Wong Victoria L, Hennen Derek A, Macias Angie M, Brewer Michael S, Kasson Matt T, Marek Paul
Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, United States of America Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg United States of America.
Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, United States of America Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University Morgantown United States of America.
Biodivers Data J. 2020 Apr 3;8:e50770. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.8.e50770. eCollection 2020.
The millipede Wood, 1864 is a fungivorous social millipede known for paternal care of eggs and forming multi-generational aggregations. We investigated the life history, paternal care, chemical defence, feeding and social behaviour of and provided morphological and anatomical descriptions, using light and scanning electron microscopy. Based on observations of from 13 locations throughout its distribution, we report the following natural history aspects. The oviposition period of lasted from mid-April to late June and the incubation period lasted 3-4 weeks. Only males cared for the eggs and subsequent care of juveniles was not observed. In one case, the clutches of two males became combined and they were later cared for by only one of the males. The defensive compound of is stored in large glands occupying a third of the paranotal volume and were observed only in stadia II millipedes and older. We observed feeding on fungi of the order Polyporales and describe a cuticular structure on the tip of the labrum that may relate to fungivory. We found that their stellate-shaped aggregations (pinwheels) do not form in the absence of fungus and suggest the aggregation is associated with feeding. We describe and illustrate a previously undescribed comb-like structure on the tibia and tarsi of the six anterior-most leg-pairs and measure the colour and spectral reflectance of the exoskeleton.
1864年命名的某种千足虫是一种食真菌的群居千足虫，以雄性照顾卵并形成多代聚集而闻名。我们研究了该千足虫的生活史、亲代抚育、化学防御、取食和社会行为，并使用光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜提供了形态学和解剖学描述。基于对其分布范围内13个地点的该千足虫的观察，我们报告了以下自然史方面的情况。该千足虫的产卵期从4月中旬持续到6月下旬，孵化期持续3 - 4周。只有雄性照顾卵，未观察到对幼体的后续照顾。在一个案例中，两只雄性的卵块合并在一起，后来只由其中一只雄性照顾。该千足虫的防御化合物储存在占据背板三分之一体积的大型腺体中，且仅在二龄及以上龄期的千足虫中观察到。我们观察到该千足虫取食多孔菌目真菌，并描述了上唇尖端可能与食真菌有关的一种表皮结构。我们发现，在没有真菌的情况下它们不会形成星状聚集（风车状），并表明这种聚集与取食有关。我们描述并展示了最前面六对腿的胫节和跗节上一种以前未描述过的梳状结构，并测量了该千足虫外骨骼的颜色和光谱反射率。
