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Soil Organisms

2009 Issues

Issue 81 (3)  December 2009

Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Myriapodology
vom 21. – 25. July 2008, in Goerlitz, Germany

Preface

List of Participants
 
Evolution, phylogeny and comparative morphology

Carsten H. G. Mueller, Joerg Rosenberg & Gero Hilken
Fine structure and phylogenetic significance of ‘flexo-canal epidermal glands’ in Chilopoda
 
Gregory D. Edgecombe & Markus Koch
The contribution of preoral chamber and foregut morphology to the phylogenetics of Scolopendromorpha (Chilopoda)
 
Andy Sombke, Steffen Harzsch & Bill S. Hansson
Brain structure of Scutigera coleoptrata: New insights into the evolution of mandibulate olfactory centers – short communication

Gero Hilken & Joerg Rosenberg
First ultrastructural investigation of the pharynx apparatus of Scutigera coleoptrata (Chilopoda: Notostigmophora)

Embryology, post-embryonic development and life history

Wim G. M. Damen, Nikola-Michael Prpic & Ralf Janssen
Embryonic development and the understanding of the adult body plan in myriapods
 
Małgorzata Leśniewska, Lucio Bonato & Giuseppe Fusco
Morphological anomalies in a Polish population of Stigmatogaster subterranea (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha): amulti-year survey
 
Stylianos Michail Simaiakis
Relationship between intraspecific variation in segment number and geo-graphic distribution of Himantarium gabrielis (Linné, 1767) (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) in Southern Europe
 
Erling O. Horneland & Bjarne Meidell
Postembryonic development of Strigamia maritima (Leach, 1817) (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha, Linotaeniidae) with emphasis on how to separate the different stadia 

Physiology and functional anatomy 

Carsten H. G. Mueller & Joerg Rosenberg
Morphology is still an indispensable discipline in zoology: facts and graps from Chilopoda
 
Alfred Ernst, Joerg Rosenberg & Gero Hilken
Structure and distribution of antennal sensilla in the centipede Cryptops hortensis (Donovan, 1810) (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha)
 
Willi E. R. Xylander
Antibacterial substances and characteristics of the haemolymph of Chilopoda and Diplopoda (Myriapoda, Arthropoda)
 
Willi E. R. Xylander
Physico-chemical properties of haemolymph of Chilopoda and Diplopoda (Myriapoda, Arthropoda): protein content, pH, osmolarity

Advances in systematics and biodiversity

Henrik Enghoff
What is taxonomy? – An overview with myriapodological examples
 
Nesrine Akkari, Pavel Stoev, Henrik Enghoff & Said Nouira
The millipede order Julida (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) in Tunisia, with an overview of the North African species
 
Lucio Bonato & Alessandro Minelli
Geophilomorph centipedes in the Mediterranean region: revisiting taxonomy opens new evolutionary vistas
 
John G. E. Lewis
A review of some characters used in the taxonomy of Cryptops (subgenus Cryptops) (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Cryptopidae)
 
Arkady A. Schileyko
Ectonocryptoides sandrops – a new scolopendromorph centipede from Belize
 
Robert Mesibov
New and little-used morphological characters in Polydesmida (Diplopoda)
 
Helen J. Read & Henrik Enghoff
The order Siphonophorida – A taxonomists’s nightmare? Lessons from a Brazilian collection

Gonzalo Giribet, Alejandra Guzmán Cuéllar & Gregory D. Edgecombe
Further use of molecular data in studying biogeographic patterns within the centipede genus Craterostigmus: the case for a monophyletic New Zealand species

Myriapod distribution: faunistics and biogeography

Sergei l. Golovatch & R. Desmond Kime
Millipede (Diplopoda) distributions: A review
 
Elena V. Mikhaljova
The millipedes (Diplopoda) of the Russian Far East islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula
 
Harald Hauser & Karin Voigtlaender
Zoogeography of the millipedes (Diplopoda) of eastern Germany 
 
Hans S. Reip & Karin Voigtlaender
Diplopoda and Chilopoda of Thuringia, Germany
 
Edi Stoeckli
Literature-based survey on the Swiss fauna of Chilopoda
 
Jean-Jacques Geoffroy & Etienne Iorio
The French centipede fauna (Chilopoda): updated checklist and distribution in mainland France, Corsica and Monaco
 
Megan Short & Cuong Huynh
Phryssonotus novaehollandiae Silvestri, 1923: the sole Australian representative of the millipede Family Synxenidae
 
Michelle Hamer & Rob Slotow
A comparison and conservation assessment of the high-altitude grassland and forest-millipede (Diplopoda) fauna of the South African Drakensberg

Ecology and community studies 

Jean-Francois David
Ecology of millipedes (Diplopoda) in the context of global change 
 
Anthony D. Barber
Littoral Myriapods: a review
 
Karel Tajovsky & Jolanta Wytwer
Millipedes and centipedes in wetland alder stands in norlh-eastern Poland
 
Andreas Gerlach, Karin Voigtlaender & Christa M. Heidger
Influences of the behaviour of epigeic arthropods (Diplopoda, Chilopoda, Carabidae) on the efficiency of pitfall trapping
 
J. Wytwer, S. I. Golovatch and L. Penev
Variation in Millipede (Diplopoda) assemblages in oak woodlands of the Eastern European Plain

Joerg Rosenberg & Carsten Mueller: Morphology in Chilopoda – a survey
CD-ROM Appendix

Preface

List of participants

Evolution, phylogeny and comparative morphology

Fine structure and phylogenetic significance of ‘flexo-canal epidermal glands’ in Chilopoda

Carsten H. G. Mueller, Joerg Rosenberg & Gero Hilken

Title: Fine structure and phylogenetic significance of ‘flexo-canal epidermal glands’ in Chilopoda

Abstract

In a comparative light and electron microscopic study, we examined isolated (scattered) epidermal glands, located on the head flanks of various scutigeromorph, lithobiomorph, craterostigmomorph, scolopendromorph and geophilomorph Chilopoda. We describe a distinct type of epidermal glands, named ‘flexo-canal epidermal glands’. This type of epidermal gland is commonly found in all chilopod subtaxa, excluding Scutigeromorpha. The ‘flexo-canal epidermal glands’ exhibit a constant arrangement of one secretory cell, one intermediary secretory cell as well as one canal cell that release the secretion to the outside. Further characteristic features of ‘flexo-canal epidermal glands’ are: 1) their tendency to occur in small aggregations in the direct vicinity of sense organs, 2) a thin, elongated and strongly convoluted/meandering conducting canal running through the canal cell, 3) the presence of a more or less expanded central cavity surrounded by the canal cell, 4) the absence of widening areas in the reservoir (secretory cell) and basal part of the conducting canal (intermediary cell) and 5) the presence of apical loops interconnecting the intermediary cell and the secretory/canal cell. Epidermal glands of the ‘flexocanal’ type are observed in many other euarthropod taxa, including Crustacea, Diplopoda and Hexapoda. It is assumed that ‘flexo-canal epidermal glands’ may have evolved once in the stem lineage of the Mandibulata. Their absence in Scutigeromorpha has to be considered a secondary loss and thus an apomorphy of this subtaxon. 

Keywords: ultrastructure, cuticular canal, electron microscopy, canal cell, intermediary cell, secretory cell, evolutionary morphology, phylogeny, Mandibulata, Myriapoda 

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Authors

Carsten H. G. Mueller
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Zoologisches Institut und Museum,
Abteilung Cytologie und Evolutionsbiologie,
Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Str. 11–12, 17487 Greifswald;
Universität Rostock, Institut für Biowissenschaften,
Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine & Spezielle Zoologie, Universitätsplatz 2, 18051 Rostock;
camueller2@freenet.de

Joerg Rosenberg
Universität Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsklinikum Essen,
Zentrales Tierlaboratorium, Hufelandstr. 55, 45122 Essen;
privat-rj@web.de

Gero Hilken
Universität Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsklinikum Essen,
Zentrales Tierlaboratorium, Hufelandstr. 55, 45122 Essen;
gero.hilken@uni-essen.de

The contribution of preoral chamber and foregut morphology to the phylogenetics of Scolopendromorpha (Chilopoda)

Gregory D. Edgecombe & Markus Koch

Title: The contribution of preoral chamber and foregut morphology to the phylogenetics of Scolopendromorpha (Chilopoda)

Abstract

Recent morphology-based cladistic analyses of Scolopendromorpha have contributed suites of characters from the epipharynx and hypopharynx (peristomatic structures) and the foregut/gizzard that have been analysed together with traditional characters. Cladistic relationships in the Scolopocryptopidae and Scolopendridae and their implications for deep branchings in Scolopendromorpha as a whole are appraised in light of a new analysis of 84 morphological characters that adds and illustrates taxa not available for previous studies, notably the Neotropical scolopocryptopid Tidops Chamberlin, 1915, and the Australian scolopendrid Notiasemus Koch, 1985. Analysis with implied weights resolves the basal nodes of Scolopendridae in a pattern compatible with the traditional classification of Attems, including Edentistoma [Arrhabdotini] as sister to Otostigmini, and Asanadini as sister to Notiasemus + Scolopendrini; Plutoniuminae is sister to a 23-segmented scolopocryptopid clade. With equal character weights, the monophyly or paraphyly of blind Scolopendromorpha (Cryptopidae and Scolopocryptopidae) have equal cost, and a basal position of Arrhabdotini in the Scolopendridae emerges as an alternative.

Keywords: Scolopocryptopidae, epipharynx, hypopharynx, gizzard, cladistics

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Authors

Gregory D. Edgecombe
Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, U.K.;
g.edgecombe@nhm.ac.uk

Markus Koch
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Bonn,
An der Immenburg 1, 53121 Bonn, Germany;
mkoch@evolution.uni-bonn.de

Brain structure of Scutigera coleoptrata: New insights into the evolution of mandibulate olfactory centers – short communication

Andy Sombke, Steffen Harzsch & Bill S. Hansson

Title: Brain structure of Scutigera coleoptrata: New insights into the evolution of mandibulate olfactory centers – short communication

Abstract

Myriapods represent an arthropod lineage, originating from a marine arthropod ancestor that most likely conquered land independently from hexapods. The successful transition from marine to terrestrial life requires a number of physiological adaptations important for survival out of water. The sensory organs of terrestrial species must be able to function in air rather than in water. In chemoreception, establishing aerial olfaction requires molecules to be detected in gas phase instead of in water solution. In general, the neuroethology of myriapods and the architecture of their central nervous systems are poorly understood. In a set of preliminary experiments with the centipede Scutigera coleoptrata, we analysed the central olfactory pathway with serial semi-thin sectioning combined with 3D reconstruction, antennal backfilling with neuronal tracers, and immunofluorescence combined with confocal laser-scanning microscopy. These experiments indicate that S. coleoptrata possess the neuronal substrate for a good sense of aerial olfaction. However, the architecture of its olfactory system is clearly distinct from hexapods and also from terrestrial crustaceans, indicating independent evolution of its olfactory sense

Keywords: Chilopoda, nervous system, olfaction

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Authors

Andy Sombke
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology,
Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, 07745 Jena, Germany;
asombke@ice.mpg.de

Steffen Harzsch
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology,
Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, 07745 Jena, Germany;
Ernst Moritz Arndt Universität Greifswald, Zoologisches Institut,
Cytologie und Evolutionsbiologie,
Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Straße 11/12, 17497 Greifswald, Germany

Bill S. Hansson
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology,
Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, 07745 Jena, Germany

First ultrastructural investigation of the pharynx apparatus of Scutigera coleoptrata (Chilopoda: Notostigmophora)

Gero Hilken & Joerg Rosenberg

Title: First ultrastructural investigation of the pharynx apparatus of Scutigera coleoptrata (Chilopoda: Notostigmophora)

Abstract

The organisation and possible function of the pharynx apparatus of Scutigera coleoptrata was first described in 1967 by Seifert. The pharynx apparatus in the foregut of S. coleoptrata consists of a ballshaped outgrowth of the dorsal pharyngeal wall, the pistil, and a cooperating ventral groove, the pharynx furrow. Here we present new structural details of the pistil and the pharynx furrow with its underlying epithelium, using LM, TEM, and SEM techniques.

Keywords: centipedes, foregut, pistil, pharynx furrow, fine structure

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Authors

Gero Hilken
Central Animal Laboratory, University Duisburg-Essen Medical School,
45122 Essen, Germany;
gero.hilken@uk-essen.de

Joerg Rosenberg
Central Animal Laboratory, University Duisburg-Essen Medical School,
45122 Essen, Germany;
sommerhaus-rosenberg@t-online.de

Embryology, post-embryonic development and life history

Embryonic development and the understanding of the adult body plan in myriapods

Wim G. M. Damen, Nikola-Michael Prpic & Ralf Janssen

Title: Embryonic development and the understanding of the adult body plan in myriapods

Abstract

The adult body plan is laid down during embryonic and post-embryonic development of an organism. Here we review two examples for how data on gene expression during embryonic development have changed our understanding of the adult body plan of myriapods. Gene expression studies in the geophilomorph centipede Strigamia maritima (Leach, 1817) have demonstrated that a developmental constraint underlies the always-odd number of leg bearing segments in geophilomorph centipedes. Similarly, data on gene expression in the millipede Glomeris marginata (Villers, 1789) have demonstrated a decoupling of dorsal and ventral segmentation, which provided an explanation for the discrepancy in dorsal and ventral structures in the body of millipedes. Knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying embryonic development therefore significantly contributes to understanding morphological features of the adult myriapod body.

Keywords: centipedes, millipedes, segmentation, embryology, Glomeris marginataStrigamia maritima

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Authors

Wim G. M. Damen
Friedrich-Schiller-University, Department of Genetics,
Philosophenweg 12, 07743 Jena, Germany;
wim.damen@uni-jena.de

Nikola-Michael Prpic
Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut für Zoologie und Anthropologie,
Abteilung für Entwicklungsbiologie, GZMB Ernst Caspari Haus,
Justus-von-Liebig Weg 11,
Georg-August-Universität, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Ralf Janssen
Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology,
Villavägen 16, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden

Morphological anomalies in a Polish population of Stigmatogaster subterranea (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha): amulti-year survey

Małgorzata Leśniewska, Lucio Bonato & Giuseppe Fusco

Title: Morphological anomalies in a Polish population of Stigmatogaster subterranea (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha): amulti-year survey

Abstract

After a multi-year survey of the centipede fauna in the city of Poznań (Poland), we document here the high frequency of naturally occurring anomalies in an isolated population of the geophilomorph Stigmatogaster subterranea (Shaw, 1794). Out of 809 specimens collected in 1991 to 2007, 25.8 % are affected by anomalies of either the appendages or the trunk. In particular, 6.4 % of the specimens have anomalous features in the trunk, 18.9 % on the legs, and 2.5 % on the antennae. Anomalies are found in juveniles and adult specimens as well, and the frequency of defects does not differ between sexes. Preliminary observations indicate that similar anomalies occur with comparable high frequency also in other populations of S. subterranea. This suggests the possibility that a constitutional high level of developmental instability could be a distinctive feature of the species.

Keywords: developmental stability, segmental anomaly, teratology

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Authors

Małgorzata Leśniewska
Department of General Zoology, A. Mickiewicz University,
Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznań, Poland;
malgorzata.lesniewska@amu.edu.pl

Lucio Bonato
Department of Biology, University of Padova,
via Ugo Bassi 58 B, I-35131 Padova, Italy;
lucio.bonato@unipd.it

Giuseppe Fusco
Department of Biology, University of Padova,
via Ugo Bassi 58 B, I-35131 Padova, Italy;
giuseppe.fusco@unipd.it

Relationship between intraspecific variation in segment number and geo-graphic distribution of Himantarium gabrielis (Linné, 1767) (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) in Southern Europe

Stylianos Michail Simaiakis

Title: Relationship between intraspecific variation in segment number and geo-graphic distribution of Himantarium gabrielis (Linné, 1767) (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) in Southern Europe

Abstract

Arthropods have mainly an invariant number of trunk segments. However, segment number increases with growth and post-embryonic development in certain arthropod groups. As concerns centipedes, most of geophilomorph species present intraspecific variation in the number of trunk segments that is not agerelated. Previous studies have shown that species of geophilomorphs from cold and temperate regions tend to have fewer segments than those from warmer regions. Here, we study the geographic pattern of variation at the phenotypic level in Himantarium gabrielis (Linné). To better understand the geographic patterning, we compared 436 specimens from the Balkan and the Apennine peninsulas. Data are provided, all of which reveal evidence of a difference between the peninsulas, towards an increased number of segments in the Balkan region in both sexes. Our results indicate that in males, the variation between the Apennine and the Balkan specimens approaches 32 segments, whereas in females the difference is even higher, reaching 48 segments. We also observed a bimodal distribution of segment numbers in Apennine samples but not in those from the Balkan region. We investigated possible relations of this bimodality with environmental and historical characteristics of the region.

Keywords: Apennine, Balkans, bimodality, contingency tables, leg-bearing segments, Mediterranean region

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Stylianos Michail Simaiakis
Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete,
Knossou Av., P.O. Box 2208, GR-71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece;
simaiakis@biology.uoc.gr

Postembryonic development of Strigamia maritima (Leach, 1817) (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha, Linotaeniidae) with emphasis on how to separate the different stadia

Erling O. Horneland & Bjarne Meidell

Title: Postembryonic development of Strigamia maritima (Leach, 1817) (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha, Linotaeniidae) with emphasis on how to separate the different stadia

Abstract 

Our argumentation for the epimorphic status of Strigamia maritima (Leach, 1817) has led to questions on how we separated the stadia. Several measurements and counts, including character plots, were made in an effort to find the easiest and most accurate way of separating the postembryonic stadia. The measurements and counts are presented in tables and diagrams. Especially the presentation of the width of the forcipular coxosternite on probability paper indicated 6 stadia. The last stadium, Postmaturus, only comprised 0.5 to 0.8 % of the 1430 specimens investigated (Adolescens I and older). The most reliable single character seems to be the number of setae on the coxae of the last pair of legs. Another increase of setae through the stadia, here presented on the 10th sternite, shows an evolving pattern that could be of great help in allocating the specimens to the stadia.

Keywords: epimorphy, character development, probability paper, metasternite setation, postmaturus, eggtooth

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Authors

Erling O. Horneland
Tittelsnes, N-5554 Valevaag, Norway

Bjarne Meidell
Bergen Museum, University of Bergen, Muséplass 3, N-5007 Bergen, Norway;
bjarne.meidell@zmb.uib.no

Physiology and functional anatomy

Morphology is still an indispensable discipline in zoology: facts and graps from Chilopoda

Carsten H. G. Mueller & Joerg Rosenberg

Title: Morphology is still an indispensable discipline in zoology: facts and graps from Chilopoda

Abstract

The importance of morphology as a descent discipline of biosciences has been questioned several times in recent years, especially by molecular geneticists. The criticism ranged between an assumed already comprehensive knowledge on animals body plans resulting in no longer need for morphological research and claims that morphological data do not contribute properly to the phylogenetic reconstructions on all systematic levels or to evolutionary research based on the modern synthesis. However, at least the first assumption of an overall knowledge on animal’s outer and inner morphology at present state seems to be unjustified with respect to what is known about Myriapoda. The present paper underlines the necessity and legitimacy to carry out morphological studies in the still widely neglected subgroups of Myriapoda and among them especially in the Chilopoda. Many interesting morphological data on Chilopoda could be gained in recent years, as for instance from epidermal glands and eyes. Gaps of knowledge on the external and internal morphology of centipedes hamper the ability to compare morphological data among the five known chilopod subgroups, to conduct character conceptualisations, to draw scenarios of evolutionary transformations of certain organ systems and/or to use morphological data for reconstructing strongly disputed euarthropod interrelationships. Fundamental gaps in our knowledge on body organisation in Chilopoda are visible on various quality levels. On the one hand, new or improved techniques in analysing or visualising structures (e.g., cLSM,    µ-CT, PC-based 3D-reconstruction) have practically not yet been applied on any centipede. On the other hand, some organs or organ systems, such as the alimentary canal, salivary glands, reproductive systems or cuticular sense organs, are poorly understood or totally unknown with regard to their fine-structural organisation, either concerning all or only some chilopod taxa. In addition, the body organisation of hardly available taxa like Craterostigmomorpha must be widely considered a blank spot on the map of Chilopodology, even on histological level. Fine structural data in chilopods are also limited to adults, developmental studies are generally low in number, technically outdated and do not cover the full systematic range. Examples are given for both current areas of high research activity and also for morphological character complexes yet neglected but indeed worth primary exploration or reinvestigations.

Keywords: evolutionary morphology, new research techniques, literature, light microscopy, electron microscopy

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Authors

Carsten H. G. Mueller
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Zoologisches Institut und Museum,
Abteilung Cytologie und Evolutionsbiologie,
Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Str. 11–12, 17487 Greifswald, Germany;
camueller2@freenet.de

Joerg Rosenberg
Universität Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsklinikum Essen,
Zentrales Tierlaboratorium,
Hufelandstr. 55, 45122 Essen, Germany;
sommerhaus-rosenberg@ruhr-universitaet-bochum.de

Structure and distribution of antennal sensilla in the centipede Cryptops hortensis (Donovan, 1810) (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha)

Alfred Ernst, Joerg Rosenberg & Gero Hilken

Title: Structure and distribution of antennal sensilla in the centipede Cryptops hortensis (Donovan, 1810) (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha)

Abstract

Scanning electron microscopical investigation of the antennae of adult Cryptops hortensis (Donovan, 1810) shows the presence of 6 types of cuticular sensilla: 1. sensilla trichodea, 2. sensilla microtrichodea, 3. sensilla brachyconica, 4. sensilla basiconica, 5. club-shaped sensilla, and 6. hat-like sensilla. They are located on all antennal articles. The number of the different types of sensilla differs: More than 4000 sensilla trichodea per antenna, more than 100 sensilla microtrichodea at the base of different antennal articles, 50 to 100 sensilla basiconica at the distal edges of the antennal articles 6 to 16, and additionally, a few club-shaped and hat-like sensilla at the same articles are recorded. The hat-like sensilla of centipedes are new and not been reported before. The structure and distribution of the six types of antennal sensilla of C. hortensis are compared with the antennal sensilla of other centipedes. Possible functions of the sensilla in C. hortensis are discussed.

Keywords: antenna, cuticular sensilla, scanning electron microscopy, centipedes

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Authors

Alfred Ernst
Institute of Special Zoology and Evolutionary Biology,
Friedrich-Schiller-University, 07743 Jena, Germany;
micke.ernst@jetzweb.de

Joerg Rosenberg
Central Animal Laboratory, University Duisburg-Essen,
Medical School, 45122 Essen, Germany;
sommerhaus-rosenberg@t-online.de

Gero Hilken
Central Animal Laboratory, University Duisburg-Essen,
Medical School, 45122 Essen, Germany;
gero.hilken@uni-essen.de

Antibacterial substances and characteristics of the haemolymph of Chilopoda and Diplopoda (Myriapoda, Arthropoda) 

Willi E. R. Xylander

Title: Antibacterial substances and characteristics of the haemolymph of Chilopoda and Diplopoda (Myriapoda, Arthropoda) 

Abstract

The antibacterial characteristics of the haemolymph of Chilopoda and Diplopoda are reviewed and new results are presented. Substances acting against gram-negative as well as gram-positive bacteria and haemolysins have been found in the haemolymph (in haemocytes and in the plasma) of various species. These substances are sensitive against heating. In general, the chilopods tested showed higher antibacterial activity than the diplopods. Some substances occur permanently in the haemolymph but their amount can be increased by immunisation (with bacteria or cell-wall components). Age had no effect on antibacterial activity. One of these substances is lysozyme, the MWs of which range from 15.5 to 16.5 kD with regard to the species tested. Although substances in Triaenostreptus spec. showed similarity with cecropins in PAGE under acidic conditions, antibodies against cecropin A from Hyalophora cecropia Linnaeus, 1758 did not react with substances in the haemolymph of the myriapods tested.

Keywords: immunity, inducibility, lysozyme, haemolysins

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Willi E. R. Xylander
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz,
P.O. Box 300154, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
willi.xylander@senckenberg.de

Physico-chemical properties of haemolymph of Chilopoda and Diplopoda (Myriapoda, Arthropoda): protein content, pH, osmolarity 

Willi E. R. Xylander

Title: Physico-chemical properties of haemolymph of Chilopoda and Diplopoda (Myriapoda, Arthropoda): protein content, pH, osmolarity 

Abstract

Different physico-chemical properties of the haemolymph of various chilopod (Lithobius forficatus and Scolopendra cingulata) and diplopod species (Rhapidostreptus virgatorChicobolus spec.) were investigated. Haemolypmph pH ranged from 7.0 to 8.5 being slightly more alkaline in the millipede species. Protein content and osmolarity was higher in chilopods (between 296 and 371 mOsm and 65 to 73 mg protein/ml haemolymph) than in diplopods (200 to 229 mOsm and 21 to 56 mg/ml). A chromatogram-spectrophotometry of SDS-PAGEs of haemolymph samples showed 42 to 53 protein fractions in R. virgator and 43 in Chicobolusspec. (19 and 16 respectively, represented larger fractions). A haemocyte lysate only showed 12 protein fractions none of which exclusively occurred in the lysate. The results are discussed with regard to earlier investigations which partly differed significantly.

Keywords: immune response, protein spectrum, haemocytes, plasma

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Willi E. R. Xylander
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz,
P.O. Box 300154, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
willi.xylander@senckenberg.de

Advances in systematics and biodiversity

What is taxonomy? – An overview with myriapodological examples

Henrik Enghoff

Title: What is taxonomy? – An overview with myriapodological examples

Abstract

Taxonomy is presented in a very broad sense. It is suggested to abandon the concept ‘systematics’. Seven types of taxonomic activities and five types of taxonomists are defined. The seven types of activities are illustrated with examples drawn from the myriapodological literature. Several international/regional initiatives and projects related to taxonomy are mentioned.

Keywords: systematics, millipede, centipede, Diplopoda, Chilopoda

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Henrik Enghoff
Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen,
Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark;
henghoff@snm.ku.dk

The millipede order Julida (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) in Tunisia, with an overview of the North African species

Nesrine Akkari, Pavel Stoev, Henrik Enghoff & Said Nouira

Title: The millipede order Julida (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) in Tunisia, with an overview of the North African species

Abstract

An overview of the millipedes of the order Julida in Tunisia based on both literature data and new material is provided. Fifteen species from two families and five genera are presently known, of which Ommatoiulus aumalensis (Brolemann, 1925) and Brachyiulus pusillus (Leach, 1814) are new. recorded for the country. All old records of Cylindroiulus distinctus (Lucas, 1846) from Tunisia are probably erroneous and refer to either C. algerinus (Brölemann, 1897) or C. attemsi Read, 2005. Notes on the species distribution are given along with geographical maps and comments on their habitat preferences. Ommatoiulus punicus(Brölemann, 1894) is the most euryecious species of all Tunisian julidans. B. pusillus is the sole member of the order occurring in the oases in the south, as its presence there is certainly due to human introduction. An illustrated dichotomous key for identification of the Tunisian species is provided. An annotated checklist of North African Julida comprising 58 species and subspecies from 12 genera and three families, as well as a historical overview of their exploration supplements this study. Ommatoiulus punicusO. malleatus Akkari & Voigtländer, 2007 and Brachyiulus stuxbergi (Fanzago, 1875) are herewith reported for the first time from Algeria, while Proteroiulus hispanicus Schubart, 1959, which was hitherto known only from Spain, is now reported from Morocco. A concise biogeographic analysis outlines the similarities in the distribution of some species at regional and continental scales.

Keywords: millipedes, taxonomy, Julida, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, distribution patterns, habitats

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Authors

Nesrine Akkari
Research Unit of Biodiversity and Biology of Populations,
Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis,
9 Avenue Dr. Zouheir Essafi, La Rabta, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia;
nesrineakkari@gmail.com

Pavel Stoev
National Museum of Natural History,
Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. 1, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria

Henrik Enghoff
Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen,
15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;
henghoff@snm.ku.dk

Said Nouira
Research Unit of Biodiversity and Biology of Populations,
Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis,
9 Avenue Dr. Zouheir Essafi, La Rabta, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia

Geophilomorph centipedes in the Mediterranean region: revisiting taxonomy opens new evolutionary vistas

Lucio Bonato & Alessandro Minelli

Title: Geophilomorph centipedes in the Mediterranean region: revisiting taxonomy opens new evolutionary vistas

Abstract

Geophilomorph centipedes (Geophilomorpha) are represented in the Mediterranean region by almost 200 species, 77 % of which are exclusive. Taxonomy and nomenclature are still inadequate, but recent investigations are contributing to a better understanding of the evolutionary differentiation of this group in the region. Since 2000, identity has been clarified for ca. 40 nominal taxa, and unexpected evidence has emerged for the existence of three well-distinct lineages that had remained unrecognised before. Of these, Eurygeophilus has evolved an unusually stout body and needle-like forcipules, and the vicariant pattern of its two species is peculiar in encompassing both the Pyrenees and the Corsica Sardinia microplate; Diphyonyx has evolved unusually pincer-like leg claws, convergent to those originated independently in two different unrelated geophilomorph lineages; Stenotaenia has maintained a very uniform gross morphology, while differentiating widely in body size and number of trunk segments. The fauna of the Mediterranean region is representative of most major lineages of the Geophilomorpha, and the almost exclusive Dignathodontidae exhibit a remarkable morpho-ecological radiation in the region. Essential to a better understanding of the regional evolutionary history of these centipedes will be assessing the actual species diversity within many of the already recognised lineages, and reviewing in a phylogenetic perspective the nominal taxa currently referred to the composite genera Geophilus and Schendyla.

Keywords: Geophilomorpha, diversity, faunal composition, morphological evolution, taxonomic revision

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Authors

Lucio Bonato
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova,
via U. Bassi 58b, 35131 Padova, Italy;
lucio.bonato@unipd.it;

Alessandro Minelli
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova,
via U. Bassi 58b, 35131 Padova, Italy;
alessandro.minelli@unipd.it

A review of some characters used in the taxonomy of Cryptops (subgenus Cryptops) (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Cryptopidae)

John G. E. Lewis

Title: A review of some characters used in the taxonomy of Cryptops (subgenus Cryptops) (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Cryptopidae)

Abstract

Variation in a number of taxonomic characters in Cryptops (Cryptops) is discussed. Some, such as the shape of the poison gland calyx and the arrangement of setae on the anterior margin of the forcipular coxosternum, are very reliable. Others, such as the sutures of the head plate and tergite 1, although sometimes variable, are important, whereas others, for example the shape of sternite 21, are consistent for some species but not for others. Yet other characters are of little or no value. The fact that characters may change with age must be borne in mind. The importance of accurate illustration is stressed.

Keywords: intraspecific, interspecific, variation, reliability, centipede

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John G. E. Lewis
Somerset County Museum, Taunton Castle, Castle Green, Taunton, Somerset
TA1 4AA, UK and Entomology Department, Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Address for correspondence: Manor
Mill Farm, Halse, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3AQ, UK;
johngelewis@realemail.co.uk

Ectonocryptoides sandrops – a new scolopendromorph centipede from Belize

Arkady A. Schileyko

Title: Ectonocryptoides sandrops – a new scolopendromorph centipede from Belize

Abstract

A new representative of the rare subfamily Ectonocryptopinae (Scolopocryptopidae) is described from western Belize as Ectonocryptoides sandrops sp. nov. Both previously known representatives of this subfamily (Ectonocryptops kraepelini Crabill, 1977 and Ectonocryptiodes quadrimeropus Shelley & Mercurio, 2005) and the new species have been compared and the taxonomic status of the latter has been analysed.

Keywords: Ectonocryptopinae, new species, Belize

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Arkady A. Schileyko
Zoological Museum of Moscow State Lomonosov University,
Bolshaja Nikitskaja Str.6, 103009, Moscow, Russia;
schileyko1965@mail.ru

New and little-used morphological characters in Polydesmida (Diplopoda)

Robert Mesibov

Title: New and little-used morphological characters in Polydesmida (Diplopoda)

Abstract

Polydesmida (Dalodesmidae and Paradoxosomatidae) vary in the structure of spiracles, spinnerets, male leg setae and integument fine sculpture. Although this variation is only clearly seen with scanning electron microscopy, some variations are apparent at low magnification. Spiracle, spinneret and fine sculpture variations are found in both sexes and are thus useful in identifying females. The variations described here are taxonomically useful at the species- and genus-group levels. Their functional significance is unknown.

Keywords: spiracles, spinnerets, leg setae, integument sculpture

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Robert Mesibov
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia 7250;
mesibov@southcom.com.au

The order Siphonophorida – A taxonomists’s nightmare? Lessons from a Brazilian collection

Helen J. Read & Henrik Enghoff

Title: The order Siphonophorida – A taxonomists’s nightmare? Lessons from a Brazilian collection

Abstract

Recent study of a collection of over 300 specimens of Siphonophoridae from Brazil, comprising several morphotypes/species, has allowed comparison between and within ‘species’. Published descriptions have in the past used characters that were found to vary between individuals of the same species, or even within the same individual. Hitherto unused characters that may be useful in distinguishing between species are discussed.

Keywords: taxonomic characters, Brazil, millipedes, Diplopoda

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Authors

Helen J. Read
2 Egypt Wood Cottages, Egypt Lane, Farnham Common,
Bucks. SL2 3LE. United Kingdom;
Helen.read@dsl.pipex.com

Henrik Enghoff
Natural History Museum of Denmark,
Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Københaven Ø, Denmark

Further use of molecular data in studying biogeographic patterns within the centipede genus Craterostigmus: the case for a monophyletic New Zealand species

Gonzalo Giribet, Alejandra Guzmán Cuéllar & Gregory D. Edgecombe

Title: Further use of molecular data in studying biogeographic patterns within the centipede genus Craterostigmus: the case for a monophyletic New Zealand species

Abstract

A second species of the previously monotypic centipede genus Craterostigmus was recently established on the basis of New Zealand collections (C. crabilli) differing from the Tasmanian C. tasmanianius with respect to diagnostic characters in nuclear 18S and 28S rRNA, coupled with differences in body size, leg spinulation and internal anatomy. Analyses of molecular data resolved the New Zealand species as non-monophyletic because of the isolated phylogenetic position of a population from Lewis Pass on the South Island that had especially divergent cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences. Herein, previously missing 16S rRNA sequences for the Lewis Pass samples are added to the four-gene sample, together with newly collected specimens from South Island and Stewart Island. The more complete dataset retrieves both C. crabilli and
C. tasmanianus as monophyletic, and the four-gene analysis dataset shows that Stewart Island and North Island populations fall outside a clade that unites most South Island samples. Despite its favoured role in DNA barcoding, COI performs more poorly than 18S, 28S or 16S rRNAs for identifying species of Craterostigmus.

Keywords: Craterostigmus crabilli, Craterostigmomorpha, COI, 16S rRNA, Lewis Pass, Stewart Island

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Authors

Gonzalo Giribet
Museum of Comparative Zoology & Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University,
26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;
ggiribet@oeb.harvard.edu

Alejandra Guzmán Cuéllar
Museum of Comparative Zoology & Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University,
26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;

Gregory D. Edgecombe
Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK;
g.edgecombe@nhm.ac.uk

Myriapod distribution: faunistics and biogeography

Millipede (Diplopoda) distributions: A review

Sergei l. Golovatch & R. Desmond Kime

Title: Millipede (Diplopoda) distributions: A review

Abstract

In spite of the basic morphological and ecological monotony, integrity and conservatism expressed through only a small number of morphotypes and life forms in Diplopoda, among which the juloid morphotype and the stratobiont life form are dominant, most of the recent orders constituting this class of terrestrial Arthropoda are in a highly active stage of evolution. This has allowed the colonisation by some millipedes of a number of derivative, often extreme and adverse environments differing from the basic habitat, i.e. the floor of temperate (especially nemoral), subtropical or tropical forests (in particular, humid ones). Such are the marine littoral, freshwater habitats, deserts, zonal tundra, high mountains, caves, deeper soil, epiphytes, the bark of trees, tree canopies, ant, termite and bird nests. Most of such difficult environments are only marginally populated by diplopods, but caves and high altitudes are often full of them. To make the conquest of ecological deviations easier and the distribution ranges usually greater, some millipedes show parthenogenesis, periodomorphosis or morphism.
Very few millipede species demonstrate vast natural distributions. Most have highly restricted ranges, frequently being local endemics of a single cave, mountain, valley or island. This contrasts with the remarkable overall diversity of the Diplopoda currently estimated as exceeding 80 000 species, mostly confined to tropical countries. There are few places on the globe where a local diplopod fauna, or faunule, exceeds two dozen species, the world record being a patch of rainforest in central Amazonia where 33 millipede species have been revealed.
Such a highly mosaic distribution of the diversity in Diplopoda over the globe is rooted in the group’s general structure, biology, ecology and phylogeny. This particular combination has long made the Diplopoda a group most attractive for biogeographical reconstructions.

Keywords: Diplopoda, distribution, diversity, ecology, extreme environment, life form, speciation

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Authors

Sergei I. Golovatch
Institute for Problems of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 33, Moscow 119071, Russia;
sgolovatch@yandex.ru

R. Desmond Kime
La Fontaine, 24300 La Chapelle Montmoreau, France;
Deskime2@aol.com

The millipedes (Diplopoda) of the Russian Far East islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula

Elena V. Mikhaljova

Title: The millipedes (Diplopoda) of the Russian Far East islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula

Abstract

A review of the millipede fauna of the islands of the Russian Far East and Kamchatka Peninsula is presented, with 36 species involved, all arranged in a catalogue-like manner. A brief historical account, data on the distribution, a comparative analysis of the island diplopod faunas, and zoogeographical notes are given.

Keywords: Myriapoda, fauna, distribution, islands, Russia

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Elena V. Mikhaljova
Institute of Biology and Soil Science,
Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Prospekt 100-letiya Vladivostoka 159, Vladivostok 690022, Russia;
mikhaljova@biosoil.ru

Zoogeography of the millipedes (Diplopoda) of eastern Germany

Harald Hauser & Karin Voigtlaender

Title: Zoogeography of the millipedes (Diplopoda) of eastern Germany

Abstract

In the framework of extensive studies of the millipede fauna of eastern Germany, 68 species are recorded from this area. The distribution of selected species is illustrated with maps and discussed in the light of their total distribution.
Eastern Germany is clearly divided into two major regions: the Central German Uplands in the south and the adjacent lowlands which extend to the Baltic Sea in the north. Several species are, in part strictly, restricted to the Central German Uplands and do not or hardly cross the 200 m contour towards the lowlands. Thus, the species number increases by 44 % from north to south. Other species are restricted to the lowlands.
In agreement with the Central European position of eastern Germany north of the Alps, the area can be expected to be a postglacial dispersal pathway for species from the western and eastern glacial refugia. A zoogeographical evaluation of the millipede species of eastern Germany confirms this. Approximately the same numbers of species have their main distribution of the western (18 %) and eastern (19 %) part of the area. Forty-one % of the species reach their eastern (8 species), western (9) or northern (11) distribution limit in eastern Germany.
The postglacial distribution history of selected species is discussed, under consideration of constancy, hybridisation, and evolution of subspecies.

Keywords: distribution, ice age, re-immigration, post-glacial dispersal

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Authors

Harald Hauser
Ulmenweg 1e, 14656 Brieselang, Germany;
Hauser.Harald@web.de

Karin Voigtlaender
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz,
P.O. Box 300154, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
karin.voigtlaender@senckenberg.de

Diplopoda and Chilopoda of Thuringia, Germany

Hans S. Reip & Karin Voigtlaender

Title: Diplopoda and Chilopoda of Thuringia, Germany

Abstract

Intensive recent sampling in Thuringia has greatly increased the species lists for both Chilopoda (to 30 species) and Diplopoda (to 52 species). First results concerning the species distribution in the different biogeographical regions in Thuringia and the relationship to the European zoogeography of myriapods are presented. The central position of Thuringia in Europe is clearly reflected in its myriapod fauna: most species are central European or pan-European and many species have a distribution limit within Thuringia (e.g. Polydesmus complanatusP. angustusHaasea germanicaH. flavescensStrongylosoma stigmatosum). Some species are new (Brachychaeteuma bradeaeBoreoiulus tenuis and Macrosternodesmus palicola) or rare (Glomeris tetrasticha) in Thuringia. Haploporatia eremita was rediscovered almost 100 years after its first recording.

Keywords: zoogeography, faunistics, distribution limits

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Authors

Hans S. Reip
Reip@myriapoden-info.de

Karin Voigtlaender
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz,
P.O. Box 300154, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
karin.voigtlaender@senckenberg.de

Literature-based survey on the Swiss fauna of Chilopoda

Edi Stoeckli

Title: Literature-based survey on the Swiss fauna of Chilopoda

Abstract

The Swiss centipede fauna has never been fully reviewed. Even though the first records date from 1845, a checklist has not been drawn up until now. Literature research based on 88 publications and 2 online databases offers a preliminary list of 62 species and 1 subspecies. Type species from the Swiss area are specified. Additional potential species are named and might be added in the future to a complete checklist incorporating almost 90 species.

Keywords: fauna, Chilopoda, literature, species list, Switzerland

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Edi Stoeckli
Natural History Museum Basel,
Augustinergasse 2, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland;
eduard.stoeckli@bs.ch

The French centipede fauna (Chilopoda): updated checklist and distribution in mainland France, Corsica and Monaco

Jean-Jacques Geoffroy & Etienne Iorio

Title: The French centipede fauna (Chilopoda): updated checklist and distribution in mainland France, Corsica and Monaco

Abstract

A revised and updated list of the centipedes (Chilopoda) of metropolitan France is given. 145 taxa are recorded from the country (1 Scutigeromorpha, 69 Lithobiomorpha, 9 Scolopendromorpha, 66 Geophilomorpha) although the validity and/or the presence of 8 of these taxa in France remains doubtful. Presence in mainland France, Corsica and Monaco is reported, and the distribution of each taxon in France is briefly quoted as well as special features such as endemism, highly halophilous/halobiontic species and highly troglophilous/troglobitic taxa. Some species potentially present in the studied area are also mentioned, being very likely to be found in the very near future.

Keywords: biodiversity, Chilopoda, France, inventory, taxonomy

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Authors:

Jean-Jacques Geoffroy
MNHN, Département Ecologie & Gestion de la Biodiversité,
UMR 7179 du CNRS, 4 avenue du Petit Château, 91800 Brunoy, France;
geoffroy@mnhn.fr

Etienne Iorio
Attaché au Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle
(MNHN, Département Systématique & Evolution).
Résidence ‘le Blue Line’ bât. C, 67 Avenue Estienne d’Orves, 06000 Nice, France;
myriapodologie@wanadoo.fr

Phryssonotus novaehollandiae Silvestri, 1923: the sole Australian representative of the millipede Family Synxenidae

Megan Short & Cuong Huynh

Title: Phryssonotus novaehollandiae Silvestri, 1923: the sole Australian representative of the millipede Family Synxenidae

Abstract

Examination of synxenid millipedes from a number of collections confirms that Phryssonotus novaehollandiae is the sole representative of the genus and family in Australia. P. novaehollandiae was found to have the most widespread distribution of any native Australian millipede species. It occurs in a range of well-drained habitats including heathlands, woodlands and coastal scrub. Several thelytokous (female only) populations were found in coastal areas of south eastern Australia.

Keywords: Diplopoda, Penicillata, Polyxenida, thelytoky

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Authors

Megan Short
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University,
Melbourne campus at Burwood,
221 Burwood Hwy, Burwood, 3125, Australia;
mshort@deakin.edu.au

Cuong Huynh

A comparison and conservation assessment of the high-altitude grassland and forest-millipede (Diplopoda) fauna of the South African Drakensberg 

Michelle Hamer & Rob Slotow

Title: A comparison and conservation assessment of the high-altitude grassland and forest-millipede (Diplopoda) fauna of the South African Drakensberg 

Abstract

The Drakensberg mountains, classified as part of the Afromontane region, form the division between the more low lying coastal plain and the high-lying interior of South Africa, and comprise a relatively homogenous and continuous grassland matrix, with small, isolated forest patches. The millipede fauna of the region, particularly in grassland, was previously neglected, and existing data provided no basis for making conservation decisions in this global hotspot of biodiversity. We carried out a quantified survey of the region in order to identify the millipede fauna and its distribution in forest and grassland. We measured levels of endemism and beta diversity, and then made recommendations for conservation. We collected 1184 specimens representing 51 species. The 28 species recorded in the forest were predominantly Polydesmida, mainly Dalodesmidae, and also from two orders unique to forest, the Siphonophorida and Nematozoniida. The 23 grassland species were dominated by Spirostreptida, but some Polydesmida were also recorded. No orders, families or genera were unique to grassland. The Sphaerotheriidae were represented in both habitats, but by different species. Only four species were recorded from both biomes. Each biome was characterised by a distinct fauna, of almost equal richness, but with a different composition (ßsim value for grassland and forest = 0.8). Overall, 85 % of species sampled have only been recorded from the Drakensberg region, with a similar level of endemism in both grassland (78 %) and forest (79 %), although the forests had more site endemics (64 %), i.e. restricted to one region. This high level of narrow endemism resulted in high levels of beta diversity especially in grassland (ßsim for most pairs of regions = 1) but also in forest (ßsim between 0 and 0.7). Adjacent forest regions were not always the most similar. These trends may be attributed to past climate change and the distribution of forest, but the data must be accepted as being incomplete. The conservation implications of the study are that the millipede fauna has high conservation value, and that a large proportion of the Drakensberg area, for both grassland and forest, will need to be protected in order to conserve the millipede fauna.

Keywords: Afromontane, species richness, endemism, turnover, planning

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Authors

Michelle Hamer
School of Biological & Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal,
Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Biosystematics Division, South African National Biodiversity Institute,
Private Bag X101, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, 0001;
M.Hamer@sanbi.org.za

Rob Slotow
School of Biological & Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal,
Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
slotow@ukzn.ac.za

Ecology and community studies

Ecology of millipedes (Diplopoda) in the context of global change

Jean-Francois David

Title: Ecology of millipedes (Diplopoda) in the context of global change

Abstract

Current knowledge on the effects of climate, food quality and land cover on millipedes is reviewed, to explore the potential responses of this arthropod group to global change. Climate warming could result in higher rates of population growth and have a positive effect on the abundance of some temperate species. The generality of this finding is evaluated in relation to the life history and current distribution of species. At low latitudes, interactions with more severe droughts are likely and could affect the composition of millipede communities. Elevated atmospheric CO2 and changes in plant community composition are expected to alter leaf litter quality, a major determinant of millipede fertility. This could significantly influence population growth rates, but the warming effect will be probably more important for decades. Land cover changes, mainly due to deforestation in the tropics and land abandonment in Europe, are critical to habitat specialists and could override any other effect of global change. At the landscape scale, habitat heterogeneity seems to be a good option for millipede conservation, even at the cost of some fragmentation.

Keywords: abundance, diversity, climate change, food quality, habitat loss

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Jean-François David
Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Evolutive, CNRS,
1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, cedex 5, France;
jean-francois.david@cefe.cnrs.fr

Littoral Myriapods: a review 

Anthony D. Barber

Title: Littoral Myriapods: a review 

Abstract

Representatives of many terrestrial arthropods groups including myriapods (Pauropoda, Symphyla, Diplopoda and Chilopoda) have been recorded from sea shore habitats. The Chilopoda, notably the Geophilomorpha, have a relatively large number of species from different genera and locations around the world which have been recorded as halophilic. Silvestri (1903) referred to accidentali, indifferenti and genuini and these categories would seem to be useful although there are some species which appear to be halophilic in one region but found inland elsewhere. In a survey of relevant literature, problems have occurred in identifying species as halophiles because of lack of precision of habitat details. There seem to be features of geophilomorphs which pre-adapt them to a littoral habitat and to be able to survive transportation in seawater. This could lead both to wide distribution and the occurrence of isolated populations.

Keywords: Myriapoda, seashore, species, adaption

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Anthony D. Barber
Rathgar, Exeter Road, Ivybridge, Devon, PL21 0BD, UK

Millipedes and centipedes in wetland alder stands in norlh-eastern Poland

Karel Tajovsky & Jolanta Wytwer

Title: Millipedes and centipedes in wetland alder stands in norlh-eastern Poland

Abstract

Using soil sampling and subsequent heat extraction of animals, four alder stands in the wetlands of the Biebrza, Narew and Bia³owieŜa national parks, north-eastern Poland, were surveyed for millipedes and centipedes. Among 12 millipede species revealed, Xestoiulus laeticollisPolydesmus complanatus and Craspedosoma rawlinsii occurred and predominated in all alder woods. The centipede fauna was very poor, altogether represented by four species, only Lithobius curtipes being shared by all sites. The myriapod communities from the swampy alder woods (Ribeso nigri Alnetum) at Biebrza and in the Bia³owieŜa Primeval Forest were mainly under the influence of fertility soil parameters (available and total phosphorus contents) while the assemblage from an alder swamp at Narew was largely affected by soil humidity. Apparently, the community from an ash-alder alluvial wood (Fraxino-Alnetum) sampled in the Bia³owieŜa Primeval Forest mostly depended on soil pH. Comparing all available information, the structure of myriapod assemblages seems to be quite similar even over distant regions in Central Europe.

Keywords: millipedes, centipedes, alder woods, Poland

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Authors

Karel Tajovský
Institute of Soil Biology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic;
tajov@upb.cas.cz

Jolanta Wytwer
Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Wilcza 64, 00679 Warszawa, Poland;
jolawyt@miiz.waw.pl

Influences of the behaviour of epigeic arthropods (Diplopoda, Chilopoda, Carabidae) on the efficiency of pitfall trapping

Andreas Gerlach, Karin Voigtlaender & Christa M. Heidger

Title: Influences of the behaviour of epigeic arthropods (Diplopoda, Chilopoda, Carabidae) on the efficiency of pitfall trapping

Abstract

The behavioural response at pitfall traps and the attracting or repellent effect of fixing solutions were studied on seven species of epigeic arthropoda (Diplopoda, Chilopoda, Carabidae) in laboratory experiments. The tests were done individually with 30 males and 30 females (in exceptional case 20) under different illumination.
Tests with empty traps resulted in six different behavioural patterns. Their frequency was highly different between species as well as between sexes. It is remarkable that specimens of all species were able to avoid the traps or even rescue themselves out of the traps (with unlike skill). The behaviour pattern depends on visual and tactile inputs of the trap, the illumination and the characteristics of the specimens themselves.
Furthermore, four different fixing solutions (water, ethylene glycol, formaldehyde, acetic acidethanol-water-mixture) were tested. Only the mixture seemed to be repellent to millipedes and centipedes, but not to Carabidae. Attraction was not detectable for any of the species.
As a consequence of the very different behaviour pattern of specimens at the traps, it must be considered that pitfall trapping does not reflect the number of specimens being active in the surroundings of the trap. Therefore, this method is inappropriate for quantitative investigations of the arthropods living at a site (‘activity abundance’).

Keywords: locomotory activity, specimen reactions, fixing solutions, catching results

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Authors

Andreas Gerlach
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz,
P.O.Box 300154, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
andreas.gerlach@senckenberg.de

Karin Voigtlaender
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz,
P.O.Box 300154, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
karin.voigtlaender@senckenberg.de

Christa M. Heidger
University of Applied Sciences Zittau (FH),
Theodor-Koerner Allee 16, 02763 Zittau, Germany

 

Variation in Millipede (Diplopoda) assemblages in oak woodlands of the Eastern European Plain

J. Wytwer, S. I. Golovatch and L. Penev

Title: Variation in Millipede (Diplopoda) assemblages in oak woodlands of the Eastern European Plain

Abstract

Variation in millipede (Diplopoda) assemblages in oak woodlands of the Eastern European Plain was studied based on 46 soil samples collected from the vast territory: from west (Moldova and the extra-Carpathian part of western Ukraine) to east (Ural Mountains), and from south (central Ukraine and Russia) to north (subtaiga region) covering 4 vegetation belts: steppe, forest-steppe, deciduous forests and mixed forests. Altogether, 30 species were found in the samples. The millipede assemblages from the forest-steppe belt appear to be particularly rich in species and the most diversified. The species turnover estimated using ordination techniques (DCA) was very high. Among 21 factors considered in CCA to explain variation in the species data set, 12 showed to be significant, 2 of them: humus depth and mean annual deficit of humidity were the most important. Nevertheless, the climatic-geographical variables also cause at least as much variability of millipede assemblages of the Eastern European Plain as do habitat factors. The variability in each vegetation belt is determined by different main factors: in the steppe by humidity, in the forest-steppe by longitude, and in mixed forests by latitude.

Keywords: Diplopoda assemblages, diversity, Eastern European Plain, oak forests, multivariate analysis, environmental factors, vegetation belts

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Authors

Jolanta Wytwer
Museum and Zoology, Polish Academy of Science,
Wilcza 64, 00-679 Warszawa, Poland;
jolawyt@miiz.waw.pl

S. I. Golovatch
Institute for Problems off Ecology & Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 33, 119071 Moscow, Russia

L. Penev
Central Laboratory for General Ecology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Yurii Gagarin str. 2, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria

Morphology in Chilopoda

Morphology in Chilopoda – a survey CD-ROM Appendix

Joerg Rosenberg & Carsten Mueller

Morphology in Chilopoda – a survey
CD-ROM Appendix

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Issue 81 (2)  August 2009

Newsletter on Enchytraeidae No. 11
Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Enchytraeidae
from 3. – 5. July 2008, in Durham, England

Editorial

Standen, V., U. Graefe, R. M. Schmelz & J. Schlaghamerský
Diversity of Enchytraeidae (Annelida: Clitellata) in habitats within the Magnesian Limestone Plateau of County Durham, UK
 
Schlaghamerský J. & V Pižl
Enchytraeids and earthworms (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae, Lumbricidae) of parks in the city of Brno, Czech Republic
 
Beylich A. & U. Graefe
Investigations of annelids at soil monitoring sites in Northern Germany: reference ranges and time-series data  
 
Vavoulidou, E., A. Coors, K. Dózsa-Farkas & J. Römbke
Influence of farming practice, crop type and soil properties on the abundance of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) in Greek agricultural soils
 
Briones, M. J. I. & N. Carrera
Field methodological approaches to investigate the short-term responses of enchytraeids to climate change
 
Prendergast-Miller, M., V. Standen, I. D. Leith, & L. J. Sheppard
Response of enchytraeid worm populations to different forms of nitrogen (ammonia, ammonium, and nitrate) deposition 
 
Roembke, J., R. M. Schmelz & S. Knaebe
Field studies for the assessment of pesticides with soil mesofauna, in particular enchytraeids, mites and nematodes: Design and first results
 
Schmelz, R. M. & Rut Collado
New enchytraeid species since 2007

All articles

Editorial

Diversity of Enchytraeidae (Annelida: Clitellata) in habitats within the Magnesian Limestone Plateau of County Durham, UK

Standen, V., U. Graefe, R. M. Schmelz & J. Schlaghamerský

Title: Diversity of Enchytraeidae (Annelida: Clitellata) in habitats within the Magnesian Limestone Plateau of County Durham, UK

Abstract

Sampling of various terrestrial habitats (woodland, grassland, sea edge) of Hawthorn Dene and surroundings within the Magnesian Limestone plateau of County Durham yielded 17 species of Enchytraeidae and the naidid/tubificid Rhyacodrilus falciformis. Five enchytraeid species were recorded for the first time in the British Isles: Fridericia auritoidesF. maculatiformisF. semisetosaF. sylvatica, and F. isseli.

Keywords: soil fauna, annelids, Oligochaeta, Rhyacodrilus, England

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Authors

Valerie Standen
Department of Biological Sciences, Durham University,
Durham, DH1 3LE, U.K.

Ulfert Graefe
IFAB Institut für Angewandte Bodenbiologie GmbH,
Sodenkamp 59, 22337 Hamburg, Germany

Ruediger M. Schmelz
Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, University of A Coruña,
Alejandro da Sota, 1, 15008 A Coruña, Spain

Jiří Schlaghamerský 
Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University,
Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic;
jiris@sci.muni.cz 

Enchytraeids and earthworms (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae, Lumbricidae) of parks in the city of Brno, Czech Republic

Schlaghamerský J. & V Pižl

Title: Enchytraeids and earthworms (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae, Lumbricidae) of parks in the city of Brno, Czech Republic

Abstract

In 2006–2008 soil-dwelling annelids were studied in old parks in the central part of Brno (Czechia). The sites fell into three distinct size classes: 16–18 ha, 1.7–2.7 ha and lawns of 100 m². Earthworms were sampled by the Electro-octet Method and enchytraeids by wet funnel extraction from soil cores. Mean enchytraeid densities were low, not exceeding ca. 6100 ind. m‾². Mean earthworm densities ranged between 109 and 295 ind. m‾². Per park, 3 to 13 enchytraeid species and from 2 to 6 earthworm species were found, for all parks pooled 9 enchytraeid and 8 lumbricid species. Epigeic earthworm species were almost absent. Species richness in the largest and medium-sized parks was similar for both taxa. In enchytraeids lowest species numbers were found in the smallest plots, in earthworms in one of the 100 m² plots, whereas the other one hosted as many or more species than two of the medium-sized parks. Assemblages sampled in small woods in different parks were more similar to each other than to those of lawns from the same parks. Assemblages of the smaller parks had higher percentages of Buchholzia spp., Enchytraeus spp. and Henlea ventriculosa, probably indicating higher disturbance levels. Three enchytraeid species were first records for the Czech Republic.

Keywords: annelids, soil, urban ecology, fauna  

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Authors

Jiří Schlaghamerský
Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University,
Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic;
jiris@sci.muni.cz

Václav Pižl
Institute of Soil Biology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
České Budějovice, Czech Republic;

Investigations of annelids at soil monitoring sites in Northern Germany: reference ranges and time-series data

Beylich A. & U. Graefe

Title: Investigations of annelids at soil monitoring sites in Northern Germany: reference ranges and time-series data

Abstract

Soil zoological investigations at soil monitoring sites are carried out with the objective to track changes in the soil’s habitat function. At 60 soil-monitoring sites in north-western Germany, earthworms and microannelids (enchytraeids, tubificids and polychaetes) are currently being used as system indicators for the soil biota. Investigations started 1992, followed by re-investigations every 5 to 10 years. Variations in abundance, biomass and species number of annelids are assessed with respect to nondirectional fluctuations or directional changes, caused by natural variations of environmental factors or due to management practices. The sites are grouped according to land-use type and site condition into six different categories for which typical ranges of variation of the zoological parameters can be distinguished (reference ranges). Especially at sites that passed three investigations already, major changes become discernible. If the temporal variation goes in the same direction throughout the time series, it is considered a trend. When a value shifts substantially out of its reference range, a change of the system state is probable, especially if this applies for two or more parameters simultaneously. Three examples are given for considerable changes of the annelid community due to land-use change or natural succession. The detection of substantial changes of the community is based mainly on the species composition, but is supported by quantitative parameters using the reference ranges.

Keywords: earthworms, enchytraeids, species composition, land use, soil properties

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Authors

Anneke Beylich
IFAB Institut für Angewandte Bodenbiologie GmbH,
Sodenkamp 59, 22337 Hamburg, Germany;
anneke.beylich@ifab-hamburg.de

Ulfert Graefe
IFAB Institut für Angewandte Bodenbiologie GmbH,
Sodenkamp 59, 22337 Hamburg, Germany;
ulfert.graefe@ifab-hamburg.de

Influence of farming practice, crop type and soil properties on the abundance of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) in Greek agricultural soils 

Vavoulidou, E., A. Coors, K. Dózsa-Farkas & J. Römbke

Title: Influence of farming practice, crop type and soil properties on the abundance of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) in Greek agricultural soils 

Abstract

Little information is available on the distribution of soil organisms such as enchytraeids in Greek agricultural soils. Therefore the aim of this work was to study their population densities under different farming practices, in different regions, and in relation to physico-chemical soil properties such as texture, pH, organic matter content, C:N ratio, and total copper content in soil. Soil samples were taken from 380 sites located in 18 regions all over Greece, but only data from 120 sites in 9 regions were appropriate for statistical evaluations. At each site soil samples were taken once, transported to the laboratory and kept there at 20 °C and at a moisture of 40–50 % WHC for six weeks. Enchytraeids were extracted from the soils by a wet extraction method and counted. Species composition was determined in a few samples, revealing species of the genera Fridericia and Enchytraeus. Enchytraeids were absent from many soil samples which may be caused by the fact that many soils in Greece have a xeric moisture regime, conditions that are unfavourable to soil organisms. Highest abundances (about 14 000 ind. m‾²) were recorded at olive groves and vineyard sites in mainland regions. Lowest abundances were recorded on islands such as Santorini, where no enchytraeids were detected in 13 out of 17 samples. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences of enchytraeid abundance among crop types (higher in olive than in vineyards or citrus) but not among farming practices or soil properties, including copper content. Sites with the same crop located in different regions differed in enchytraeid abundance in the case of olive groves and vineyards but not in citrus orchards. Total copper content was significantly higher in citrus orchards than in the other two crop types, but the determined copper levels were generally below those considered to harm oligochaetes. Further sampling using standard methods while addressing the species level are needed to reveal details of enchytraeid distribution, species composition and their ecological role in Greek soils.

Keywords: monitoring, regions, organic matter content, copper

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Authors

Evangelia Vavoulidou
NAGREF, Soil Science Institute of Athens, Athens, Greece

Anja Coors
ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH,
Böttgerstr. 2–14, 65439 Floersheim, Germany

Klára Dózsa-Farkas
Dept. of Systematic Zoology and Ecology,
Eötvös Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary

Joerg Roembke
ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH,
Boettgerstr. 2–14, 65439 Floersheim, Germany
J-Roembke@ect.de

Field methodological approaches to investigate the short-term responses of enchytraeids to climate change

Briones, M. J. I. & N. Carrera

Title: Field methodological approaches to investigate the short-term responses of enchytraeids to climate change

Abstract

Research investigations on the effects of climate change on soil organisms face several methodological and practical difficulties. Experimental approaches to simulate the predicted changes in the climatic factors are usually costly and difficult to maintain, but also require a fair amount of background information of the selected study site and their animal communities. Available literature shows that most published work on climate change responses have focussed on nematodes and microarthropods (mites and springtails) and very few attempts have been made on enchytraeids. However, enchytraeid worms constitute excellent model organisms for climate change research. Besides their ecological importance in decomposition processes they are very sensitive to temperature and moisture changes, hence they quickly respond by altering their abundance and vertical distribution. Therefore, as part of the project REN2002-03224/GLO (‘Warming and Peatland soils: effects on the community structure and carbon fluxes’), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education, we have investigated the soil community composition and its seasonal changes in diversity and abundance in a Galician peatland (NW Spain) from 2003 to 2006. The field sampling survey has allowed a better knowledge of the community structure of this ecosystem and the identification of the main dominant faunal groups. Furthermore, the seasonal changes in population densities and/or vertical distribution of the different enchytraeid species and other soil fauna groups (microarthropods) have provided further insights into their survival strategies and will allow better predictions of the possible implications of climate change on the ecosystem functioning.

Keywords: manipulation experiments, soil fauna, peatlands, temperature, moisture

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Authors

María Jesús I. Briones
Dept. Ecología y Biología Animal, Facultad de Biología,
Universidad de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain;
mbriones@uvigo.es

Noela Carrera
Dept. Ecología y Biología Animal, Facultad de Biología,
Universidad de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain

Response of enchytraeid worm populations to different forms of nitrogen (ammonia, ammonium, and nitrate) deposition

Prendergast-Miller, M., V. Standen, I. D. Leith, & L. J. Sheppard

Title: Response of enchytraeid worm populations to different forms of nitrogen (ammonia, ammonium, and nitrate) deposition

Abstract

The changes to ecosystems and ecosystem functioning induced by anthropogenic reactive nitrogen deposition continue to be studied in a range of habitats. In semi-natural habitats, these effects can be pronounced, often with negative impacts on the native flora. An experimental site established on an ombrotrophic bog provides a unique opportunity for the study of the effect of long-term simulated N deposition. The response of enchytraeid worms to different forms of nitrogen deposition (as ammonia, ammonium or nitrate) was assessed at this site, which has been receiving N treatments since 2002: previous studies on the site have shown that high N deposition (64 kg N ha‾¹ yr‾¹) has changed the aboveground vegetation. In this study, the below-ground response of enchytraeids to N treatment was shown to be dependent on site wetness. Under favourable site conditions, i.e. when the peat moisture content was high, enchytraeid abundance was negatively affected by N deposition in the form of ammonia or nitrate, whereas addition of ammonium, ammonium plus PK (=K2HPO4), and to a lesser extent, nitrate plus PK, appeared to increase enchytraeid abundance. However, when the bog was drier, enchytraeid numbers were similar across all treatments and appeared to be insensitive to N.  

Keywords: Oligochaeta, enchytraeids, ombrotrophic bog, oxidised N, reduced N

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Authors

Miranda Prendergast-Miller
Cruickshank Building, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences,
University of Aberdeen, St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB24 3UU;
m.t.prendergast@abdn.ac.uk

Valerie Standen
University of Durham, School of Biological Sciences, England, DH1 3LE

Ian D. Leith
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Penicuik Bush Estate,
Edinburgh, Scotland, EH26 0QB

Lucy J. Sheppard
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Penicuik Bush Estate,
Edinburgh, Scotland, EH26 0QB

Field studies for the assessment of pesticides with soil mesofauna, in particular enchytraeids, mites and nematodes: Design and first results

Roembke, J., R. M. Schmelz & S. Knaebe

Title: Field studies for the assessment of pesticides with soil mesofauna, in particular enchytraeids, mites and nematodes: Design and first results

Abstract

Currently, earthworm field tests and litter-bag studies are regularly required as part of the environmental risk assessment of pesticides in soil. These tests give almost no indication if there is any structural impact, i.e. on the biodiversity of the soil organism community. Therefore, a design is presented here for such a structural study, which follows basically the design of litter bag studies. Our proposal is based on practical experience made in Southern Germany in 2007 / 2008. A new pesticide was tested, framed by a control (water) and a mix of two reference substances (the fungicide Benomyl and the insecticide Chlorpyrifos(ethyl)) of known effect, the latter in order to confirm the sensitivity of the studied soil organisms. For confidentiality reasons, the identity of the test substance cannot be given here. Six replicates were used per treatment (plot size: 7 m x 3 m). The study was performed on grassland and test chemical and reference substance were applied without soil incorporation. Grassland was chosen because diversity and abundance of enchytraeids, mites and nematodes (and soil mesofauna in general) is usually very low in agricultural soil. The duration of the study was one year and sampling was performed –2, 32, 89, 187 and 372 DAT (days after treatment). The taxonomic groups assessed were enchytraeids, soil-inhabiting mites, collembolans, and nematodes, but collembolans will not be covered in this contribution. All groups except nematodes were sampled using ISO standard methods. Specimens were sampled with soil corers (diameter and depth: 5 cm each). The enchytraeids were identified to the species level, but assessment is based on the genus level. Among mites only the oribatids were identified to species level, the rest to higher groups. The nematodes were only assessed quantitatively. The variance of the samples collected was small enough to detect a change in the taxonomic structure of the soil organism community. In this contribution results from the control, test substance and reference plots are presented. In comparison to the control, the number of enchytraeids on the reference plots was reduced by 60 % at individual sampling dates, thus validating the test design. Mites were not affected at all. The number of nematodes decreased by 48 % at most. The test substance itself showed no significant effect at all, except an unexplained reduction of enchytraeids at the 4th sampling date. Genera of enchytraeids behaved slightly differently, suggesting that in future studies the species level should be addressed. Referring to the experiences made in this study it is concluded that the use of soil mesofauna groups in field studies is a practical and promising tool in the environmental risk assessment of pesticides.

Keywords: ecotoxicology, standardisation, grassland, Benomyl, Chlorpyrifos(ethyl)

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Authors

Joerg Roembke
ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH, Boettgerstr. 2-14, 65439 Floersheim, Germany;
J-Roembke@ect.de

Ruediger M. Schmelz
University of A Coruña, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Animal Biology,
Plant Biology and Ecology, Alejandro da Sota 1, 15008 A Coruña, Spain

Silvio Knaebe
Eurofins-GAB GmbH, 75223 Niefern-Oeschelbronn, Germany

New enchytraeid species since 2007

Schmelz, R. M. & Rut Collado

Title: New enchytraeid species since 2007

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Issue 81 (1)  March 2009

Different papers about the soil fauna of post-mining landscape as well as taxonomical and faunistical studies of Collembola, Formicidae and Oribatida

Dunger, W. & K. Voigtlaender
Soil fauna (Lumbricidae, Collembola, Diplopoda and Chilopoda) as indicators of soil eco-subsystem development in post-mining sites of eastern Germany – a review
 
Seifert, B., B. C. Schlick-Steiner & F. M. Steiner
Myrmica constricta Karavajev, 1934 – a cryptic sister species of Myrmica hellenica Finzi, 1926 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
 
Skarżyński, D.
Reassessment of the taxonomic position of Hypogastrura monticola Stach, 1946 (Collembola: Hypogastruridae)
 
Weigmann, G.
Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the coastal region of Portugal. II. The genera Zachvatkinibates and Punctoribates (Mycobatidae)
 
Weigmann, G.
Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the coastal region of Portugal. III. New species of Scutoverticidae and Scheloribatidae

Book review

All articles

Soil fauna (Lumbricidae, Collembola, Diplopoda and Chilopoda) as indicators of soil eco-subsystem development in post-mining sites of eastern Germany – a review

Dunger, W. & K. Voigtlaender

Title: Soil fauna (Lumbricidae, Collembola, Diplopoda and Chilopoda) as indicators of soil eco-subsystem development in post-mining sites of eastern Germany – a review

Abstract

The soil zoological department of the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz has studied immigration, colonisation and biological activity of main groups of soil fauna on brown coal open-cast mine sites in eastern Germany for nearly half a century (1960 to 2006). The present paper provides a review and data on the long-term development of primary succession, mainly in a real-time series of soil macrofauna (especially Lumbricidae and Myriapoda) and soil microarthropods (especially Collembola).
The results were obtained for the most part from Upper Lusatian dumps (district Görlitz) with predominantly loamy, Pleistocene substrata, compared with Lower Lusatian dumps (district Cottbus) with predominantly acid, sandy, Tertiary substrata. Besides the substrata, the vegetation (promoted by rehabilitation) determines the process of colonisation and development of soil faunal assemblages. In particular, the difference between afforestation with deciduous, soft leaved trees or with coniferous or hard-leaved trees was demonstrated in the different examples.
In the study sites, only 7 species of earthworms regularly take part in the colonisation of mine sites; 3 further species are found sporadically. They took normally 3 to 20 years to immigrate and establish populations under good conditions during10 to 30 years. In the last few years of this period an extremely high abundance of 100 gm‾² was observed with a subsequent reduction to the probable ‘predisturbance level’ (30–60 gm‾²) 40 to 54 years after reclamation. Very characteristic is the distribution of life forms during the succession, moving from a preponderance of epigeics in the pioneer period to the clear dominance of anecics in the progressed phase (organisation period). Comparision of the quantitative data from different mine sites and site ages allows the use of earthworms as indicators of mine-site soil quality.
Microarthropods invade, partly as aerial plankton, mine sites very quickly but have a different, species-dependent colonisation behaviour. Rapid production of deciduous litter after afforestation and the absence of competition from earthworms enable microarthropods to quickly develop a ‘pioneermaximum’ with highest abundances and species diversity, followed by a minimum density after the incorporation of the ectohumus layer into topsoil by earthworms. Merely 30 to 50 years later microarthropods again reach an abundance as found in the control native woodlands. The study of colonisation behaviour typical of 113 species of Collembola indicated that there were eight different colonisation groups of springtails that were useful in characterising different stages of mine-site development. Compared with ‘native’ reference woodlands, the identity of collembolan species composition is highest in the 10th year after rehabilitation but declines later. There are ‘mine-site-phobic’ species – elsewhere very common – which behave in a stochastic ‘variable’ manner. As a result, the collembolan species composition of well-developed mined woodlands still show a lack of some species even after half a century following mining.
A further intensive study was made with millipedes and centipedes which need – like earthworms – a longer time for immigration. The presence of saprophagous millipede species showed a clear succession in parallel with mine-site development, but there is no species with true pioneer behaviour. Centipedes – with Lamyctes emarginatus as a true pioneer – as predators behave less predictably; Geophilomorphs, hunting in the subsoil, are the last to invade. After 50 years of development of mine-site woodlands, five species of millipedes and six species of centipedes, though common in adjacent reference woodlands, had not yet colonised the mine sites. Comparisons between myriapod assemblages at mine sites in Upper and Lower Lusatia that had different soil and age conditions revealed that myriapods are good indicators of biological soil quality and are reliable and easy to use.
The role of saprophagous fauna, esp. earthworms, in SOM decomposition was studied using metabolic parameters for the potential level of decomposition (DLZpot). For this, laboratory data of the metabolic equivalents (ME) of the studied saprophagous groups of the microfauna and macrofauna were combined with the present biomass of these groups (in gm‾²) and divided by the yearly SOM-production of litter and soil layer of vegetation (DLZpot). Minimal litter decomposition occurred during the pioneer optimum of microarthropods (3rd to 5th year) in deciduous-afforested sites. Later the total SOM decomposition becomes essentially higher up to 75 %. Here the contribution of earthworms was about 98 %, whereas the role of millipedes and dipteran larvae can be ignored. In pine afforestations, the decomposition efficiency of the (macro-)fauna was 4.5 to 7 times lower than calculated for deciduous mine sites.

Keywords: substratum types, recultivation, immigration, colonisation, succession, SOM decomposition, ecofaunistical groups, metabolic equivalences

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Authors

Wolfram Dunger
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz, Department of Soil Zoology,
P.O. Box 30 01 54, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
dunger.ebersbach@gmx.de
Karin Voigtlaender
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz, Department of Soil Zoology,
P.O. Box 30 01 54, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
karin.voigtlaender@senckenberg.de

Myrmica constricta Karavajev, 1934 – a cryptic sister species of Myrmica hellenica Finzi, 1926 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) 

Seifert, B., B. C. Schlick-Steiner & F. M. Steiner

Title: Myrmica constricta Karavajev, 1934 – a cryptic sister species of Myrmica hellenica Finzi, 1926 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) 

Abstract

Multiple evidence is presented that Myrmica constricta Karavajev, 1934 represents a cryptic sister species (= sibling species) of Myrmica hellenica Finzi, 1926: (a) males differ significantly in length of appendage pilosity, relative scape length and absolute body size; (b) a discriminant analysis (DA) and a leave-one-out-cross-validation discriminant analysis (LOOCV-DA) using 14 morphometric characters separated 90 worker nest samples of both species with a predicted error rate of 1.1 %; (c) as unsupervised method, a principal component analysis of the same data set fully confirmed this clustering; (d) Mantel tests showed a significant effect of the hypothesised con- vs. heterospecificity based on the morphological distance (OMD) as well as on the Bray-Curtis similarity index (BCSI) of worker nest samples, also when controlling for geographical distance (OMD: partial correlation r = 0.3480, p < 0.01; BCSI: r =  0.3254, p < 0.01) and hence provide a further independent argument for heterospecificity. A DA and a LOOCV-DA clearly allocated the types of M. hellenica (with p = 1.000 and p = 0.981, respectively), M. rugulosoides var. striata Finzi, 1926 (in both analyses with p = 1.000) and M. rugulosa var. rugulososcabrinodis Karavajev, 1929 (both with p = 1.000) to the M. hellenica cluster and the types of M. constricta (both with p = 1.000) to the M. constrictacluster. Hence, M. striata and M. rugulososcabrinodis are demonstrated as junior synonyms of M. hellenicaMyrmica constricta is a more western and northern species and goes north to 60°N while the Ponto-Caucasian M. hellenica does not pass 46°N. The species are sympatric in Italy and the Balkans and there are no clear suggestions for hybridisation in this area. A distribution map, comparative morphometric tables and drawings of both species are presented as well as data on colony structure, habitat selection and behaviour of M. constricta.

Keywords: sibling species, cryptic diversity, numeric morphology-based alpha-taxonomy, discriminant functions

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Authors

Bernhard Seifert
Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Goerlitz,
P.O. Box 30 01 54, 02806 Goerlitz, Germany;
bernhard.seifert@senckenberg.de
Birgit C. Schlick-Steiner
Molecular Ecology Group, Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck,
6020 Innsbruck, Austria
School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University,
Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia

Florian M. Steiner
Molecular Ecology Group, Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck,
6020 Innsbruck, Austria
School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University,
Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia

Reassessment of the taxonomic position of Hypogastrura monticola Stach, 1946 (Collembola: Hypogastruridae)

Skarżyński, D.

Title: Reassessment of the taxonomic position of Hypogastrura monticola Stach, 1946 (Collembola: Hypogastruridae)

Abstract 

New data on the morphology of Hypogastrura monticola Stach, 1946, are provided based on extensive material from the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Sudetes and the Carpathians. The taxonomic position of this species within the genus is discussed. A monticola group consisting of H. monticolaH. papillata Gisin, 1949, H. hispanica (Steiner, 1955), H. dasiensis Selga, 1966, H. subpapillataBabenko, 1994 and H. hatiparae Babenko, 1994, is proposed. A key to Hypogastrura species groups is given.

Keywords: springtails, H. monticola group  

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Dariusz Skarżyński
Zoological Institute, Wroclaw University,
Przybyszewskiego 63/77, 51-148 Wroclaw, Poland;
hypogast@biol.uni.wroc.pl 

Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the coastal region of Portugal. II. The genera Zachvatkinibates and Punctoribates (Mycobatidae)

Weigmann, G.

Title: Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the coastal region of Portugal. II. The genera Zachvatkinibates and Punctoribates (Mycobatidae)

Abstract

Two known species of the genus Zachvatkinibates were found in marine salt-marshes of Portugal and are redescribed in this paper. Zachvatkinibates quadrivertex (Halbert, 1920) is distributed in the lower tidal level of salt marshes from northern to southern Portugal. Up to now only known from the type locality of the sea shore of Croatia, Z. eoeryi (Mahunka, 1972) was found in the Lagoon of Faro, inhabiting predominantly marine littoral debris. A new halophilous species, Punctoribates aveiroensis sp. nov. is described from the marine salt meadows in the upper tidal level in the Lagoon of Aveiro. These three mycobatid species differ in their ecological preferences within the marine salt marshes, nevertheless Z. quadrivertex is syntopic with Z. eoeryi in the Lagoon of Faro and with P. aveiroensis sp. nov. in the Lagnon of Aveiro. 

Keywords: taxonomy, systematics, Mycrobatidae, salt-marsh fauna 

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Gerd Weigmann
Institute of Zoology,
Koenigin-Luise-Str. 1-3, 14195 Berlin, Germany:
weigmann@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the coastal region of Portugal. III. New species of Scutoverticidae and Scheloribatidae

Weigmann, G.

Title: Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the coastal region of Portugal. III. New species of Scutoverticidae and Scheloribatidae

Abstract

Three new species of Oribatida were found from soils of different coastal habitats in South Portugal. Scutovertex mikoi sp.
nov. (Scutoverticidae) is the smallest European species of the genus, collected in a low dune area of the estuary of Ribeiro
de Aljezur, western Algarve. Micropirnodus longissimus gen. nov, sp. nov. (Scheloribatidae s. lat.) is described and compared with members of Parapirnodus, which are considered the closest known relatives. The species was collected from a shrubby vegetation area on rock substrate, in the estuary of Ribeiro de Aljezur, adjacent to the dune area with S. mikoi sp. nov. The monodactylous Scheloribates (Euscheloribatesalgarvensis sp. nov. (Scheloribatidae) was collected from salt marshes in the Lagoon of Faro, southern Algarve. Its systematic position is discussed, and a new taxonomic status of Euscheloribates as subgenus of Scheloribates is proposed.

Keywords

taxonomy, systematics, marine salt marsh, coastal dune, coastal bush vegetation

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Gerd Weigmann
Institute of Zoology,
Koenigin-Luise-Str. 1-3, 14195 Berlin, Germany:
weigmann@zedat.fu-berlin.de

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