Leptodesmidae

Medial (upper left) and lateral views of gonopods of Leptodesmus ornatus, together with diagram of dorsal rim of twelth trunk segment, from Kraus (1954).

Belongs within: Diplopoda.

The Leptodesmidae is a group of millipedes that is most diverse in the Americas.

Characters (from Brues et al. 1954): Males with first pair of legs on seventh somite only modified into gonopods; coxae of gonopods large, close together, connected by a narrow band, each with a prominent curved horn-shaped process; femur distinctly separated from tibia by a constriction, with a large process that is often longer than tibia and tarsus together.

<==Leptodesmidae
    |--Chondrodesmoides Kraus 1955 K55
    |    `--*C. koepckei Kraus 1955 K55
    |--Proletus K55
    |    |--P. orites (Chamberlin 1941) [=*Eucampesmus orites] K55
    |    `--P. tocachensis Kraus 1955 K55
    |--Alocodesmus Silvestri 1896 K54
    |    |--A. aporus Kraus 1954 K54
    |    |--A. dentatus K54
    |    |--A. olivaceus Kraus 1954 K54
    |    |--A. planus K54
    |    `--A. pseudolivaceus Kraus 1954 K54
    `--Leptodesmus Saussure 1859 K54
         |  i. s.: L. gounellei K54
         |         L. soleadinus K54
         |--L. (Leptodesmus) taulisensis Kraus 1954 K54
         |--L. (Desmoleptus) K54
         |    |--L. (*D.) peruanus K54
         |    |--L. (D.) ornatus Kraus 1954 K54
         |    `--L. (D.) similis Kraus 1954 K54
         |--L. (Perudesmus) K54
         |    |--L. (P.) nodosus Kraus 1954 K54
         |    `--L. (P.) titschacki K54
         `--L. (Pseudoleptodesmus) K54
              |--L. (P.) andinus Kraus 1954 K54
              `--L. (P.) bivittatus Kraus 1954 K54

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

Brues, C. T., A. L. Melander & F. M. Carpenter. 1954. Classification of insects: keys to the living and extinct families of insects, and to the living families of other terrestrial arthropods. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 108.

[K54] Kraus, O. 1954. Myriapoden aus Peru, II. Senckenbergiana Biologica 35: 17–55.

[K55] Kraus, O. 1955. Myriapoden aus Peru, III. Senckenbergiana Biologica 36 (3–4): 173–200.