OCCURRENCE IN AUSTRALIA OF THE CENTIPEDE GENUS ASANADA MEINERT (CHILOPODA, SCOLOPENDRIDAE, SCOLOPENDRINAE)

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 1 decade ago

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A specimen from Line Hill, Queensland, in the collection of the Queensland Museum has been determined as Asanada brevicornis Meinert, 1886. The specimen fits the description and illustrations given by Attems (1930). This appears to constitute the first record of the genus in Australia. Line Hill (12°45'5, 1430 21'E) is in the Iron Range of north-eastern Queensland, and the specimen (Reg. No. QM S1317) was collected by Drs Valerie Davies and Robert Raven during 4-7 July 1976.

The genus Asanada Meinert, 1886, comprised four species according to Attems (1930); and Wiirmli (1972) and Lewis (1973) have described a few more. The genus was previously known from South and North Africa (including Guinea, Nigeria, Congo, Sudan, Eritrea, Palestine, and Socotra), India (Himalayas), Burma, Andaman Is, Philippines, Sumba, and New Guinea.

Asanada brevicornis is the type species of the genus. In order to clarify the present determination it is pointed out that Attems (1930) synonymized A. brevicornis var. afra Silvestri, 1918, as A. socotrana Pocock, 1899, and regarded South African forms identified as A. brevicornis by Attems (1928) as belonging to this species. However, Lawrence (1955) regarded all these as belonging to the subspecies A. socotrana kalaharina Lawrence, 1936; whereas Lewis (1967, but not in some later papers) treats them as A. socotrana attemsi Lewis, 1967. A. brevicornis is therefore not recognized from Africa; the distribution of this species thus includes India, Burma, Andaman Is, New Guinea, and now Australia..