Ballophilidae is a
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
group of
centipede
Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, ...
s belonging to the order
Geophilomorpha
Geophilomorpha is an order of centipedes commonly known as soil centipedes. The name "Geophilomorpha" is from Ancient Greek roots meaning "formed to love the earth." This group is the most diverse centipede order, with 230 genera. These centiped ...
and superfamily
Himantarioidea
Himantarioidea is a monophyly, monophyletic superfamily (biology), superfamily of Geophilomorpha, soil centipedes in the suborder Adesmata containing the families Oryidae, Himantariidae, and Schendylidae (including Ballophilidae). Centipedes in t ...
.
Authorities now dismiss this group as a family, citing
phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
analysis, and instead refer to this
clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
as Ballophilinae, a possible
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
within the family
Schendylidae
Schendylidae is a family of Geophilomorpha, soil centipedes in the superfamily Himantarioidea and the order Geophilomorpha.
These centipedes are found in the Americas, the Palearctic realm, Palearctic region, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and ...
.
Centipedes in this clade differ from others in the family Schendylidae by having bodies tapered toward the anterior tip, short heads, slender
forcipule
Forcipules are the modified, pincer-like, front legs of centipedes that are used to inject venom into prey. They are the only known examples of front legs acting as venom injectors.
Nomenclature
Forcipules go by a variety of names in both sci ...
s that are well apart, and an undivided lamina for the female
gonopod
Gonopods are specialized appendages of various arthropods used in reproduction or egg-laying. In males, they facilitate the transfer of sperm from male to female during mating, and thus are a type of intromittent organ. In crustaceans and millipe ...
s.
Centipedes in this clade are found in most
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
regions.
The number of legs in this clade varies within as well as among species and ranges from 37 to 113 pairs of legs.
Three species in this clade can have as few as 37 leg pairs, ''
Ityphilus grismadoi'',
''
Ballophilus pallidus,''
and ''Leucolinum trinidadense'',
and one species, ''
Ityphilus grandis'', can have as many as 113 pairs. Species in this clade tend to have more leg-bearing segments and greater intraspecific variability in this number than generally found in the family Schendylidae. Some species in this clade are notable for their small sizes, including ''I. grismadoi'' (reaching only 9 mm in length),
''L. trinadadense'' (9 mm),
''
Caritohallex minyrrhopus'' (10 mm), ''
B. pallidus'' (11 mm),
and ''Taeniolinum panamicum'' (11 mm).
Genera
Genera:
* ''
Afrotaenia''
Chamberlin, 1951
* ''
Ballophilus''
Cook, 1896
* ''
Caritohallex''
Crabill, 1960
*''
Cerethmus''
*''
Clavophilus''
*''
Diplethmus''
*''
Ityphilus''
Cook, 1899
*''
Koinethmus''
*''
Leucolinum''
*''
Taeniolinum''
*''
Tanophilus''
*''
Zygethmus''
References
Geophilomorpha
Centipede families
{{Centipede-stub