Cheirodesmus, an enigmatic West African milliped genus (Polydesmida: Chelodesmidae)

The West African prepodesmid genus Cheirodesmus, essentially unknown since its pro}iosal by 0. F. Cook in 1896, is redescribed and illm;trated from the two originally included species C. ater and C. discolor from Liberia, and a closely related new species C. aurelolus, is described from a single male taken at Freetown, Sierra Leon. The genus is apparently related to Prepodesmus and Tylodesmus, but differs in the very simplified structure of the gonopod telopodite. The collection of millipeds in "West Africa " began not long after colonization of that region was commenced by European countries and safe travel by naturalists was ensured. However, systematic inventory work was not conducted by a knowledgeable specialist until1892, when 0. F. Cook, then a recent graduate of Syracuse University arrived in Liberia. Engaged to assist in planning for a repatriation program envisaged by the New York State Colonization Society, Cook (then only 24 years old) had already published several papers on the classification of geophilomorph centipeds, and was well-informed in rnilliped classification as it stood at that time. In the spare time available to him Cook collected the soil and litter fauna assiduously, giving particular attention to the small organisms likely to be overlooked by all by the most dedicated collector. As a part of his travel itinerary during several trips to Liberia, Cook visited the museums in London ~d Berlin to examine diplopod material, with special emphasis on the faunas of Africa. He was the first student ofDiplopoda t