Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a tight ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery of Eumillipes persephone, which can have over 1,300 legs. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures.
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 millipedes, gonopods are modified walking or swimming legs. Gonopods may be highly decorated with elaborate structures which may play roles in sperm competition, and can be used to differentiate and identify closely related species. Gonopods generally occur in one or more pairs, as opposed to the single (un-paired) reproductive organs such as the aedeagus of insects or the penis of harvestmen.
Desmoxytoides hasenpuschorum is a species of millipede and the only species in the monotypic genus Desmoxytoides. It lives in Australia. This species is closely related to the dragon millipedes of the genus Desmoxytes, and there is some speculation, even by Robert Mesibov, the genus authority, that the split may not be necessary. While Desmoxytoides hasenpuschorum is similar to the millipedes of Desmoxytes in paranotal form and metatergite sculpture, it has a simpler gonopod telopodite with an unprotected solenomere which gives it its own monotypic genus. This species has the ability to produce hydrogen cyanide to ward off predators.
Polydesmida is the largest order of millipedes, containing approximately 3,500 species, including all the millipedes reported to produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN). Polydesmids grow and develop through a series of moults, adding segments until they reach a fixed number in the adult stage, which is usually the same for a given sex in a given species, at which point the moulting and the addition of segments and legs stop. This mode of development, known as teloanamorphosis, distinguishes this order from most other orders of millipedes, which usually continue to moult as adults, developing through either euanamorphosis or hemianamorphosis.
Brachyiulus pusillus is a species of millipede in the family Julidae. It is widespread in Europe and has also been introduced to islands around the world, continental South America, South Africa, and Oceania, and is potentially widespread in North America, although previous records may have confused B. pusilus with the related B. lusitanus. The species is brownish-black coloured and has 30–34 segments. They also have either light yellowish or reddish lines that are located closer to the centre of the back. It can be found on bushes and trees. The species are commonly found in walls or fences.
Polyzoniida is an order of millipedes in the subterclass Colobognatha containing three families and at least 74 described species.
Dalodesmidae is a family of millipedes in the order Polydesmida, containing at least 250 species found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Chordeumatida is a large order of millipedes containing some 1200 species with a nearly worldwide distribution. Also known as sausage millipedes, they grow and develop through a series of moults, adding segments until they reach a fixed number in the adult stage, which is usually the same for a given sex in a given species, at which point the moulting and the addition of segments and legs stop. This mode of development, known as teloanamorphosis, distinguishes this order from most other orders of millipedes, which usually continue to moult as adults, developing through either euanamorphosis or hemianamorphosis.
Casimir Albrecht Willem Jeekel (1922–2010) was a Dutch myriapodologist and entomologist known for his major contributions to the taxonomy of millipedes. His 1971 monograph Nomenclator Generum et Familiarum Diplopodorum is credited as launching the "modern era" of millipede taxonomy, and has been considered the "most important single work ever published on the Diplopoda". He served as director of the Zoological Museum Amsterdam, and authored over 150 works on the taxonomy of millipedes and other myriapods.
Euphoberiidae is an extinct family of archipolypodan millipedes known from the Upper Pennsylvanian of Europe and North America. The family includes relatively large millipedes measuring up to 30 cm (12 in) long bearing distinctive spines and were the dominant millipedes of the Pennsylvanian.
Lissodesmus is a genus of the Dalodesmidae family of Millipedes. Species of the genus are found in Australia. They are commonly known as Tasmanian multipedes.
Metopidiotrichidae is a family of millipedes in the order Chordeumatida. These millipedes range from 4 mm to 17 mm in length. Adult millipedes in this family have 32 segments, not the 30 segments usually found in this order. Adult males in this family often feature a reduced or vestigial leg pair 10 as part of the gonopod complex, in addition to the two leg pairs typically modified into gonopods in this order. There are about 9 genera and at least 70 described species in Metopidiotrichidae.
Peterjohnsiidae is a small family of millipedes belonging to the order Chordeumatida. The family was first described in 1987 by Jean-Paul Mauriès. These millipedes range from 3 mm to 8 mm in length and are found in Australia. Species in this family exhibit sexual dimorphism in segment number: adult males have 30 segments, but adult females have 32 segments. In adult males in this family, the gonopod complex involves three leg pairs rather than just the two usually modified into gonopods in this order.
Australeuma is a genus of Tasmanian millipede in the family Metopidiotrichidae.
Lissodesmus nivalis is a species of millipede in Dalodesmidae family, and was first described in 2018 by Bob Mesibov, It is an alpine myriapod found only in Tasmania.
Lissodesmus anas is a species of millipede in Dalodesmidae family, and was first described in 2006 by Bob Mesibov, It is a myriapod found only in Tasmania.
Lissodesmus bashfordi is a species of millipede in Dalodesmidae family, and was first described in 2006 by Bob Mesibov, It is a myriapod found only in Tasmania.
Robert Evan Mesibov, is an American born and educated Australian myriapod specialist. He earned a B.A. from New York University in 1966 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry in from the University of Wisconsin in 1971.
Lissodesmus blackwoodensis is a species of millipede in Dalodesmidae family, and was first described in 2006 by Bob Mesibov, It is a myriapod found in Victoria, and was described from specimens found in wet eucalypt forest in the Wombat State Forest.
