On the generic position of Spinotarsus caboverdus (Spirostreptida: Odontopygidae)

The agricultural pest species Spinotarsus caboverdus (Pierrard, 1986), accidentally introduced into the Cape Verde islands from a mainland source, is transferred into the Angolan genus Bandeirenica, clarifying the question of its likely origin. The d iplopod family Odontopygidae is endemic to the African continent, over which it is dispersed in riotous diversity and abundance. Interestingly enough, it is not represented on Madagascar or the Comores even though these islands are populated by various other East African milliped taxa. Perhaps odontopygids were simply not present in southeastern Africa prior to opening of the Mozambique Channel. The presence of odontopygids in the Cape Verde islands was unknown until 1982, when Henrik Enghoff reported a species, considered to be a common agricultural pest, in a small collection ofmillipeds made on Ilha Santo Antao. Noting the uncertainty of generic concepts in the Odontopygidae, Dr. Enghoff provisionall