Arthrosphaeridae is a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of
giant pill millipedes that are found in
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
, the
Western Ghats of India, and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. The largest pill-millipede in the world, ''
Zoosphaerium neptunus'' (Butler 1872) belongs to this family and is known to swarm at certain times of the year.
Description
The first segment of the anterior telopods have a stridulatory organ known as a "harp" and this has one to ten ribs. The anal plate on the female is enlarged and has 1-12 ribs while the male anal shield has no special sclerotized notch as seen in other families. The segments of the antenna are oval or cylindrical.
Taxonomy
Within the family ''Arthrosphaeridae'' there are four genus formally described:
* ''
Arthrosphaera''
Pocock, 1895 – India, Sri Lanka
* ''
Microsphaerotherium''
Wesener & van den Spiegel, 2007 – Madagascar
* ''
Sphaeromimus''
de Saussure & Zehntner, 1902 – Southeast Madagascar
* ''
Zoosphaerium''
Pocock, 1895 – Madagascar
References
External links
Sphaerotheriida
Millipedes of Asia
Millipedes of Africa
Millipede families
{{Millipede-stub