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Subclass PENICILLATA Latreille, 1831

Introduction

Commonly known as bristly, pincushion or dwarf millipedes (Blower 1985; Harvey & Yen 1989), Penicillata rarely exceed 4 mm in length and have 11-13 adult body segments and 13-17 pairs of legs (Hoffman 1982). As in other Diplopoda, most segments bear two pairs of walking legs, the antennae have four prominent apical cones and the spermatozoa lack flagella (Enghoff 1984). However, Penicillata differ markedly from other millipedes in a number of ways: the body wall is thin, flexible and uncalcified; the body is adorned with long, stiff, serrate setae arranged in dorsal, lateral and caudal tufts; and sperm transfer is indirect.

About 160 species of Penicillata have been described worldwide (Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin & Geoffroy 2003). Bristly millipedes have been collected in many parts of mainland Australia and in Tasmania (Black 1997; Short & Huynh 2006). The Western Australian species, Unixenus mjoebergii, has been reported to swarm in large numbers in spinifex country in the Hamersley Range area (Koch 1985).

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
05-Mar-2012 05-Mar-2012 MODIFIED
28-Oct-2010 28-Oct-2010 MODIFIED
12-Feb-2010 (import)