''Lipseuma'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

millipedes Millipedes (originating from the Latin , "thousand", and , "foot") are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derive ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Kashmireumatidae. This genus contains only two

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

'' L. josianae'' and its close relative '' L. bernardi''. Both species are troglobites found in caves in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The species in this genus are notable for featuring gonopods that are among the simplest in the order Chordeumatida.

Discovery and distribution

This genus and its two species were first described in 2006 by the myriapodologist Sergei Golovatch of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

and two myriapodologists at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Jean-Jacques Geoffroy and Jean-Paul Mauriès. The original descriptions are based on specimens collected in 1999 by the biospeleologists Josiane and Bernard Lips, for whom the genus and its two species are named. The ''L. josianae''

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

(a male) and seven paratypes (two males, one female, and four juveniles) were found in the Chuan Dong Zi cave in Banqiao in

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

province in China. The ''L. bernardi'' holotype (a male) and two paratypes (one incomplete male and one subadult male) were found in the Three Eyes cave in Xinlong county in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

province in China. All type specimens are deposited in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Josiane Lips collected five more specimens of ''L. bernardi'' (three males and two females) from the Three Eyes cave in 2004.

Description

Both species in this genus are striking for the complete lack of pigment and the absence of eyes. These species also feature strongly elongated antennae, legs, and bristles on the outside of their bodies. These troglomorphic adaptations to life in the dark indicate that both species are troglobites, living their entire life cycles in caves. As in most species in the family Kashireumatidae (all three species of '' Kashmireuma'' and two of three species of '' Vieteuma''), the adults of both species of ''Lipseuma'' have only 28 segments (counting the collum as the first segment and the

telson The telson () is the hindmost division of the body of an arthropod. Depending on the definition, the telson is either considered to be the final segment (biology), segment of the arthropod body, or an additional division that is not a true segm ...

as the last) rather than the 30 segments usually found in adults the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Chordeumatida Chordeumatida (from the Greek word for "sausage") is a large order of millipedes containing more than 1,400 species. Also known as sausage millipedes, they are found nearly worldwide. Chordeumatida is the largest order in the superorder Nemato ...

. Thus, in this genus, the adult female has only 46 pairs of legs, and the adult male has only 44 pairs of walking legs, excluding the eighth and ninth pair, which become anterior and posterior gonopods. Like other genera in the family Kashmireumatidae, this genus features simple posterior gonopods, but the posterior gonopods in this genus are unusually simple. For example, the posterior gonopods in this genus feature only one segment where two or three segments are visible in the other two genera in this family. Furthermore, the anterior gonopods are complex in the other genera in this family but simple in this genus. For example, where the anterior gonopods in this genus features an undivided colpocoxite, the other genera feature a pair of colpocoxites that are either fully or partly independent. This genus can also be distinguished from the other two genera in this family based on other traits. For example, the sixth leg pair in males of this genus is markedly swollen compared to any other leg pair. Males in the other genera feature either normal or only moderately swollen legs from the third leg pair through the seventh leg pair. Furthermore, the cyphopods in females are short and broad in this genus but elongate in the other genera in this family. The two ''Lipseuma'' species are so similar as to be difficult to distinguish. The two species differ slightly in size: Male specimens of ''L. josianae'' range from 9.3 mm to 9.8 mm in length, while the only female specimen measures 10.1 mm long. The male specimens of ''L. bernardi'' are smaller, ranging from 6.8 mm (in the subadult) to 7.2 mm in length. The two species in this genus also differ in minor details of the structure of their legs and posterior gonopods. For example, the middle of the tarsus on the seventh leg pair in ''L. bernardi'' features a distinctive protuberance on the ventral surface, but this protuberance is absent in ''L. josianae''. Furthermore, the distal part of the rear face on each of the posterior gonopods in ''L. bernardi'' show some trace of a second segment, but no such vestiges are visible on these gonopods in ''L. josianae''.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q107265856 Millipede genera Chordeumatida Cave millipedes