Polyxenida

Abstract: The subclass Penicillata Latreille, 1829 (= Pselaphognatha Latzel, 1884), sister-group of the Chilognatha (Class Diplopoda), comprises a single order (Polyxenida Lucas, 1840; nomen translatum Chamberlin & Hoffman, 1958) and four families including tiny, hairy, arthropods (up to 7 mm long) characterised by a soft integument and the presence of numerous and specific trichomes covering the head, the trunk segments and the telson. Previous checklists of polyxenid genera have been provided in several books, but these works were devoted to genus and family group-names, including the types of all published names. A new, comprehensive and updated checklist of Penicillata species is proposed as the catalogue for a relational database and taxonomic system of reference for the Penicillata of the world. This review of the currently known world Penicillata comprises 159 valid species and / or subspecies, including one parthenogenetic form, and seven fossil taxa documented from amber. They belong to four accepted families: Hypogexenidae (1 genus), Lophoproctidae (5 genera), Polyxenidae (19 genera), and Synxenidae (1 genus). Three taxa remain incertae sedis. The checklist is documented at the family, genus and species level, and taxa are listed alphabetically. The type-genus of each family and typespecies of each genus are preceded by a bold asterisk. Main synonymies or particular observations are detailed for each valid taxa. The checklist is valid up to May 2003. Penicillata Mundi is a also a relational database maintained at the MNHN (Paris), which aims to provide a tool for monitoring and mapping the biodiversity of Penicillata. In future, the list will be published on a CIM-webpage and then progressively updated. This is part of a project aiming at providing an updated, comprehensive, list of myriapod groups (Diplopoda-Chilognatha, Chilopoda, Pauropoda and Symphyla) on the CIM-website.

Abstract: Electroxenus jezzinensis n. gen., n. sp. and Libanoxenus hammanaensis n. gen., n. sp. are described from the Lower Cretaceous amber of Lebanon. These are the oldest known records of Penicillata because Phryssonotus burmiticus (Cockerell, 1917), from Burmese amber, is dated as being from upper Albian. They belong to the family Polyxenidae. This family contains the recent genus Polyxenus Latreille, 1803, which is known from Eocene Baltic amber. Electroxenus n. gen. and Libanoxenus n. gen. are very close to the recent genera of Polyxenidae. The first French fossil Penicillata, discovered in the Cretaceous amber of Haute-Provence, is also described and referred to the genus Phryssonotus Scudder, 1885 (sole genus of the family Synxenidae). The recent polyxenid families Polyxenidae and Synxenidae therefore already existed during the Cretaceous.

Abstract: Bristly millipedes (subclass Penicillata, order Polyxenida) are minute diplopods characterised by uncalcified cuticle and a body covered with unique tufts of bristles. The order is found worldwide ...

Abstract: The geographic distribution of the genus Lophoproctus Pocock, 1894 has greatly expanded with new records of the species Lophoproctuscoecus Pocock, 1894, together with the reassignment of a number of millipedes formerly identified as Lophoproctuslucidus (Chalande, 1888). Lophoproctuscoecus was found to be the sole representative of the family Lophoproctidae in collections examined from Crimea and the Caucasian region. The species was also identified from Iran and Kyrgyzstan. Lophoproctus specimens collected in Italy by Verhoeff were reassigned as Lophoproctuscoecus with the exception of one specimen of Lophoproctusjeanneli (Brolemann, 1910) from Capri. These data were combined with all available information from the literature to look at the pattern of distribution of the four species in the genus. The range of the genus Lophoproctus extends from Portugal to Central Asia. Lophoproctuscoecus is widespread from Italy eastward, while the morphologically very similar species Lophoproctuslucidus is confined to France and northern Africa. The two species have a narrow overlap in the Alpes Maritimes region of France. Lophoproctusjeanneli has a scattered coastal distribution around the Mediterranean Sea. The troglobitic species Lophoproctuspagesi (Conde, 1982) has only been recorded from a cave on Majorca, Spain.