Platydesmida

Platydesmida (Greek for platy "flat" and desmos "bond") is an order of millipedes containing two families and over 60 species.[1] Some species practice paternal care, in which males guard the eggs.

Not to be confused with Polydesmida.

Platydesmida
Brachycybe lecontii (Androganthidae), a species found in eastern North America
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Diplopoda
Subclass: Chilognatha
Infraclass: Helminthomorpha
Order: Platydesmida
Cook, 1895
Families

Andrognathidae
Platydesmidae

Description

Platydesmidans have a flattened body shape with lateral extensions (paranota) on each segment. They lack eyes, and have between 30 and 110 body segments. They measure up to 60 mm (2.4 in) in length.[2]

Behavior
A male Brachycybe with eggs

While most millipedes feed on dead or decomposing leaf litter platydesmidans may be specialized to feed on fungi. Platydesmidans have also been studied with regard to parental investment, in that males of some species coil around eggs and young, a rare example of paternal care in arthropods. This behavior has been observed in species of Brachycybe from North America and Japan, and Bazillozonium and Yamasinaium from Japan, all are in the family Andrognathidae.[3][4]

Evolutionary history

The only described fossil of the order is from the Mid Cretaceous (~100 Ma) Burmese amber, belonging to the extant genus Andrognathus, several undescribed specimens belonging to the order are known from the same deposit.[5]

Distribution

Platydesmidans occur in North America, Central America, the Mediterranean region of Europe, Japan, China, southeast Asia and Indonesia.[6]

Classification
Pseudodesmus sp. (Androganthidae), posterior section, from Laos
Three species of Platydesmus (Platydesmidae)
Unidentified platydesmid from Malaysia

The order contains two families.[7]

Family Andrognathidae Cope, 1869

  • Andrognathus
  • Bazillozonium
  • Brachycybe
  • Corcyrozonium
  • Dolistenus
  • Fioria
  • Gosodesmus
  • Ischnocybe
  • Mitocybe
  • Pseudodesmus
  • Sumatronium
  • Symphyopleurium
  • Trichozonium
  • Yamasinaium
  • Zinaceps
  • Zinazonium

Family Platydesmidae DeSaussure, 1860

  • Desmethus
  • Platydesmus

References
  1. Shear, W. (2011). "Class Diplopoda de Blainville in Gervais, 1844. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3148: 159–164.
  2. "Diagnostic features of Millipede Orders" (PDF). Milli-PEET Identification Tables. The Field Museum, Chicago. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  3. KUDO, Shin-ichi; KOSHIO, Chiharu; TANABE, Tsutomu (2009). "Male egg-brooding in the millipede Yamasinaium noduligerum (Diplopoda: Andrognathidae)". Entomological Science. 12 (3): 346–347. doi:10.1111/j.1479-8298.2009.00331.x.
  4. Kudo, Shin-Ichi; Akagi, Yoshinobu; Hiraoka, Shuichiro; Tanabe, Tsutomu; Morimoto, Gen (2011). "Exclusive Male Egg Care and Determinants of Brooding Success in a Millipede". Ethology. 117 (1): 19–27. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01851.x.
  5. Moritz, Leif; Wesener, Thomas (September 2019). "The first known fossils of the Platydesmida—an extant American genus in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Diplopoda: Platydesmida: Andrognathidae)". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 19 (3): 423–433. doi:10.1007/s13127-019-00408-0. ISSN 1439-6092.
  6. Shelley, Rowland M. (1999). "Centipedes and Millipedes with Emphasis on North American Fauna". The Kansas School Naturalist. 45 (3): 1–16. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  7. "Catalogue of Life - 24th September 2018 : Taxonomic tree". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

Further reading
  • Costa, James T. (2006). "Other Social Arthropds: Arachnids, Centipedes, Millipedes, and Crustaceans". The Other Insect Societies. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp. 667–716. ISBN 9780674021631.


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