Chordeumatidae is a family of millipedes belonging to the order Chordeumatida.[1] These millipedes range from 7 mm to 18 mm in length and are found in Europe.[2] Adult millipedes in this family have either 28 (e.g., Melagona scutellaris) or 30 (e.g., M. gallica, Chordeuma proximum, and C. sylvestre) segments (counting the collum, the telson, and the segments in between).[3][4] This family features distinctive sex-linked modifications to the legs in adults: In the adult female, a legless sternite (the "platosternite") replaces the third pair of legs, and in the adult male, five pairs of legs (pairs 7 through 11) are modified in the gonopod complex.[4][2] These modifications are more extensive than those found in other adult males in this order, which often have only two leg pairs (pairs 8 and 9) modified into gonopods.[3][4] With the more extensive modifications to the legs in this family, species with the usual 30 segments feature adult females with only 49 leg pairs and adult males with only 45 pairs of walking legs, and species with only 28 segments (e.g., M. scutellaris) feature adult females with only 45 leg pairs and adult males with only 41 pairs of walking legs.[4]

Chordeumatidae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Diplopoda
Order: Chordeumatida
Superfamily: Chordeumatoidea
Family: Chordeumatidae

Genera:[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Chordeumatidae". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b Enghoff, Henrik; Golovatch, Sergei; Short, Megan; Stoev, Pavel; Wesener, Thomas (2015-01-01). "Diplopoda — taxonomic overview". Treatise on Zoology - Anatomy, Taxonomy, Biology. The Myriapoda, Volume 2: 363–453. doi:10.1163/9789004188273_017. ISBN 9789004156128.
  3. ^ a b Enghoff, Henrik; Dohle, Wolfgang; Blower, J. Gordon (1993). "Anamorphosis in Millipedes (Diplopoda) — The Present State of Knowledge with Some Developmental and Phylogenetic Considerations". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 109 (2): 103–234. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1993.tb00305.x.
  4. ^ a b c d Blower, J. Gordon (1985). Millipedes : keys and notes for the identification of the species. Linnean Society of London, Estuarine and Brackish-water Sciences Association. London: Published for the Linnean Society of London and the Estuarine and Brackish-Water Sciences Association by E.J. Brill. ISBN 90-04-07698-0. OCLC 13439686.