Anoplodesmus saussurii

Anoplodesmus saussurii
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Myriapoda
Class:	Diplopoda
Order:	Polydesmida
Family:	Paradoxosomatidae
Genus:	Anoplodesmus
Species:	A. saussurii
Binomial name
	Anoplodesmus saussurii; (Humbert, 1865)
Synonyms
	Polydesmus saussurii Humbert, 1865; Prionopeltis dasys Chamberlin, 1920; Anoplodesmus attemsii Verhoeff, 1930;

Anoplodesmus saussurii is a species of millipedes in the family Paradoxosomatidae. It was once thought endemic to Sri Lanka, but it was later found in Fiji and Mauritius.^[1] ^[2]

Description

It is about 21–33 mm in length. Adults are shiny dark brown to black in color. They are much largely aggregated species that can be found undercover of decaying litter layers in the agricultural and horticultural land areas and forests on humid soils. Mainly herbivores, they are known to eat any decaying and rotting leaves and vegetable parts, and even wood, decaying fish, and cow dung. After 20 to 25 days of copulation, female laid 200 to 400 eggs in earthen nests. One female may lay 2 to 4 times of egg masses in her lifetime. After seven moultings, stadia come out to surface after the onset of the rainy season.^[3]

References

^ De Zoysa, H. K. S.; Nguyen, Anh D.; Wickramasinghe, S. (2016). "Annotated checklist of millipedes (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) of Sri Lanka". Zootaxa. 4061 (5): 451–482. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4061.5.1. PMID 27395514.
^ Golovatch, Sergei; Stoev, Pavel (2013). "The millipede family Paradoxosomatidae in the Philippines, with a description of Eustrongylosoma penevi sp.n., and notes on Anoplodesmus anthracinus Pocock, 1895, recorded in Malaysia and Sri Lanka for the first time (Diplopoda, Polydesmida)". Biodiversity Data Journal. 1 (1): e957. doi:10.3897/BDJ.1.e957. PMC 3964709. PMID 24723759.
^ Decker, Peter; Trudy Tertilt (2012). "First records of two introduced millipedes Anoplodesmus saussurii and Chondromorpha xanthotricha (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae) in Singapore" (PDF). Nature in Singapore. 5: 141–149.

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[1] De Zoysa, H. K. S.; Nguyen, Anh D.; Wickramasinghe, S. (2016). "Annotated checklist of millipedes (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) of Sri Lanka". Zootaxa. 4061 (5): 451–482. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4061.5.1. PMID 27395514.

[2] Golovatch, Sergei; Stoev, Pavel (2013). "The millipede family Paradoxosomatidae in the Philippines, with a description of Eustrongylosoma penevi sp.n., and notes on Anoplodesmus anthracinus Pocock, 1895, recorded in Malaysia and Sri Lanka for the first time (Diplopoda, Polydesmida)". Biodiversity Data Journal. 1 (1): e957. doi:10.3897/BDJ.1.e957. PMC 3964709. PMID 24723759.

[Decker_&_Tertilt_2012-3] Decker, Peter; Trudy Tertilt (2012). "First records of two introduced millipedes Anoplodesmus saussurii and Chondromorpha xanthotricha (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae) in Singapore" (PDF). Nature in Singapore. 5: 141–149.

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