Millipedes: Diversity, distribution and ecology

Abstract

Millipedes, the ancient arthropods which belong to class Diplopoda, are the third most diverse class of terrestrial arthropods, following Insecta and Arachnida (Golovatch and Kime, Soil Org 81(3):565-597, 2009). They have a long and distinguished history on our planet and existed on earth more than 100 times longer than man, and their fossil records demonstrate their worldwide distribution (Almond, 1985; Hannibal, 1986). With an estimated total of more than 80,000 extant species, only about 12,000 millipede species have been formally described in 3005 genera, 145 families and 16 orders (Shelley, 2007; Sierwald and Bond, 2007). They also constitute one of the major groups of soil and litter fauna in temperate and tropical environments. Millipedes play an important role in energy flow as well as in the humification of soil and circulation of minerals in terrestrial ecosystems.