Stemmiulidae

Stemmiulidae
Prostemmiulus cooki
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Diplopoda
Subclass: Chilognatha
Infraclass: Helminthomorpha
Superorder: Nematophora
Order: Stemmiulida
Cook, 1895
Family: Stemmiulidae
Pocock, 1894
Unidentified stemmiulids from Puerto Rico

Stemmiulida is an order of millipedes consisting of approximately 130 species, reaching up to 50 mm in length. It contains a single family, Stemmiulidae.

Description

Stemmiulids are small to medium sized millipedes, reaching a maximum length of 50 mm (2 in). The body tapers gradually, and is laterally compressed, so is taller than wide. A dorsal groove is present and runs from head to tail. The eyes consist of two large ocelli on each side of the head, and some members are capable of jumping.[1][2] Living species lack Tömösváry organs, although a fossil species from the Miocene epoch possesses them.[3]

Classification

Stemmiluda contains 6-10 living genera and at least one fossil genus, all in the family Stemmiulidae. Species estimates range from about 120 to 150 species.[4][5] The taxonomy is controversial, with some authors lumping species into as few as three genera.[5] The most liberal classification is presented below.[6]

References

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  1. ↑ "Diagnostic features of Millipede Orders". Milli-PEET Identification Tables. The Field Museum, Chicago. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Putative apomorphies of millipede clades". Milli-PEET: Millipede Systematics. The Field Museum, Chicago, IL. 26 September 2006.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Riquelme, Francisco; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús; Ramos-Arias, Mario; Hernández, Miguel; Dez, Isabelle Le; Lee-Whiting, Thomas A.; Ruvalcaba-Sil, José Luis (2013). "A fossil stemmiulid millipede (Diplopoda: Stemmiulida) from the Miocene amber of Simojovel, Chiapas, México". Historical Biology: 1–13. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.778843.
  4. ↑ Sierwald, Petra; Bond, Jason E. (2007). "Current Status of the Myriapod Class Diplopoda (Millipedes): Taxonomic Diversity and Phylogeny". Annual Review of Entomology 52 (1): 401–420. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.52.111805.090210. PMID 17163800.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Shear, W. (2011). "Class Diplopoda de Blainville in Gervais, 1844. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness". Zootaxa 3148: 159–164.
  6. ↑ Sierwald, Petra (ed.) (2006). "Nomenclator Generum Diplopodorum, Version 2. A complete listing of all genus-group names in the class Diplopoda from 1758 through 1999". Field Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Mauriès, J. P., Golovatch, S. I., & Geoffroy, J. J. (2010). "Un nouveau genre et une nouvelle espèce de l ordre Stemmiulida du Viet-Nam (Diplopoda) [A new genus and species of the order Stemmiulida from Vietnam]". Arthropoda Selecta 19 (2): 73–80.