof the greatly reduced length.

Type.—

v. S.N.

M.

no. iioo.

HEXADESMUS LATERIDENS

Loomis

He.radesmuslatcridois Loomis, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol.75, pp.362, 363, illus., 1933.

Four

female specimens,

two

of which are young, were collected beneath rocks on the grassy hills south of Basse Terre, St. Kitts,

Bull. Mus. Comp.Zool., vol.75, pp.362, 363, ^illus., 1933.

42

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 89 January23, 1932.

They

werein

company

with

two

other species of millipeds,Dilophopshullatns

Loomis

and

Psochodesmus

granulofrons

(ChamberHn). Two

mature (i8-segmented) females were collected alsonear Hillsborough,CarriacouIsland,February8, 1932.

A young

specimen

was

collected at Petite Riviere de Artibonite, Haiti, July 1927,by

H.

F. Loomis.

CHILAPHRODESMUS,

n.gen.

Type.

—

Chilaphrodesmusrubellus, n. sp.

D

iagnosis.^Relsitionshipto the 19-segmented African genus Bac- trodesmusis

shown

bythe structure of thegonopods^;inboth genera the basal joint islarge

and

hollowed out to receive theapical joint,

much

asintheStiodesmidaeorChytodesmidae.

The dorsum

inChila- phrodesmus, however,is notdefinitelytuberculate;the repugnatorial poresopen

from

thesideofthe posteriorangle of the keel ratherthan

from

the dorsal surface of the keel;andthe posteriormargin of the penultimatesegment is straight between theproduced angles of the keels,nottoothed asinBactrodesmus.

Description.

— Body

about 7 times as long as broad, with 20 seg- ments;

dorsum

flattened, slightly convex^; lateral carinae projecting asin Polydesmus.

Head

large, greatly exposed

from

above; surface quite densely hairy, the hairs of the vertex shorter than elsewhere; groove of the vertexfine

and

faint.

Antennae

rather slender, scarcely clavate, denselyhirsute,especiallythe three outerjoints;joint6broadest but notexceedingjoint 3 inlength;nextinorder of length

come

joints2, 5,and4, with i and 7 the shortestand subequal, each halfas long as joint 2.

First segment oval,

much

narrower than thehead or the adjacent segments;anteriormargin with athin,raisedrim extending

from

one lateralangletotheother;behindthisrim isaseriesof 10verylong erect setae arising

from

tiny, inconspicuous swellings or granules

;

behind this series are

two

others, the median containing four setae, the posterior six setae; surface elsewhere definitely reticulated, as isthesurface ofallthe other segments.

Second segmentwith the carinae longer than those of thesegments immediatelyfollowing,especiallysegments3and4.

Second and ensuing segments with an anterior

row

of four long erect setae and a posterior

row

of six smaller setae arising

from

granules similar to those onthe firstsegment^;each granule beingin the center ofanindefinitelow,convexarea;all segments except the firstand last with six setae projecting horizontally

backward from

the posteriormargin,theirlength intermediatebetweenthe

two

dorsal series; in the male the setaeareon small marginal teeth which are obsolete on the last few segments;the females with teethindefinite or lacking. Beginning with the second segmentthe posteriormargin ofeachsegmenthas abroadtriangular sinus oremargination

on

each sideadjacenttothecarina, causing the posterior angle ofeachcarina to appear definitely produced backward, whereas on only the last segmentsdo the corners of the carinaeextend fartherback thanthe medianportion of the posterior margin of the

dorsum

and on these segmentsthe sinusisreducedor lackingandthemarginstraight

from

side to side. All nonporiferous segments, except the first and last,

have thelateral margin oneach carina tridentate, each tooth bearing a long seta; poriferous segments with four setiferous teeth on the lateralmargin of the carinae andthe poreopensoutward and back-

ward from

the margin of the posterior angle between thelast

two

teeth. Pores on the customary segments; posterior angles of seg-

ment

19

much

shorterthanthose of segment20.

Last segment with a transverse median

row

of six setae

and two

setaenearthe papilliform apexwhichisshort

and

almosthorizontal.

Anal valvesstrongly convex;themargins thinly elevated.

Preanal scale rather long, triangular.

Sternawide, aboutas in Polydesmiis.

Basaljointofeach

gonopod

large,subtriangular,hollowedto receive the long, curved apical joint.

When

^the apical joints are exserted, one crossesthe other,and each is directed toward the opposite side of the body.

In the male specimen the outer joints of the anterior legs are missing, but the coxal joints arepresentand

show

no speciaHzations distinguishing

them from

thecoxae of the legs farther back.

The

sternabetweenthe seventh andeighth pair of legsare notdefinitely wider than the adjacentsterna.

This is an active little creature, apparently of

much

the

same

habit as Bactrodesmus, running swiftly for shelter

when

disturbed, withtheantennae held nearlyparallel in front of it. Becauseof the smallsizeandrapid

movements

severalspecimens escapedinthelitter of leaves;theonescollectedwere found

on

theundersideof astone which

was

upturned, and

from

which they were unable to escape.

CHILAPHRODESMUS RUBELLUS

n.sp.

Plate2,fig.6

A

^{male (type) and}

^two

^{females were collected near the road on}

the

summit

of

Morne

Pilboreau,above Ennery, Haiti,July 24, 1927,

44

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 89 by

H.

F. Loomis.

A

i/-segmented female

was

collected

from

the

same

locality,

March

21, 1930, by O. F. Cook.

Two

females were collected within the Citadel,

Cape

Haitien, Haiti,

March

27, 1932.

Description.

—

^{Length of the largest} specimen, a female, 5.5

mm,

width.8

mm.

Livingcolordefinitelypink.

Head

withthe threeteethofthelabrumsmall but acute;thesurface of the labrum and clypeus less hirsute and

more

distinctly shining than therestof thehead^;antennaeas

shown

infigure 21,a.

Behind segment

4

theseta ateachend of the posterior

row

is usu- allyreducedin size orisentirely lacking, leavingonly the four inner setae.

On

theporiferoussegmentsa small seta rises

from

thetop of the posterior projectionof thelateralmarginofeach carinaaboveand just behind the pore.

The

entire dorsal surface of all the segments

Fig. 21.

—

Chilaphrodcsmus rubclliis. a, antenna; b, gonopod.

is rather coarsely reticulated as seen with high magnification, with the bottomof eachcellstrongly shining.

Gonopods

with each basal joint large and strongly convex, sub- triangular, hollowed and apparently capable of receiving the outer joint

when

retracted. In the type these outer joints are projected laterally, onecrossing the other and hiding

much

of it.

Each

outer joint is moderately stout, evenly curved, with a very large, acutely triangular lobeatthe middle of theinner side; outer portion of the joint

more

slender, subspatulate, the apex rather thin and rather broadly emarginate (fig. 21, b).

The two

females collected in Christoph's Citadel, are each 8

mm

long, andalthough considerably larger than the specimens

from

the typelocality,they agreeverywellinother particulars;however, exami- nation of males

from

near the Citadel might

show

that they repre- senteda secondspecies.

Type.—V.S.'NM.

no. iioi.