Median-sized to small scolopocryptopids, general body color brown, dark or pale yellow, cephalic plate reddish brown and legs yellow. Cephalic plate, tergites and sternites normally smooth, with or without short incomplete sutures starting on the posterior border of the cephalic plate; with or without a pair of spiracles on the seventh pedal segment, last tergite always margined, sternites usually longer than wide, with coxopleural processes, ultimate legs elongated and relatively slender, prefemora of the ultimate legs with three or more and femur and tibia with or without spinous processes. Second tarsus divided in “pseudoarticles”.

Newportia and Tidops.

Neotropical.

Tidops simus Chamberlin, 1915 (by monotypy).

Small Newportiinae, cephalic plate with two short incomplete sutures at the posterior border; forcipular coxosternum with short tarsungula, only the apices overlap in closed position; coxosternal tooth plates dentiform; 7th pedal segments without spiracles; first tergite with anterior transverse sulcus giving rise to paired furcate sutures extending posteriorly in a “W-shaped” configuration, with two paired sutures arising from base of former, angling slightly laterally to posterior margin; tibia of the ultimate legs without spines or spinous process, very much thicker than the tarsus 1, somewhat clavately widening distad and at ventral corner of distal end bearing a cylindric process; tarsus 1 with or without a distal ventral expansion.

Tidops simus, Tidops collaris, Tidops balzanii and Tidops nisargani sp. n.

Grenada, Guyana, Venezuela (new record), Brazil, Bolivia (new record) and Paraguay.

The presence or absence of a pair of spiracles on the seventh pedal segment is traditionally used in the diagnosis of some genera of Scolopendromorpha. Di et al. (2010) presented arguments for why the taxonomic value of this character is exaggerated, and concluded that the segment 7 spiracle is a reliable character to the species level, but probably not at the generic level. Chamberlin (1915), in the description of the genus Tidops, quoted eleven pairs of elliptical spiracles, a pair on the seventh pedal segment, the same condition as in the sister group Newportia. Schileyko and Stagl (2004) noted that, in a large number of specimens of Tidops collaris, spiracles are absent on the seventh pedal segment. I was not able to check this character in the holotype of Tidops simus because the specimen was mounted on a slide, however, according to all specimens examined in this study, no spiracles are present on the seventh pedal segment. Chamberlin (1915) also described “a conspicuous cylindric process at ventroectal corner of distal end of the tibia of the ultimate legs” in Tidops simus (cf. Chamberlin (1915) plate 1, fig. 6). This cylindric process was also observed in a specimen from Brazil identified in this study as Tidops simus, and for the first time in some specimens of Tidops balzanii. In addition, the tarsus of the ultimate legs of Tidops simus and Tidops balzanii are strongly clavate. In Tidops nisargani and in Tidops collaris the cylindric process on the tibia was not present, but in Tidops nisargani there is a small expansion on the ventral end of the tarsus 1 in a few specimens. This distal cylindrical process on the tibia and the ventral expansion of the distal portion of the tarsus 1 in Tidops simus and Tidops balzanii may be a character of the males of these species, though more specimens are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Holotype (MCZ 14550, examined) GRENADA: Richmond Hill, 1910, coll. G. M. Allen and C. T. Brues.

(ZMUC) 1 specimen, BRAZIL: “Brasilien”, Pará, Santarém, Taperinha, 9-XI-1970, Ove Jensen.

Prefemur of the ultimate legs with three ventral spinal processes, and femur with two. With a cylindric process at ventral corner of distal end of the tibia of the ultimate legs. Tarsus 1 of the ultimate legs clavate. (cf. Chamberlin (1915) plate 1, fig. 6). Femur and tibia of equal length; second tarsus divided into 9-11 “pseudoarticles”. Tooth plates dentiform longer than wide. Coxopleural process medium to short.

The holotype of Tidops simus is mounted on a slide and almost all pieces are broken. The specimen has been mounted ventrally and it is not possible to examine characters of the dorsal part and the legs, which are missing. The only relevant character which could be observed was the forcipular coxosternum. I have found a specimen of Tidops from Brazil that was assigned as Tidops simus mainly on the characters of the ultimate legs and the tooth plates (i.e., their diagnostic length/width ratio). The prefemur of the ultimate legs has a series of three ventral spinous processes and the femur one or two. The tibia has a cylindric process at ventral corner of distal end and tarsus 1 clavate as described to the holotype of Tidops simus by Chamberlin (1915). Different from the holotype, the specimen from Brazil showed a very short expansion at ventral corner of distal end of the femur. Tarsus 2 is divided into 11 articles in one leg and 9 in the other. The tooth plates are longer than wide.

Richmond Hill, Grenada.

Grenada and Brazil (new record).

(BMNH) 1 specimen, Guyana-Brazil: 19-VII-1937, H. E. Hinton; (IBSP 1546) 1 specimen, BRAZIL: Tocantins, Palmas, UHE. Luis Eduardo Magalhães, Margem direita TO-10, Km1.5, 03-IX-2001, I. Knysak, R. Martins & G. Puorto; (IBSP 1559) 1 specimen, Tocantins, Palmas, UHE. Luis Eduardo Magalhães, 30-XI-2000, I. Knysak, R. Martins & G. Puorto; (IBSP 2783) 2 specimens, Tocantins, Porto Nacional, I. Knysak, R. Martins & G. Puorto; (IBSP 751) 1 specimen, Goiás, Aragarças, 18-III-1953, H. Sick; (MNRJ 15303) 10 specimens, Goiás, Jandaia, Fazenda Sr. João Batista Ferreira, 04-VI-2007, A. Chagas, A. Giupponi, A. Kury & A. Pérez; (MNRJ 15356) 3 specimens, Goiás, Paraúna, 30-XII-2006, Chagas-Jr, A., Segal, B. & Chagas, C. S.; (IBSP 710) 1 specimen, São Paulo, Pirassununga, 10-VI-1952, O. Schubart; (IBSP 704) 1 specimen, São Paulo, Pirassununga (Baguassu), 10-VI-1952, O. Schubart; (IBSP 93) 1 specimen, São Paulo, Corumbataí, 02-X-1933, S. Burian; (IBSP 180) 1 specimen, São Paulo, Amparo, 10-VI-1944, A. das Neves; (NMNH) 2 specimens, Rio Grande do Sul, Jaguarão, 28-I-1963, C. S. Carbonell leg.; (NMNH) 3 specimens, BOLIVIA: Huachi, W. M. Mann; (ZMH) 1 specimen, PARAGUAY, Puerto Max, Paraguay river, 9-III-1905.

Prefemur of the ultimate pair of legs with three ventral spinous processes (Figure 1); femur and tibia each without ventral spinous process (Figure 2); femur and tibia each with a small cylindric process at ventral corner of distal end and tarsus 1 clavate (Figure 3). Tarsus 2 with 11 or 12 “pseudoarticles”. Tibia longer than or equal to femur. Tooth plates short, dentiform wider than long (Figure 4). Coxopleural process medium to short.

The legs of Tidops balzanii are hirsute; articles of the ultimate legs are usually shorter than in the other three species of the genus.

A specimen at the Zoologisches Museum Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany is labeled as “Type Mus. Turin, Argentina: Rio Apa, (C-VI-1903)” and was identified as Newportia balzanii. I am not sure if this specimen corresponds to the holotype of Newportia balzanii.

Type locality. Rio Apa, Paraguay.

Brazil (Tocantins, Goiás, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul), Bolivia (new record) and Paraguay.

Holotype (ZMH, examined) 1 specimen, Bas Carsevenne, (Mus. Paris, C 26-VII-03); paratypes (MNHN, examined) 4 specimens, Bas Carsevenne, 1889, F. Geay.

Types of junior subjective synonyms: Tidops echinopus, holotype (MCZ 14320, examined), GUYANA: Sand Hill Forest, 2nd Mourie, 19.VIII, 1914, coll. F. M. Gaige; paratypes (MCZ, examined) 3 vials; Newportia bicegoi, types (MNHN DCCCIXXI, DCCCLXXI, examined) 3 specimens, BRAZIL: Amazonas, "Manaos", Bicego leg.; Kartops guyanae, holotype (CMNZ, examined), GUYANA, Kartabo, Bartica District, 1920.

Additional material: (NMNH 31269) 4 specimens, GUYANA: Kartabo, Bartica District, 1922 and 17-IV-1924; (NMNH 31975) 6 specimens, Kartabo, Bartica District, 1922 and 8-V-1924; (MNRJ 15355) 2 specimens, VENEZUELA: Edo. Amazonas, Tobogan de La Selva, XII-2002, Pérez-González, A., Giupponi, APL. & Manzanilla, O.; (AMNH) 1 specimen, BRAZIL: Amazonas, Manaus, T. Gilliard; (ZMUC) 3 specimens, Pará, Santarém, Taperinha, 9-11-1970, Ove Jensen; (MCZ 31123) 3 specimens, Pará.

Prefemur of the ultimate legs with four larger ventral spinous processes (Figure 5). Femur with two ventral and one medial spinous process, and tibia without (Figure 6). Femur and tibia without cylindric process at ventral corner of distal end; Femur equal to or a little longer than the tibia. Tarsus 1 not clavate. Tarsus 2 with 21 “pseudoarticles”. The tooth plates short (Figure 7), with the lateral side higher than the medial side, but differing from Tidops simus in being wider than long. Coxopleural process median to long.

The obscure and monotypic genus Kartops, that appears in a clade with Newportia and Tidops in Schileyko and Pavlinov (1997), was here examined for the first time since its description. Kartops was proposed by Archey (1923) for a scolopendromorph that clearly resembled Tidops, but according to him differed by three characters: (1) the number of spiracles, (2) presence of a “socketed spine tibialis” (i.e., a tibial spur), and (3) the anterior armor of the prosterum (Archey 1923). Schileyko (2002) disputed the distinction between the two genera and placed Kartops in subjective synonymy with Tidops. The type species of Kartops, Kartops guyanae, is mounted on a slide, which is housed in the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand. The slide is in poor condition and it is only possible to verify the shape of the forcipula, which resembles that of all species of Tidops. Although the holotype does not allow the observation of many details described by Archey (1923), ten specimens from Kartabo, the type locality of Kartops guyanae, here identified as Tidops collaris, were examined and compared to the type material and the original description of Tidops collaris. The main characters used by Archey (1923) to diagnose Kartops, namely the number of spiracles, presence of a spur on the tibia and blunt processes on the anterior margin of the forcipular coxosternum are present in all species of Tidops. There are no details of the characters of the ultimate pair of legs that were lost when collected and so were not described. All other characters of Kartops guyane agree with those of the specimens from Kartabo. Therefore, Kartops guyane should be considered synonymous under Tidops collaris.

Bas Carsevenne, French Guyana (this locality now belongs to Amapá State, in Brazil).

French Guyana (Kraepelin 1903, Attems 1930; Bücherl 1941a, b, 1974, Schileyko and Minelli 1999), Guyana, Venezuela (new record), Brazil and Paraguay (Schileyko and Stagl 2004).

Holotype (MNRJ 15350), BRAZIL, Bahia, Porto Seguro, Arraial d’Ajuda, 2006 (without specific day and month of collect), Chagas-Jr, A.; Paratypes (MNRJ 15351) 4 specimens, Bahia, Porto Seguro, Arraial d’Ajuda, 2005, Chagas-Jr, A. & Segal, B.; (MNRJ 15499) 7 specimens, Bahia, Porto Seguro, Arraial d’Ajuda, 24-27-ii-2005, Expedição Arachné; (MNRJ 15349) 6 specimens, Bahia, Porto Seguro, Trancoso, 19-vi-2005, Chagas-Jr, A., Segal, B. & Vasconcelos, E.

Additional material. BRAZIL: (MNRJ 15353) 1 specimen, Amazonas, Manaus, i-2001, Pedroso, D.; (MPEG) 6 specimens, Pará, Marabá, Benfica, 15-iii-2003/25-iv-2003, J. Mathieuz & M. Martins; (MNRJ 15352) 11 specimens, Bahia, Alcobaça, Fazenda Santa Bahia, 27-28-II-2005, Expedição Arachné; (MNRJ 15354) 9 specimens, Bahia, Porto Seguro, Arraial D’Ajuda, 24-27-II-2005, Expedição Arachné; (MNRJ 15509) 3 specimens, Bahia, Una, REBIO de Una, 08-10-vi-2009, Chagas-Jr, A., Kury, A., Pedroso, D., Giupponi, A. & Dill, V.; (MNRJ 15510) 1specimen, Bahia, Jequié, Brejo Novo, 06-07-vi-2009, Chagas-Jr, A., Kury, A., Pedroso, D., Giupponi, A. & Dill, V.; (MNRJ 15511) 3 specimens, Bahia, Camacan, RPPN Serra Bonita, 11-13-vi-2009, Chagas-Jr, A., Kury, A., Pedroso, D., Giupponi, A. & Dill, V.; (MNRJ 15512) 3 specimens, Bahia, Una, REBIO de Una, 08-10.vi.2009, Chagas-Jr, A., Kury, A., Pedroso, D., Giupponi, A. & Dill, V.; (MNRJ 15513) 3 specimens, Bahia, Porto Seguro, Parque Nacional do Pau Brasil, 14-17-vi-2009, Chagas-Jr, A., Kury, A., Pedroso, D., Giupponi, A. & Dill, V.; (MNRJ 15514) 3 specimens, Bahia, Porto Seguro, Parque Nacional do Pau Brasil, 14-17-vi-2009, Chagas-Jr, A., Kury, A., Pedroso, D., Giupponi, A. & Dill, V.; (MNRJ 15515) 8 specimens, Bahia, Camacan, RPPN Serra Bonita, 11-13-vi-2009, Chagas-Jr, A., Kury, A., Pedroso, D., Giupponi, A. & Dill, V.; (MNRJ 15516) 1 specimen, Bahia, Camacan, RPPN Serra Bonita, 11-13-vi-2009, Chagas-Jr, A., Kury, A., Pedroso, D., Giupponi, A. & Dill, V.

The specific epithet refers to the “Sítio Nisargan” in Arraial d’Ajuda, Bahia, where the new species was collected and where I lived from 2004 to 2006.

Prefemur of the ultimate legs with four larger spinous processes, femur and tibia without ventral and medial spinous processes; femur and tibia without cylindric process at ventral corner of distal end, but tarsus 1 with a small expansion at ventral corner of distal end; tibia shorter than femur; tarsus 2 with 9 to 15 “pseudoarticles”. The tooth plates longer than wide. The anterior margin of the tooth plates is straight with the lateral sides longer than the medial sides; the inner face of each dentiform tooth plate is concave like a longitudinal section of a cylinder. Coxopleural process moderately long

Body length: 22 to 28 mm (without ultimate legs); body in general yellowish (Figure 8). Cephalic plate and forcipular coxosternum brownish; antennae and legs yellowish. Cephalic plate smooth, with a short median suture on the anterior margin and a paired of short paramedian short sutures arising from posterior margin which overlies the first tergite (Figure 9).

Antennae composed of seventeen articles, first three (or four) articles glabrous, but with some long bristles, the succeeding ones becoming more densely clothed with fine short hairs (Figure 10).

Anterior margin of the forcipular coxosternum straight and narrow. The sides of the dentiform tooth plates are straight with the lateral sides longer than the medial sides; the anterior margins are concave (Figure 12). Forcipular coxosternum without sutures; none of the articles of forcipula armed; Tarsungula short and stout, apices alone overlapping in closed position (Figure 11).

Tergites smooth; first tergite with a very distinct anterior transverse sulcus which strongly bends back in an angle at middle, to which is attached a median W-shape sulcus, from each of the posterior apices of which a pair of longitudinal sutures continue to the posterior margin of the tergite (Figure 9). There is a shallow depression in the middle of the anterior transverse sulcus and in the median W-shape. Tergites 2-22 with complete paramedian sutures and tergites 3-19 with lateral longitudinal sutures on the anterior two-thirds of each tergite (Figure 13). Only the 23rd tergite marginated. Margin of tergite 23 truncated medially and concave on each side, without a median sulcus, but with a shallow median depression (Figure 14).

Sternites smooth, longer than wide. With a large endosternite, well marked off by a transverse sulcus from the sternites 3-15, extending backwards under the sternites for one-third the length of the later (Figure 15). Sternites 3-21 with a median longitudinal sulcus; sternites 2-21 with two very distinct incomplete longitudinal lateral sutures separating off a narrow area at each side of the anterior portion of the sternites (Figure 15). Sternite 23 shorter than preceding, without sulci, lateral margin slightly convex and converging posteriorly; posterior margin straight, with corners rounded (Figure 16).

Coxopleural process moderately long, with an acute apex (Figure 17). No lateral spines; dorsal and ventral surface of the coxopleuron bearing two long setae. Pores numerous, moderate-sized, evenly covering most of the surface of the coxopleuron (Figure 17).

Legs 1 to 21 with tarsi undivided (Figures 18 and 19), 22nd and 23rd divided. Tibia of the locomotory legs 3 to 20 with lateral distal spurs (holotype) (Figure 20), some specimen without. In all specimens from Amazonas and Pará the tibia of the locomotory legs lack a tibial spur. Ultimate legs slender and with many setae, articles usually longer than the articles of the ultimate legs of Tidops simus and Tidops balzanii (Figure 21); prefemur of the ultimate legs with a series of four large ventral processes (Figures 17 and 22) and a series of six or seven setae dorsomedially; femur and tibia without ventral or medial processes or spines, only with fine setae; tibia shorter than femur; femur and tibia without cylindric process at ventral corner of distal end; tarsus 1 short with a small expansion on the ventral corner of distal end (Figure 23); tarsus 2 divided into 9 to 15 distinct tarsomeres or “pseudoarticles”.

Sítio Nisargan, Arraial d’Ajuda, Porto Seguro, state of Bahia, Brazil.

Brazil (Amazonas, Pará and Bahia).