The millipede family Polydesmidae in the Caucasus (Diplopoda: Polydesmida)

Abstract

The family Polydesmidae is represented in the Caucasus by two genera and 11 species: Polydesmus abchasius Attems, 1898, P. lignaui Lohmander, 1936, P. muralewiczi Lohmander, 1936 and P. mediterraneus Daday, 1889 (all confined to the NW and W Caucasus, but of which only the former three are endemic to the region, whereas the latter species is an introduction), as well as Brachydesmus assimilis Lohmander, 1936 (endemic to most of the region, except Hyrcania), B. pigmentatus Attems, 1951 (= B. pereliae Golovatch, 1976, syn. n.) (subendemic to Hyrcania), B. superus Latzel, 1884 (a cosmopolitan introduction), B. furcatus Lohmander, 1936 (= B. furcatus exiguus Strasser, 1970, syn. n.) (endemic to the NW Caucasus), B. kalischewskyi Lignau, 1915 (= B. karawajewi Lohmander, 1928, = B. ferrugineus Lohmander, 1936, = B. talyschanus Lohmander, 1936, = B. bidentatus Golovatch, 1976, all syn. n.) (a highly polymorphous and widespread species, apparently in a stage of active speciation, subendemic to the entire region), B. kvavadzei sp. n., from Ajaria, Georgia, and B. simplex sp. n., from Abkhazia and Sochi, Krasnodar Province, Russia. All known Caucasian species of Polydesmidae are described in due detail, abundantly illustrated and keyed, and their distributions mapped.

Contributions to the cave millipede fauna of the Crimean Peninsula (Diplopoda), with the description of a new species

“…This species is quite common across forested parts of the montane Crimea, and both in the Crimea and Caucasus it seems to represent an anthropochore introduction[Golovatch, 2008;Golovatch et al, 2016].2 This species has been recorded not only from the Rostov-on-Don Region of Russia, but also in Villyaburunskaya Cave, Crimea[Evsyukov, Golovatch, 2013].…”

Subterranean biota of the European part of Russia: A review

“…Family Polydesmidae Peach, 1815 -Brachydesmus furcatus Lohmander, 1936. Troglophile, widespread across the northwestern Caucasus, including records from the Fanagoriyskaya Cave near Goryachiy Klyuch, the Baribana and Akhunskaya caves (Golovatch et al, 2016), as well as the Medvezhya Cave (new data) near Sochi. Family Paradoxosomatidae Daday, 1889…”

“…Since 1975, several groups have become particularly well studied in the Russian Caucasus, such as cave diplopods (Golovatch, 1975(Golovatch, , 1978(Golovatch, , 1983(Golovatch, , 1984(Golovatch, -1985(Golovatch, , 1990(Golovatch, , 2011Golovatch, Enghoff, 1990;Golovatch, Chumachenko, 2013;Golovatch et al, 2016;Antić, Makarov, 2016;Antić et al, 2018); cave carabids (Belousov, 1989(Belousov, , 1999(Belousov, , 1998Belousov, Zamotajlov, 1999, 1997Belousov, Koval, 2009 and a few other higher taxa, mostly with descriptions of numerous new species.…”

A checklist of the millipedes of Georgia, Caucasus (Diplopoda)

“…the families Blaniulidae (Enghoff 1984, 1990, Golovatch and Enghoff 1990), Nemasomatidae (Enghoff 1985) and several tribes and genera of Julidae (Read 1992, Enghoff 1995, Evsyukov 2016b, Vagalinski and Lazányi 2018), all from the order Julida. The order Glomerida (Golovatch 1989a, 1989b, 1990, 1993, Golovatch and Chumachenko 2013), three orders of the subterclass Colobognatha (Golovatch et al 2015, Zuev 2017), as well as the orders Polyxenida (Short 2015, Short et al 2018), Polydesmida (Golovatch et al 2016, Evsyukov et al 2016) and Chordeumatida (Antić and Makarov 2016) have also been revised in the scope of the entire Caucasian fauna, sometimes even broader. The faunas of two larger areas in Ciscaucasia have also been reviewed and updated (Evsyukov and Golovatch 2013, Evsyukov 2016a, Zuev 2014).…”