New species of Polyxenida in Israel (Diplopoda, Penicillata)

Abstract

The identification of 5 species from a recent collection of 23 specimens from two areas in Israel is given. Two new species of Polyxenida are recorded, including the first species in the family Synxenidae (Phryssonotus sp.) and the first species from the family Polyxenidae, subfamily Macroxeninae (Chilexenus sp.), from Israel. These species are identified only to genus due to the lack of undamaged adult material. Two species in the family Lophoproctidae are also identified, one previously recorded but not described, is now described as Lophoproctus israelensis sp. nov., and Lophoproctinus chichinii Condé, 1951is recorded from Israel for the first time. The fifth species is identified as possibly a new species in the genus Polyxenus and likely to be synonymous with the specimens identified as Polyxenus lagurus Linnaeus, 1758 in a previous study. This is just the second collection from Israel to be identified and brings the total number of Polyxenida species found in Israel to 8. All 3 families of Polyxenida are represented in this list, together with all 3 subfamilies of the most numerous family, Polyxenidae.