ausblenden:
Schlagwörter:
Diplopoda; Amphitomeus; taxonomy; biology; gut microflora; parthenogenesis; hothouse; Europe; Neotropics
Zusammenfassung:
The status of the parthenogenetic millipede Amphitomeus attemsi (Schubart, 1934), a common European hothouse species originally described in Detodesmus Cook, 1896, is revised. Discovery among several hundred females of an apparently residual (=atavistic) male each in hothouses in Berlin, Freiburg and Kiel, Germany allows confirmation of Amphitomeus Verhoeff, 1941 as a "good" genus based on both male genitalic structure and certain peripheral characters, largely plesiomorphic. Based on biogeographical evidence, apparently the origin centre of A. attemsi lies somewhere in the northwestern Andes whence it has become introduced and established in Europe and southeastern Brazil. In Europe at least, its life history seems to require at least one year and the species basically feeds on rotting wood. Experimental data on platable gut microflora and its cellulase activity show fungi and actinomycetes, but apparently not bacteria, to be highly cellulose-dependent. Lectotype selection has been made for Oniscodesmus aurantiacus Peters, 1864.
