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Polydesmida
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Polydesmida
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Atrophotergum
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Atrophotergum spp.: Identification
(Order Polydesmida, family Dalodesmidae)
Only adult males of Atrophotergum can be positively identified to species; see Mesibov (2004a) for complete species descriptions. As shown in the illustration above of A. montanum, the tergites on segments 3 and 4 in males are very much smaller than those on more posterior tergites. Underneath segment 2, males also have a prominent pit on either side (p in left-hand image, below). The most characteristic features, however, are on the gonopod. The basic structure of the Atrophotergum gonopod is shown below (right-hand image), where the complex posterior projection is labeled sf. When comparing gonopods on a specimen with those in the illustrations for individual species (below) pay particular attention to the pdc and mes. The dashed lines in the illustrations show the course of the prostatic groove through the gonopod to the solenomere.
Left: Underneath right side of segment 2 of a male A. silvaticum, showing pit (p); head is to upper right.
Right: Rear and slightly lateral view of left gonopod of an Atrophotergum sp. les = lateral end structure, mes = mesal end structure, pbc = posterior basal corner of solenomere flange, pdc = posterior distal corner of solenomere flange, s = solenomere, sf = solenomere flange, tt = tibiotarsus.
Atrophotergum bonhami Mesibov, 2004 Males 8-10 mm long. In dry and wet eucalypt forest and forestry plantations over ca. 400 km2 in north central Tasmania, from near sea level to at least 300 m. First collected in 1993.
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Atrophotergum montanum Mesibov, 2004 Males 12-14 mm long. In wet eucalypt forest, subalpine rainforest and eucalypt forest and woodland, over ca. 9000 km2 in central and southern Tasmania, from near sea level in the far south of its range to at least 1260 m in the northwest corner of the Central Plateau. First collected by V.V. Hickman in 1952.
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Atrophotergum pastorale Mesibov, 2004 Males 8-10 mm long. In wet and dry eucalypt forest over ca. 12 000 km2 in eastern Tasmania, from ca. 150 m to at least 820 m. First collected in 1988.
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Atrophotergum silvaticum Mesibov, 2004 Males 8-9 mm long. In coastal scrub, wet eucalypt forest, rainforest and forestry plantations over ca. 9000 km2 in northwest Tasmania, from sea level to at least 870 m. First collected in 1987.
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Atrophotergum sodalis Mesibov, 2004 Males 7-8 mm long. In dry and wet eucalypt forest over at least 5000 km2 in northeast Tasmania, including Flinders Island, from near sea level to ca. 800 m. First collected in 1974.
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Atrophotergum wurrawurraense Mesibov, 2004 Males 6-7 mm long. Known from a handful of localities over ca. 400 km2 in north central Tasmania; in dry and wet eucalypt forest from ca. 50-300 m. First collected in 1994.
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