Meeting between kingdoms: discovery of a close association between Diplopoda and Bryophyta in a transitional Andean-Pacific forest in Colombia

Abstract

In a Nature Reserve called Reserva Natural Río Nambí (Nariño, Colombia), a platyrhacid millipede population of Psammodesmus bryophorus Hoffman, Martínez & Flórez, 2011 was discovered with 10 epizoic bryophyte species from five families: Fissidentaceae, Lejeuneaceae, Metzgeriaceae, Leucomiaceae and Pilotrichaceae. The inspected sample included 22 P. bryophorus individuals of which 15 were carrying mosaics of different bryophyte species on their dorsa, principally Lepidopilum scabrisetum, Lejeunea sp. 1 and Fissidens weirii. This finding constitutes the first record of epizoic plants on Diplopoda.