v13i2.342

ISSN: 1800-427X (printed)
eISSN: 1800-427X (online)
DOI:10.47605/tapro.v13i2.342

Submitted date: 3 September 2024
Accepted date: 19 November 2024
Published date: 22 December 2024
Pp. 141, pl. 32.

The pigmented reticulated pattern on 1st tergite of Scolopendra mirabilis from India

S. Mukherjee, S. Ray* & P.G.S. Sethy
*Corresponding author. E-mail: new.sumidh@gmail.com

Scolopendra mirabilis (Porat, 1876) is a species of centipede widely distributed in India, Southwest Asia, and East Africa. In India, it is recorded from Rajasthan and Maharashtra. During a recent survey, we found a specimen of S. mirabilis near Badar Mata Ka Prachin Mandir (26.5363°N, 74.5958°E), Pushkar, Ajmer District, Rajasthan, India on 27 March 2024. We deposited it in the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata (ZSIK-TC-0094). The specimen's habitat was the arid sandy slopes of the Aravalli range. The area is sparsely vegetated, mostly by Acacia species (Fabaceae). Following Lewis & Gallagher (1993) and Lewis (2010), we identified the species. The body length of the specimen was 48.1 mm; posterior half of head plate with anteriorly diverging paramedian sutures delimiting basal plates; forcipular coxosternum with ramifying sutures laterally; a ramifying sutures-like pigmented pattern on the first tergite (Fig. 1); margination in tergites starts from tergite 17; tergite 21 with a median longitudinal suture; sternite with weak paramedian sutures; coxopleural process with 4 spines and 1 side spine; prefemora of ultimate legs with twelve spines ventrally; tarsus of ultimate leg without spur. Further study is required to understand its phylogenetic relationship as well as ecology and habitats.

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