Narceous gordanus (smokey oak) question

[Jc millipede]

Hello, a newbie here from the UK, I am fortunate to have recently acquired both gordanus and americanus and have had them now about 4 months . can anyone please help me, with the breeding habits of narceous gordanus.. and are they similar to its close relative narceous americanus.... ie do they also just lay singular eggs at any given time and curl around it until its hatching, also how many offspring could potentially be possible from a a single female in any given breeding season. . I have searched the Internet and it all seems a bit patchy with very little information... Many thanks

 

[Wesley Smith]

I’m not entirely sure about this, but @mickiem or @LawnShrimp may know. I didn’t realize that N. Americanus has these behaviors.

 

[Jc millipede]

Thankyou for that, yes apparently so with americanus....read that hatching takes approx 2 weeks and that the breeding season is from late spring until late autumn, so if my maths is correct thinking around six months they could potentially be laying eggs and with intervals of 2 Weeks for each egg would be approx 12 young per year thats if the female was in constant egg laying mode...will be interesting to hear from anyone who has bred from these in captive conditions and see if this varies from what I have read...cheers all for any replies

 

[pannaking22]

They don't guard the eggs until they hatch, they just lay and leave them, likely wrapped up in a bit of frass.

 

[Wesley Smith]

They don't guard the eggs until they hatch, they just lay and leave them, likely wrapped up in a bit of frass.

Ok, that’s what I thought but I’ve been wrong before.

 

[Jc millipede]

Here's one of the the links, but it could be just one persons interpretation https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Narceus_americanus/

North American millipedes' breeding season begins in the late spring/early summer and continues into autumn. Eggs hatch within a few weeks of being laid, although development times can shift with temperature changes. A female lays one egg in her prepared nest then wraps herself around the egg for brooding. Once the egg hatches there is no further parental involvement. Young millipedes take 1-2 years to reach maturity, with males usually reaching maturity first. (Blower, 1985; Galloway, 2010; Hopkin and Read, 1992; Ross, 2000)

 

[Arthroverts]

For N. gordanus, according to McMonigle and personal experience, the female molts in summer and then has one brood in late summer-early autumn, with egg count being about 100 at most. Eggs are laid in egg capsules made of frass and/or rotting wood and scattered in small groups or individually.

For N. americanus, according to McMonigle, they lay large batches of eggs after the spring season usually, with their capsules made out of soft, rotten wood. Neither species guards the eggs or performs any parental care. You may be thinking of some platydesmids of the genus Brachycybe, with the males of most species guarding the eggs until they hatch.

I would highly suggest you look into getting McMonigle's book "Millipeds in Captivity", as all of your questions are answered in that fine piece of diplopod literature, or perhaps his smaller handbook on millipedes, "Giant Millipedes".

Anyway, hope this helps, and good luck breeding those two species!

Arthroverts

 

[Jc millipede]

That's great thanks very much for your time and input and it has cleared things up for mealso given me some hope for possible breeding results this year with the gordanus, I had witnessed a lot of nocturnal activity and breeding from them for the first couple of months of having them but they are now remaining mostly under the substrate I will keep my eyes open for possible young... The americanus are still very active and out and about often also witnessed breeding from them so all looks good thank you very much and will definitely check out those books