Pill millipede

Pill millipedes are relatively short-bodied compared to most other millipedes, with only eleven to thirteen body segments,{{cite journal |author=P. R. Racheboeuf, J. T. Hannibal & J. Vannier |year=2004 |title=A new species of the diplopod Amynilyspes (Oniscomorpha) from the Stephania lagerstätte of Montceau-les-Mines, France |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=78 |issue=1 |pages=221–229 |url=http://jpaleontol.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/extract/78/1/221 |doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0221:ANSOTD>2.0.CO;2 |jstor=4094852 |bibcode=2004JPal...78..221R |access-date=2007-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929150512/http://jpaleontol.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/extract/78/1/221 |archive-date=2011-09-29 |url-status=dead }} and are capable of rolling into a ball (volvation) when disturbed, as a defense against predators. This ability evolved separately in each of the two orders, making it a case of convergent evolution, rather than homology. They can also exude a noxious liquid, which may be both caustic and toxic among other millipede taxa, but is not in pill millipedes——Glomerida secretes a clear, odorless liquid from the midline of the back that contains toxic alkaloids and has a sedative effect to repel predators. Sphaerotheriida don't even have such ability, they completely rely on their hard shell to defend against enemies. {{cite web |url=http://fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/millipede_apomorphies.pdf |title=Defining Features of Nominal Clades of Diplopoda |publisher=Field Museum of Natural History |access-date=June 24, 2007}} Pill millipedes are detritivorous, feeding on decomposing plant matter, usually in woodlands.{{cite web |url=http://australianmuseum.net.au/pill-millipedes |publisher=Australian Museum |title=Pill millipedes |access-date=December 22, 2016}}

File:Glomeris vs Armidillidium.jpg) and a pillbug (below: Armadillidium vulgare)]]

{{Main|Glomerida}}

The order Glomerida is predominantly found in the Northern Hemisphere and includes species such as Glomeris marginata, the common European pill millipede. They have from eleven to twelve body segments, and possess dorsal ozopores (openings of the repugnatorial glands) rather than the lateral ozopores found on many other millipedes. Glomeridans reach maximum lengths of {{convert|20|mm|in|abbr=on}}, and eyes, if present, are in a single row of ocelli.{{cite web|title=Diagnostic features of Millipede Orders|url=http://fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/Identification_Table_1.pdf|work=Milli-PEET Identification Tables|publisher=The Field Museum, Chicago|access-date=25 October 2013}} The order contains approximately 450 species{{cite journal |last1=Golovatch |first1=Sergei |last2=Mauriès |first2=Jean-Paul |last3=Akkari |first3=Nesrine |last4=Stoev |first4=Pavel |last5=Geoffroy |first5=Jean-Jacques |title=The millipede genus Glomeris Latreille, 1802 (Diplopoda, Glomerida, Glomeridae) in North Africa |journal=ZooKeys |year=2009 |issue=12 |pages=47–86 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.12.179 |url=https://www.pensoft.net/J_FILES/1/articles/179/179-G-1-layout.pdf|doi-access=free |bibcode=2009ZooK...12...47G }} found in Europe, South-east Asia and the Americas from California to Guatemala.{{cite web |title=Biogeography of millipede families |publisher=Field Museum of Natural History |url=http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/zoology/zoo_sites/millipeet/pdfsFullarticles/MP10Table3.pdf |access-date=June 24, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122437/http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/zoology/zoo_sites/millipeet/pdfsFullarticles/MP10Table3.pdf |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |url-status=dead }} Four species are present in the British Isles.{{cite web |title=Millipedes of Britain and Ireland: systematic check list |publisher=British Myriapod and Isopod Group |url=http://www.bmig.org.uk/checklist/millipede-checklist |access-date= March 3, 2014}}

{{main|Sphaerotheriida}}

The order Sphaerotheriida is a Gondwana-distribution taxon, with around 350 species in southern Africa, Madagascar,{{cite journal |last1=Wesener |first1=T. |last2=Bespalova |first2=I. |last3=Sierwald |first3=P. |year=2010 |title=Madagascar's living giants: discovery of five new species of endemic giant pill-millipedes from Madagascar (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida: Arthrosphaeridae: Zoosphaerium) |journal=African Invertebrates |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=133–161 |doi=10.5733/afin.051.0102|doi-access=free |bibcode=2010AfrIn..51..133W }} Australasia{{cite web |url=http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/diplopoda.php |title=Diplopoda |work=Guide to New Zealand soil invertebrates |publisher=Massey University |author=M. A. Minor & A.W. Robertson |date=May 7, 2007}} and South East Asia. Five species, all in the genus Procyliosoma are present in New Zealand, and around thirty species are present in Australia.{{cite web |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/SPHAEROTHERIIDA/checklist?#selected |title=Checklist for Sphaerotheriida Brandt, 1833 |work=Australian Faunal Directory |publisher=Department of the Environment and Water Resources |access-date=November 7, 2010}} Sphaerotheriidans have thirteen body segments, and do not possess repugnatorial glands. Spherotheriidans reach larger size than Glomeridans (up to {{convert|10|cm|in|abbr=on}}), and always possess large, kidney-shaped eyes.

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Oniscomorpha also includes the extinct order Amynilyspedida from the upper Carboniferous of North America and Europe.Hoffman, R. L. 1969. Myriapoda, exclusive of Insecta. In Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Pt. R, Arthropoda 4, ed. R.C. Moore, 2:R572–606. Geological Society of America, Inc., and The University of Kansas. Amynilyspedida differs from the other Oniscomorph orders in having 14–15 segments.{{cite journal|last1=Hannibal|first1=Joseph T|last2=Feldmann|first2=Rodney M.|title=Systematics and Functional Morphology of Oniscomorph Millipedes (Arthropoda: Diplopoda) from the Carboniferous of North America|year=1981|journal=Journal of Paleontology|volume=55|issue=4|pages=730–746|jstor=1304421}} The order contains the genus Amynilyspes with unique spines on the tergites, as well as Glomeropsis, Archiscudderia, and Palaeosphaeridium.

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{{Millipedes}}

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Category:Millipede taxonomy