TYPHLOIULUS SERBORUM N . SP . , NEW CAVE-DWELLING DIPLOPOD FROM SERBIA ( MYRIAPODA , DIPLOPODA , JULIDAE )

The new species of cave diplopod Typhloiulus serborum n. sp.is described as new to science, thoroughly illustrated, and diagnosed. The phylogeny of the genus Typhloiulus Latzel is briefly discussed. UDC 595.6(497.11) : 591.96


INTRODUCTION
The genus Typhloiulus Latzel, 1884 includes 33 species, most of which are more or less pallid.Almost all eyeless, they are often long-legged and sometimes have strongly modified mouthparts (Mauriès et al. 1997).The core of species ranges from Northern Italy and Slovenia in the west to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Greek mainland in the east and south.
According to Makarov et al. (2004), in the territory of Serbia and Montenegro only three species of these genus are known: Typhloiulus albanicus Attems, 1929, T. strictus (Latzel, 1882), and T. nevoi Makarov, Mitić & Ćurčić, 2002.In the present paper, a new species of the genus Typhloiulus is described.The holotype male and paratype male are deposited in the collection of the Institute of Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.
Etymology.After the Serbs, local inhabitants of the area studied.
Epiproct long, slightly curved ventrally; paraproct with five rows of setae (marginal row with 30 minute setae, each of three median rows with six long setae, inner row with 2-3 setae).Hypoproct subquadrangular, with apical row of 6-7 setae.
Opisthomerite almost parallel-sided.Solenomerite elongated in the long lobe with flagellar opening.Velum similar to that in other congenera, with dentate margin and long apical thorn (Fig. 4).Opisthomerite and mesomerite in clear connection through massive lamella (Figs. 1, 4).Lamella starting in the base of uppermost mesomeral lobe, surrounding opisthomerite on lateral side and finishing subapically on caudal side of solenomerite.

DISCUSSION
The new species has some features showing possible in evolution of the gonopods in Typhloiulus sensu lato.In T. serborum n. sp., a clear connection exists between the opisthomerite and mesomerite through a massive lamella.Some other typhloiulines also have a lamella (T.strictus; T.albanicus Attems, 1929; T. incurvatus Verhoeff, 1899), but in those representatives the mesomerite is an independent branch (Makarov et al. 2002).Some species have a lamella connecting only with the opisthomerite (T.hauseri Strasser, 1974;T.bureschi Verhoeff, 1926;T. incurvatus;T. giganteus Ćurčić and Makarov, 2002), a lamella connecting only with the mesomerite (T.strictus), or even one that appears as an independent branch between the opisthomerite and the mesomerite (T.albanicus, T. nevoi Makarov, Mitić and Ćurčić, 2002).The new species is at the moment the only representative of the genus Typhloiulus with a unique opistho-lamello-mesomeral complex.It is pertinent to note that in all the above-mentioned species, a well-developed velum exists.If we accept Enghoff's (1987) opinion that "...in higher julids... the mesomerital process is an independent branch...", the presence of a lamella is plesiomorphic in typhloiulines.In other words, all typhloiulines with different degrees of development of the lamella are much closer to the ancestral state than are other representatives of the genus Typhloiulus in which the lamella is reduced.In such a case the genera Lamellotyphlus Tabacaru, 1976 (in which the mesomerite and opisthomerite are fused), and Banatoiulus Tabacaru, 1989 (in which the mesomerite is reduced) are among candidates for the "ground-plan" of all typhloiulines.It should be noted that similar phylogenetical trends also appear in some other julids; for example, this is the case in Oncoiulinae, in which the mesomerite and solenomerite are also connected through a lamella, but the velum is reduced or actually represents a lamella (Enghoff, 1987;Tabacaru and Gava, 1992).Does this mean that few independent phylogenetic lineages exist in typhloiulines, or do we have here an example of convergency, divergency or even parallelism?Further confusion arises with the speculation of Mauriès et al. (1997) that a large tribe Leptoiulini exists in the Balkans and "… there are no apomorphies whatever in typhloiulines which would distinguish them from the sympatric yet somewhat more widely distributed, Euro-Mediterranean tribe Leptoiulini." At the moment, it is impossible to solve this prob-PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.comlem.We think that is first of all necessary to explore the poorly known millipede fauna of the Balkan Peninsula much better and wait until the probably numerous new species of both epigean and hypogean millipedes are adequately documented and described.