Subclass PENICILLATA Latreille, 1831

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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).

General References

Black, D.G. 1997. Diversity and biogeography of Australian millipedes (Diplopoda). Memoirs of Museum Victoria 56(2): 557-561

Blower, J.G. 1985. Millipedes. Synopsis of the British Fauna (New Series) No. 35. London : E.J. Brill/Dr W. Backhuys 242 pp.

Enghoff, H. 1984. Phylogeny of millipedes – a cladistic analysis. Zeitschrift für Zoologische Systematik und Evolutionsforschung 22(1): 8-26

Harvey, M.S. & Yen, A.L. 1989. Worms to Wasps: An Illustrated Guide to Australia's Terrestrial Invertebrates. Melbourne : Oxford University Press/Museum of Victoria 203 pp.

Hoffman, R.L. 1982. Diplopoda. pp. 689-724 in Parker, S.P. (ed.). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. Vol. 2. New York : McGraw-Hill.

Koch, L.E. 1985. Pincushion millipedes (Diplopoda: Polyxenida): their aggregations and identity in Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 16(2/3): 30-32

Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin, M. & Geoffroy, J.-J. 2003. A revised comprehensive checklist, relational database, and taxonomic system of reference for the bristly millipedes of the world (Diplopoda, Polyxenida). African Invertebrates 44: 89-101

Short, M. & Huynh, C. 2006. Redescription of Phryssonotus novaehollandiae (Silvestri, 1923) with details of post-embryonic stadia. Norwegian Journal of Entomology 53: 211-222

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