Arthrosphaeridae


Arthrosphaeridae is a family of giant pill millipedes that are found in Madagascar, the Western Ghats of India, and Sri Lanka. The largest pill-millipede in the world, Zoosphaerium neptunus belongs to this family and is known to swarm at certain times of the year.

Description

The first segment of the anterior telopods have a stridulatory organ known as a "harp" and this has one to ten ribs. The anal plate on the female is enlarged and has 1-12 ribs while the male anal shield has no special sclerotized notch as seen in other families. The segments of the antenna are oval or cylindrical.

Taxonomy

Within the family Arthrosphaeridae there are four genus formally described:Arthrosphaera Pocock, 1895 – India, Sri LankaMicrosphaerotherium Wesener & van den Spiegel, 2007 – MadagascarSphaeromimus de Saussure & Zehntner, 1902 – Southeast MadagascarZoosphaerium Pocock, 1895 – Madagascar