Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae: Atalopharetra
Note: Atalopharetra and Bromodesmus are sister genera with gonopods on which the solenomere (the structure with the "delivery end" of the sperm canal) is protected by a broad hood. Both genera also have species with a powerfully smelling defensive secretion containing p-cresol (bromos is Greek for "stink"). The two genera divide up Tasmania rather neatly between them, as shown in this map:
Combined localities for Atalopharetra species (squares) and Bromodesmus species (triangles), including Atalopharetra females and juveniles not identified to species. A. johnsi and B. rufus come very close to meeting between Tarraleah and Victoria Valley in central Tasmania (circle).
Atalopharetra female, not identified to species
The surface-dwelling H+20 species Atalopharetra bashfordi and A. johnsi are up to 25 mm long as adults and live in the wet forests of the south and southwest. Both species burrow in richly organic soils and are only rarely seen in leaf litter or rotting logs, although both have been pitfall-trapped. The two species have broadly overlapping ranges in the Southern Forests, and they cannot (yet) be separated without examining the gonopods of mature males. There are Atalopharetra localities not shown on the species maps because the only specimens found were female or juvenile.
Atalopharetra bashfordi Mesibov, 2005
Atalopharetra johnsi Mesibov, 2005
Atalopharetra clarkei and A. eberhardi are cave-dwellers with the usual range of troglomorphic features: pale colour, thin body and unusually long legs. In contrast to the surface-dwelling Atalopharetra species, the cave-dwellers have well-developed paranota and A. eberhardi is armoured with an abundance of paranotal teeth. Atalopharetra clarkei is so far known only from caves near Ida Bay, while A. eberhardi has been collected in caves near Precipitous Bluff.
Midbody dorsal views of A. johnsi (left), A. clarkei (centre) and A. eberhardi (right)
Atalopharetra clarkei Mesibov, 2005
Atalopharetra eberhardi Mesibov, 2005
