List of myriapods of Sri Lanka

Last updated

Sri Lanka is a tropical island situated close to the southern tip of India. The invertebrate fauna is as large as it is common to other regions of the world. There are about 2 million species of arthropods found in the world, and still it is counting. So many new species are discover up to this time also. So it is very complicated and difficult to summarize the exact number of species found within a certain region.

Contents

The following list is about Centipedes and Millipedes found in Sri Lanka.

Centipede

Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda

Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric creatures with one pair of legs per body segment, where legs ranging from 30 to 354. They always have an odd number of pairs of legs. [1] [2] [3] A pair of venom claws or forcipules formed from a modified first appendage, which indicated that they are predominantly carnivorous. [4] : 168 

About 8,000 species of centipedes are thought to exist, [5] of which 3,000 have been described.

The following list provide the centipedes currently identified in Sri Lanka. The first known study on centipedes are came from Newport on 1845. Then many more overseas biologists and naturalists did many studies on centipedes. However, much recent work and the first work by a local biologist was done by Duminda Dissanayake of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. According to his checklist, there are 19 species from 4 orders and 6 families are known from Sri Lanka. [6]

Endemic species are denoted as E.

Order: Geophilomorpha - Soil centipedes

Family: Mecistocephalidae

Family: Oryidae

Order: Lithobiomorpha - Stone centipedes

Family: Lithobiidae

Order: Scolopendromorpha - Bark centipedes

Family: Scolopendridae

Order: Scutigeromorpha - Common house centipedes

Family: Scutigeridae

Family: Scutigerinidae

Millipede

Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Diplopoda

Millipedes are arthropods in the class Diplopoda, which is characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a ball. The average number of legs are about 500 or so, but rarely about 750. Approximately 12,000 species classified into sixteen orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods.

In 1865, Humbert is the first person to study Sri Lankan millipede fauna, with 26 species, including 19 new species. In 1892, Pocock discovered 10 more new species of millipedes from many localities. With many gradual taxonomic revisions by Carl, Demange, Hoffman and endemic millipede fauna by Mauriès, a total of 104 millipede species belonging to 44 genera, 18 families and nine orders have been documented. 82 species are endemic to Sri Lanka. [7]

Order: Chordeumatida

Family: Lankasomatidae

Order: Glomeridesmida

Family: Glomeridesmidae

Order: Polydesmida - Flat-backed millipedes

Family: Chelodesmidae

Family: Cryptodesmidae

Family: Fuhrmannodesmidae

Family: Paradoxosomatidae

Family: Polydesmidae

Family: Pyrgodesmidae

Order: Polyxenida - Bristle millipedes

Family: Polyxenidae

Order: Sphaerotheriida - Giant pill millipedes

Family: Arthrosphaeridae

Family: Zephroniidae

Order: Siphonophorida

Family: Siphonophoridae

Order: Spirobolida - Round-backed millipedes

Family: Pachybolidae

Family: Pseudospirobolellidae

Family: Spirobolidae

Family: Trigoniulidae

Order: Spirostreptida

Family: Cambalopsidae

Family: Glyphiulidae

Family: Harpagophoridae

Family: Spirostreptidae

Order: Julida

Family: Julidae

Order: Stemmiulida

Family: Stemmiulidae

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millipede</span> Class of arthropods

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 in 2020 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centipede</span> Many-legged arthropods with elongated bodies

Centipedes are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda, an arthropod group which includes millipedes and other multi-legged animals. Centipedes are elongated segmented (metameric) creatures with one pair of legs per body segment. All centipedes are venomous and can inflict painful stings, injecting their venom through pincer-like appendages known as forcipules or toxicognaths, which are actually modified legs instead of fangs. Despite the name, no centipede has exactly 100 pairs of legs; the number of pairs of legs is an odd number that ranges from 15 pairs to 191 pairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myriapoda</span> Subphylum of arthropods

Myriapods are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scolopendridae</span> Family of centipedes

Scolopendridae is a family of large centipedes.

Otostigmus ceylonicus is a species of centipedes in the family Scolopendridae. It is known only from Sri Lanka.

Lankasoma anderssoni is a species of millipedes in the family Lankasomatidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Anoplodesmus humberti is a species of millipede in the family Paradoxosomatidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka, which was first documented from Peradeniya.

<i>Anoplodesmus saussurii</i> Species of millipede

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.

Arthrosphaera attemsi, is a species of pill millipedes in the family Arthrosphaeridae. It is native to India and Sri Lanka.

Arthrosphaera brandtii, the Tanzanian pill bug millipede, is a species of pill millipede in the family Arthrosphaeridae. It is found in many African and Asian countries including India and Sri Lanka. Mature individuals of the species reach 3–4 cm in length. Adults are pale brown in colour with black lines in between the segments, whereas juveniles are dark brown. The species is one of the most commonly kept giant pill millipede species within the exotic pet keeping hobby. An introduced population of Arthrosphaera brandtii exists on the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania.

Arthrosphaera pilifera, is a species of pill millipede in the family Arthrosphaeridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Arthrosphaera ruginosa, is a species of pill millipede in the family Arthrosphaeridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Arthrosphaera versicolor, is a species of pill millipede in the family Arthrosphaeridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Cingalobolus bugnioni, is a species of round-backed millipede in the family Trigoniulidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Ktenostreptus anderssoni is a species of round-backed millipede in the family Harpagophoridae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

<i>Thyropygus allevatus</i> Species of millipede

Thyropygus allevatus, the Siamese pointy-tailed millipede, is a species of round-backed millipede in the family Harpagophoridae. It is found in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harpagophoridae</span> Family of millipedes

Harpagophoridae is a family of round-backed millipedes of the order Spirostreptida. The family includes 269 species belonging to 55 genera, distributed in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the East Indies, as well as a few Indian Oceanic islands. Two subfamilies are recognized.

Diopsiulus ceylonicus, is a species of millipede in the family Stemmiulidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Diopsiulus greeni, is a species of millipede in the family Stemmiulidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

<i>Arthrosphaera</i> Genus of pill millipedes

Arthrosphaera is a genus of pill millipedes in the family Arthrosphaeridae, found in Africa, Madagascar, the Western Ghats of India, and Sri Lanka.

References

  1. ↑ Lloyd, John (2006). The Book of General Ignorance. London: Bloomsbury House. p. 119. ISBN   0-571-27378-5 . Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ Arthur, W. (2002). "The interaction between developmental bias and natural selection from centipede segmentation to a general hypothesis". Heredity . 89 (4): 239–246. doi: 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800139 . PMID   12242638.
  3. ↑ Arthur, Wallace; Chapman, Ariel D. (2005). "The centipede Strigamia maritima: what it can tell us about development and evolution of segmentation". BioEssays . 27 (6): 653–660. doi:10.1002/bies.20234. PMID   15892117.
  4. ↑ Lewis, J. G. E. (2007). The Biology of Centipedes. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-03411-1.
  5. ↑ Adis, Joachim; Harvey, Mark S. (2000). "How many Arachnida and Myriapoda are there worldwide and in Amazonia?". Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment. 35 (2): 139–141. doi:10.1076/0165-0521(200008)35:2;1-9;FT139. S2CID   82856115.
  6. ↑ Dissanayake, Duminda. "Records of Centipede fauna in Sri Lanka" (PDF). repository.rjt.ac.lk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  7. ↑ 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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.