S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 49. (Budapest, 1988)

FOLIA ENTOMOLOGICA HUNGARICA ROVARTANI KÖZLEMÉNYEK XLIX 1988 p. 41-47 On three remarkable genera of Polydesmoidea (Diplopoda: Polydesmida) from the Himalayas of India By S. I. GOLOVATCH (Received December 20, 1987) Abstract: Based upon a restudy of type material, the Himalayan millipede genus Typhlopygmaeosoma Turk, 1972 (generotype: T. hazeltonae Turk, 1972 fromKumaon) is assigned to Polydesmidae, and Assamodesmus Manfredi, 1954 (generotype: A. lindbergi Manfredi, 1954 from Assam) to Fuhrmannodesmidae, Besides, Topalodesmus communis gen. n, , sp. n. (Fuhrmannodesmidae) has been described from Darjeeling District, Being lately deeply involved in studies on the Himalayan diplopod fauna, I have recently been privileged to examine and describe/redescribe a good number of polydesmoids, chiefly deriving from Nepal and Bhutan (s. GOLOVATCH 1986, 1987a, b, c). In the Himalayas of India, a few enigmatic forms have long been known to exist, but only very recently has revisionary work begun. Thus, Glenniea Turk, 1945 has just been shown to belong neither in Vanhoeffeniidae (as it was believed by TURK 1945, 1947) nor in Fuhrmannodesmidae (as it was done by HOFFMAN 1979), but represents a typical Polydesmidae, with G. nova Turk, 1947 being but a junior synonym of the generotype G. indica Turk, 1945 (both originally described from a few caves nearby Dehra Dun, Himalayas of Kumaon, India) (s. GOLOVATCH. 1987c). Besides, Typhlopygmaeosoma Turk, 1972 (generotype: T. hazeltonae Turk, 1972 from Kumaon) has been demonstrated by SHEAR (1986) to belong not in the order Chordeumatida, within which TURK (19 72) originally described it, but in the superfamily Polydesmoidea of the order Polydesmida; moreover, this creature was reassigned by SHEAR (1986) to Opisotretidae, though with reservations. Recently, looking through the large collection of Diplopoda collected in India by Dr.Gy, TOPÁL, I came across a very large series of another highly interesting polydesmoid. described herein as a new genus and species. Partly to secure the right identity of this new form, partly to use the opportunity to redescribe and illustrate in the proper detail the remaining Himalayan enigmas among Polydesmoidea, I have ventured to incorporate everything at once in the present paper. Before going further, I wish to acknowledge the great help and hospitality of Dr. Z. KORSÓS, Dr. S. MAHUNKA and Dr. Gy. TOPÁL, all of the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest (HNHM), I enjoyed during my short visit to the HNHM in December 1987 with the aim of further studies on Himalayan polydesmoids. Also, I am deeply obliged to Dr. P. HILLYARD, of the British Museum (Natural History), London, who loaned me the holo- i type of Typhlopygmaeosoma hazeltonae Turk under his care, as well as to Dr. C. PESARINI, of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano, who kindly made available for restudy the type series of Assamodesmus lindbergi Manfredi. Holotype and the majority of paratypes of the new Himalayan form described below have been deposited at the HNHM, several paratypes have been shared with the collections of the Zoological Museum of the Moscow State University, Moscow (ZMMU), Zoologisk Museum, Kpbenhavn (ZMUC), and Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt a. M. (SMF), as indicated hereinafter.