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Free keywords:
Diplopoda; Pandirodesmus; plastron; structure; ecology; Neotropics
Abstract:
Pandirodesmus disparipes Silvestri, 1932, a remarkable diplopod from Guyana taken from an unknown habitat, was restudied from type material. Based on some rare traits (erect metatergal spines; swollen distal parts of most tibiae plus the basal parts of the tarsi; apical part of most tarsi with numerous long but stiff setae instead of a claw) and unique (extruding tubiform spiracles; extremely long legs, with the posterior pair per segment being considerably longer than the anterior one; legs and sternites beset with ramose, tree-like setae) as well as some circumstantial evidence derived from fossils and a few Recent taxa, the mode of life and the environment in this species are presumed as climbing on humid vegetation and/or swimming/gliding on the water surface in floodplains or savannahs, by all means in very close if not direct contact with water.
