Kronopolites Attems 1914

GenusKronopolitesAttems, 1914 Kronopolites Attems, 1914: 219. Kronopolites: Attems 1929: 272; 1931: 113; 1936: 225; 1937: 49; Verhoeff 1939: 274; Takashima 1950: 38; Takakuwa 1954: 30; Hoffman 1962: 579; 1980: 169; Jeekel 1971: 225; 1982: 243; 1988: 98; Chen et al. 2006: 252; Golovatch 2009: 121; 2013 a: 12; Nguyen and Sierwald 2013: 1286; Likhitrakarn et al. 2015: 32; Golovatch 2015: 135; Golovatch 2016: 1; Golovatch 2019: 348; Golovatch and Liu 2020: 170; Golovatch and Semenyuk 2021: 479; Nguyen et al. 2025: 225. Kansupus Verhoeff, 1933: 17; Jeekel 1971: 225; Hoffman 1980: 169; synonymized by Attems (1936: 233). Parakansupus Verhoeff, 1939: 273; Jeekel 1971: 230; Hoffman 1980: 169; synonymized by Hoffman (1962: 579). Mandarinopus Verhoeff, 1933: 19; Attems 1937: 159; Jeekel 1968: 72, 1988: 98; Nguyen and Sierwald 2013: 1286; Golovatch 2019: 348, 354. New synonymy. Type species. Kansupus svenhedini Verhoeff, 1933 (originally it was Strongylosoma swinhoei Pocock, 1895, but reassigned as K. svenhedini due to misidentification; see Xiong et al. 2025). Distribution. China, Vietnam, Nepal, Thailand, and Kashmir Himalaya (Xiong et al. 2025). Revised diagnosis. Body coloration variable, ranging from pitch-black to brown, often with contrasting lighter paraterga. Coxa cylindrical, typically setose. Prefemur short, ovoid, densely setose. Femorite elongate, slender, occasionally possessing a distofemoral process (femoral thorn), though this feature may be intraspecifically variable. Postfemur distinct, typically characterized by a fork consisting of two lateral / ventral processes (processes a and b). Solenophore well-developed, varying in complexity from simple sheathing structures to complex, apically modified shapes. Solenomere flagelliform, length and curvature variable (long and coiled or shorter and less curved), sheathed by the solenophore for most of its length. Remarks. Verhoeff (1933) established the monotypic genus Mandarinopus based on Mandarinopus gracilipes, distinguishing it from Kronopolites svenhedini primarily by the curvature of the gonopodal solenomere and the presence of a distofemoral process (see arrows in Fig. 5). However, our examination reveals that solenomere curvature is a variable trait that fails to diagnose the genera; for example, the solenomere in M. semirugosus (Fig. 9) is comparable in length and curvature to that of Kronopolites ramosus (figs 38–42 in Golovatch and Semenyuk 2021). Furthermore, the distofemoral process is intraspecifically unstable (e. g., K. corticinus; see below). Given that our phylogenetic analysis recovers Mandarinopus as polyphyletic and nested within Kronopolites, and that the morphologically diagnostic characters are unreliable, we formally propose Mandarinopus as a junior synonym of Kronopolites. Following this synonymization, the genus Kronopolites now encompasses 18 recognized species in total, with its composition expanded by incorporating all four valid species previously assigned to Mandarinopus into its taxonomic framework (Table 2).