The sternal pore areas of geophilomorph centipedes (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha)

Abstract

Most geophilomorph centipedes have segmental clusters of exocrine glands whose opening pores are arranged in more or less well-defined sternal pore areas. We describe here the cuticular structures forming and/or accompanying the gland openings on the sternites and the shape of the pore areas along the body axis in representatives of most geophilomorph families. The cuticular ring around the pore may exhibit either of two forms. In Himantariidae (Himunturium) and in Dignathodontidae (Heniu) the ring looks like a continuous ribbon with a visible suture, whereas in the representatives of the remaining families no suture is seen.As to the distribution of the pores on ventral surface of the body, we record the presence of pores on the last leg-bearing segment of Clinopodes jkzvidus, whereas that segment was described as poreless in all geophilomorphs. We also provide a taxonomic survey of shape and distribution of pore areas in the individual families, where the pore areas may take very different shapes that we regard as transformational homologues. As for the segmental distribution of sternal pore areas, there is a considerable amount of complexity along the trunk of geophilomorph centipedes, in contrast to the apparently uniform trunk structure. Q 199.5 The Linnean Society of London ADDITIONAL KEY WORDS:-homologyserial homologypositional homology.

Brooding in <I>Mecistocephalus togensis</I> (Geophilomorpha: Placodesmata) and the evolution of parental care in centipedes (Chilopoda)

“…Ventral pores are observed in members of all families of Adesmata apart from the small tropical American family Neogeophilidae, albeit with repeated instances of apparent secondary losses within diverse families (Turcato et al 1995). Ventral pores are, in contrast, lacking in Mecistocephalidae apart from doubtfully homologous structures in males only of most species in the genus Tygarrup Chamberlin, 1914 (see Bonato & Minelli 2002;Bonato et al 2003: 573-574, for discussion).…”

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“…On the other hand, keys for the families of the orders Scutigeromorpha and Lithobiomorpha had no changes, but were complemented with information from Edgecombe 2011, and Zapparoli and Edgecombe (2011). Additionally, information from Turcato et al, (1995) was also used to detail the characteristics of the families Himantariidae and Oryidae in the key for the order Geophilomorpha.…”

“…Por su parte, las claves para las familias de los órdenes Scutigeromorpha y Lithobiomorpha no tuvieron cambios, pero se complementaron con información de Edgecombe (2011), así como de Zapparoli y Edgecombe (2011). Por su parte, también se utilizó información deTurcato et al, (1995) para detallar características de las familias Himantariidae y Oryidae en la clave para el orden Geophilomorpha.…”

Geophilomorph centipedes from the Cretaceous amber of Burma

“…Few extant geophilomorphs have pore‐free regions of the trunk between pore‐bearing ones (in all these cases, pore‐fields on anterior trunk segments disappear near mid‐body and a posterior few segments again bear pores; Turcato et al . ; Pereira ), so the apparent absence of pores is most likely preservational in all specimens of Kachinophilus . Accordingly, we are reluctant to recognize distinct species in this sample based on the apparent presence vs. absence of ventral pores.…”