Psiloscolopendra Kraepelin 1903

Psiloscolopendra Kraepelin, 1903

Type species. Scolopendra feae Pocock, 1891 (by original designation).

Diagnosis. Cephalic plate overlapping anterior margin of tergite 1, with weak median incomplete sulcus/depression in the posterior half. Forcipular tooth-plates well-developed but small, trochantero-prefemoral process very small. Tergite 1 lacking sutures. Legs lacking tarsal spurs, pretarsal accessory spines present; tarsus 1 longer than tarsus 2. Coxopleural process short, conical with apical spine only, no other coxopleural spines. Ultimate sternite longer than wide, with straight posterior margin and without(?) median longitudinal sulcus. Ultimate legs of “common” shape; prefemoral corner spine with a single spine apically, pretarsus with only poorly-developed accessory spine.

Number of species. 1.

Sexual dimorphism. Unknown.

Remarks. Treated as a genus in Edgecombe & Bonato (2011: 399). As there are very little available morphological data on Psiloscolopendra, the information given by Attems (1930) (who apparently copied the data of Kraepelin 1903) is the last taxonomic scrutiny of this enigmatic genus. No information on structure of either the pleuron or the spiracles is available; this is the only scolopendromorph genus that is not even known from drawings. Psiloscolopendra is presumably closest to Notiasemus and Akymnopellis, i.e. to those scolopendrines that have legs without tarsal spurs and tergite 1 lacking any sutures. We have kept Psiloscolopendra as a valid taxon, but the “diagnostic” characters listed above (see the key) do not allow its unambiguous identification; more material is necessary to confirm its validity.