A review of the cavernicolous Trichopolydesmidae (Diplopoda, Polydesmida) from the Carpathian-Balkan arch and the Rhodope Mountains, with descriptions of two new genera and three new species

Abstract

All cavernicolous species of the millipede family Trichopolydesmidae from the Carpathian-Balkan arch and the Rhodope Mountains have been reviewed. At present the family has been shown to comprise five or six genera with eight or nine species. Two new genera have been described, viz., Balkanodesminus gen. nov., with two new species: B. dentatoides sp. nov. and B. serbicus sp. nov., from Bulgaria and Serbia, respectively, and the monospecific Rhodopodesmus gen. nov., with R. niveus sp. nov., from Bulgaria. Two new combinations and one new status have been proposed: Balkanodesminus bulgaricus (Strasser, 1962) comb. nov. ex Bacillidesmus bulgaricus Strasser, 1962 and Balkanodesminus dentatus (Strasser, 1966a) comb. nov., stat. nov. ex Bacillidesmus bulgaricus dentatus Strasser, 1966a. All genera and species are diagnosed with the inclusion of the most relevant remarks for each of them. Old museum types are checked for Bacillidesmus filiformis (Latzel, 1884) with lectotype designation, as well as for Trichopolydesmus eremitis Verhoeff, 1898. An identification key to all six genera and a distribution map for the eight species are provided, as well as brief remarks and general considerations on the family Trichopolydesmidae.