Revision of some historical types of the genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 (Chilopoda, Lithobiomorpha) from the 1949/50 Austrian Iran Expedition, with new molecular data for L. iranicus Attems, 1951

Lithobius (Lithobius) iranicus Attems, 1951, is recorded for the first time since its original description and is rediagnosed and redescribed based on recent and type material deposited at the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHMW). The revision of the species includes genetic information from three loci and modern illustrations of its key morphological characters. Restudy of the syntypes of two nominal species collected in the same expedition, Lithobius inaequidens Attems, 1951, and L. rhiknus Attems, 1951, reveals no reliable distinguishing characters from L. iranicus, with which they are placed in junior subjective synonymy. Lithobius inquiriendus Attems, 1951 is based on immature specimens from southern Iran that likely include two species, neither of which can be confidently identified as conspecific with L. iranicus. Incorporating L. iranicus in a molecular phylogeny for Lithobiidae recovers it as an isolated lineage allied to a clade of mostly Palaearctic species of Lithobius (Lithobius).