A mountain of millipedes I: An endemic species-group of the genus Chaleponcus Attems, 1914, from the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Odontopygidae)

• Main Author: Henrik Enghoff
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Consortium of European Natural History Museums 2014-10-01
• Series: European Journal of Taxonomy
• Subjects: Eastern Arc; species swarm; taxonomy; new species
• Online Access: http://www.europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/view/222
• ISSN: 2118-9773

Twenty new species of the millipede genus <em>Chaleponcus</em> Attems, 1914, are described from the Udzungwa Mountains: <em>C. netus</em> sp. nov., <em>C. quasimodo</em> sp. nov., <em>C. malleolus</em> sp. nov., <em>C. scopus</em> sp. nov., <em>C. nikolajscharffi</em> sp. nov., <em>C. mwanihanensis</em> sp. nov., <em>C. basiliscus</em> sp. nov., <em>C. krai</em> sp. nov., <em>C. nectarinia</em> sp. nov., <em>C. circumvallatus</em> sp. nov., <em>C. ibis</em> sp. nov., <em>C. vandenspiegeli</em> sp. nov., <em>C. vilici</em> sp. nov., <em>C. teres</em> sp. nov., <em>C. hamerae</em> sp. nov., <em>C. termini</em> sp. nov., <em>C. gracilior</em> sp. nov., <em>C. mwabvui</em> sp. nov., <em>C. howelli</em> sp. nov. and <em>C. tintin</em> sp. nov. Together with <em>C. dabagaensis</em> Kraus, 1958, they constitute the <em>Chaleponcus dabagaensis</em>-group, well characterized by apparently apomorphic gonopodal characters, presumably monophyletic, and the first example of a major radiation within the Udzungwas. All species are restricted to altitudes &gt;1390 m, all but one were found in only one, rarely two forest reserves, and the vast majority of specimens were collected in montane forest. <em>Chaleponcus gracilior</em> sp. nov. was collected in four forest reserves, often in secondary habitats where other species were only exceptionally found. Co-occurrence of multiple species, inter-specific differences in body size and unusual tarsal setation of a few species tentatively suggest adaptive radiation.