Flat-backed Millipedes
order des Unterstamms “Myriapods“
1 order, 1 family
Flat-backed millipedes, also known as Polydesmida, have wide lateral keels on each body segment called paranota. They lack eyes and can range in size from 0.12 to 5.12 inches. Larger species often have bright colors to warn predators of their toxic secretions. Adults typically have 20 body segments, with females having 31 pairs of legs and males having 30 pairs due to modified gonopods. Polydesmids are commonly found in leaf litter and are preyed upon by funnel-web spiders. There are around 3500 species classified into four suborders and 29 families.
Hierarchy
family of infraorder “Flat-backed Millipedes“
1 family
Description#
Members of the order Polydesmida are also known as flat-backed millipedes, because on most species, each body segment has wide lateral keels known as paranota. These keels are produced by the posterior half (metazonite) of each body ring behind the collum. Polydesmids have no eyes, and vary in length from 3 to 130 mm (0.12 to 5.12 in). Many of the larger species show bright coloration patterns which warn predators of their toxic secretions. Adults usually have 20 segments, counting the collum as the first ring and the telson as the last ring. Juveniles have from 7 to 19 rings. In species with the usual 20 segments, adult females have 31 pairs of legs, but in adult males, the eighth leg pair (the first leg pair of the 7th ring) is modified into a single pair of gonopods, leaving only 30 pairs of walking legs.
Ecology#
Polydesmids are very common in leaf litter, where they burrow by levering with the anterior end of the body. Some are preyed on by funnel-web spiders.
Classification#
The c. 3500 species of Polydesmida are variously classified into four suborders (names ending in “-idea”), and 29 families, the largest (numerically) including Paradoxosomatidae, Xystodesmidae, and Chelodesmidae.
External links#
Data related to Polydesmida at Wikispecies Media related to Polydesmida at Wikimedia Commons LucidCentral:Polydesmida External Anatomy of Polydesmida North American Polydesmida - BugGuide
Flat-backed millipedes, also known as Polydesmida, have wide lateral keels on each body segment called paranota. They lack eyes and can range in size from 0.12 to 5.12 inches. Larger species often have bright colors to warn predators of their toxic secretions. Adults typically have 20 body segments, with females having 31 pairs of legs and males having 30 pairs due to modified gonopods. Polydesmids are commonly found in leaf litter and are preyed upon by funnel-web spiders. There are around 3500 species classified into four suborders and 29 families.
Ancestry Graph
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