Thoughts on Smaller Millipede Species?

[MontePython]

Hey guys,

So a mate of mine is looking into keeping millipedes (she's pretty experienced with other inverts - mantises are her main thing), but wants to start with something smaller than the stuff I usually keep (I keep mainly large to extra large spirostreptids), and I told her I'd ask around about what different species are like, since we all do our research, but sometimes it helps to also have thoughts from people who have kept them as well.

So what are your favourite small(er) millipede species to keep and why? (note: if at all possible, please use scientific names - we're located in the UK and I know trade names can differ from place to place!)

 

[SeaNettle]

I have fallen in love with my Floridobolus floydi. They are short and fat, the absolute unit of small millipedes if you will. I quite like them because mine at least are pretty active during the day.



Though if I were in the UK, I would be considering Centrobolus annulatus with that eye-catching red color. Tonkinbolus dollfusi for another stunning coloration. And if you wanted something out of the ordinary and small, I would look into Brachycybe lecontii.

 

[Arthroverts]

(note: if at all possible, please use scientific names - we're located in the UK and I know trade names can differ from place to place!)

You underestimate me...

Depends. Are you looking at just round millipedes or perhaps some other groups like the platy-and-polydesmids?

Anadenobolus monilicornis is a great species for the beginner that breeds like crazy and remains small, as is Trigoniulus corralinus. I've also heard that Beniotolus siamensis remains small and is a pretty attractive species but I am not familiar with their care.
Desmoxytes planata is a small, prolific, fun species if polydesmids aren't being excluded. So are any Brachycybe sp., but I have never seen any available overseas so I'm doubtful of your ability to get some. Coromus might be easier for you to get your hands on but you'd want to buy CB specimens.

There are a lot I'm sure I'm not remembering. Stay tuned.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MontePython]

I have fallen in love with my Floridobolus floydi. They are short and fat, the absolute unit of small millipedes if you will. I quite like them because mine at least are pretty active during the day.

Though if I were in the UK, I would be considering Centrobolus annulatus with that eye-catching red color. Tonkinbolus dollfusi for another stunning coloration. And if you wanted something out of the ordinary and small, I would look into Brachycybe lecontii.

Oh no! That's such a chunky millipede, I love it! I haven't been able to find anyone who has them here unfortunately (at least not in my initial searches - though it's really interesting to me the differences between things that are commonly available in North America vs. in Europe; I lived in the states for years and only moved back to the UK last August right before getting into keeping millipedes, so it's been a real discovery!).

C. annulatus is definitely something I know is available here (and captive-bred too, which is a bonus!), and T. dollfusi (Atopochetus dollfusi? That's the name now right? I feel like I read something about it recently) too, as well as a couple related species (Spirobolus caudulanus (sometimes I've seen it listed as T. caudulanus? It has a similar shape and 'base colour' as A. dollfusi, but with different markings based on what I've seen in pics) and another species I've seen marked as Tonkinbolus sp. that looks like A. dollfusi but without the red spots?) I've heard that A. dollfusi can be tricky to keep and even more sensitive to temperature/humidity than other spirobolids - is there any truth in that? (or is that more of an Asian spirobolids in general thing? Like I said, I'm not as well-versed in things outside of my L-XL spirostreptid box lmao)

Sadly, I don't think anyone's successfully either imported or bred B. lecontii over here - they're super cool looking though :O

Depends. Are you looking at just round millipedes or perhaps some other groups like the platy-and-polydesmids?

Well, I know more about rounds, and I've heard that they do better in mixed-species tanks (not a one-of-each tank like my current larger one, but it would be neat to have a few of one or two species?).

But platy and polydesmids are really quite neat too - I'm just not as familiar with them, and I know there's not as many available right now - at least in the UK. I know that you can house a few together if you're careful about ventilation (I think? that's my understanding at least?), but I wasn't sure if different kinds of them could be kept together?

Anadenobolus monilicornis is a great species for the beginner that breeds like crazy and remains small, as is Trigoniulus corralinus. I've also heard that Beniotolus siamensis remains small and is a pretty attractive species but I am not familiar with their care.
Desmoxytes planata is a small, prolific, fun species if polydesmids aren't being excluded. So are any Brachycybe sp., but I have never seen any available overseas so I'm doubtful of your ability to get some. Coromus might be easier for you to get your hands on but you'd want to buy CB specimens.

I did think about A. monilicornis - there's definitely a lot of places here that captive breed them (probably because like you said - they're easy breeders lol), and they ARE very pretty.

Also, quick question about T. corralinus - I've seen different places that have them (most captive bred luckily), and in some pictures they appear to be very dark, rusty red, and in others they look more pink - like a coral colour. Is this likely to be a case of differently type localities being bred by different people, or do they shift in colour at different stages of life? I feel like I red something about at least one red-coloured millipede doing that, but I can't recall (I know, I should get up and look it up, but the book is across the flat RIP).

I also don't know a whole lot about B. siamensis other than that they're apparently about as arboreally inclined as D. macracanthus, if not more, and then just general temperature/humidity ranges. They are available here - I think the only place that has them has sub-adults or small adults. Not sure if they're captive bred or not, though if these aren't, I'd be shocked if they weren't holding a few back for breeding their own, since they don't seem to get imported much here. (I've noticed that there's far more African 'pedes here than Asian - with a few exceptions obviously, but on a general level, that's been my observation).

D. planata is definitely around here - at least one person definitely has some juveniles and sub-adults available. And they're REALLY cool looking - they only live a short time, even by millipede standards right? Coromus is also available - there's C. v. vittatus, which I'm pretty sure is available captive bred, and C. diaphorus, and there's a third Coromus sp. that is solid black and looks like this:

All of the Coromus species that I've seen are really...not exactly intimidating looking - they look almost prehistoric really, which is very cool to me, and I've read that they're fairly surface active if you make sure to provide hides and leaf litter, but I don't know much about how difficult they are to keep/how sensitive they are to temperature and whatnot?

I did make a list of all of the species that I know for sure I have potential access to that fall under a certain size, I could share that if it might help with input?

 

[Arthroverts]

I actually was exploring Millibase, and T. dollfusii (been spelling it wrong this whole time...) is still an accepted species. The genus Atopochetus itself has actually been synonomized with Aulacobolus.
EDIT: I am finding conflicting information on this. Still researching.
EDIT No. 2: If this states what I think it states then Tonkinbolus was actually synonomized with Atopochetus Litostrophus, and not the other way around. Atopochetus would be the correct genus in this case.
EDIT No. 3: It is indeed Atopochetus dollfusii now, with the whole genus Tonkinbolus no longer being valid, having been synonomized with Litostrophus (except for perhaps a few species, including caudulanus it seems, that they are still working out the kinks on).

As for the Tonkinbolus(Atopochetus? Spirobolus?) caudulanus, those are merely specimens that have been misidentified (see my thread here). They are in actuality Apeuthes sp. No Tonkinbolus(Atopochetus? Spirobolus?) caudulanus have ever been disseminated into the hobby yet to my knowledge.
I have heard the same, but apparently captive bred specimens can actually be quite hardy and prolific. You just have to make sure you keep them correctly with a stable microclimate, as they are less tolerant of large temperature swings, poor substrates, etc. (as opposed to, say, the old strain of Archispirostreptus gigas). I wouldn't say they are difficult however once you get past the imported WC generation.

Y'know, maybe I should get together a bunch of US native species and send them over there...I've done importing, just not yet exporting, ha ha.
There is a similar species that has become available in mainland Europe however (Pseudodesmus sp. "Southern Thailand"). Perhaps they will make it over to the UK sometime soon; I think you can even order them directly from the European seller (PM me for specific info).

You would be correct in that. I guess some poly-and-platydesmids could be kept together, but if you were to try that you would be breaking new ground, as to my knowledge no one has seriously attempted that before. You would want to avoid housing species of the same genus together however due to their potential ability to hybridize.
I know Coromus at least are very surface active, and hearing field reports I know other species are very active as well, even in the day time. I personally hypothesize that this is due to their strong chemical defenses and many species warning coloration.

The brick red T. corralinus are mature, any that are a lighter color are still only large juveniles/sub-adults. No variability between locales has been reported to my knowledge, and this species literally spans the globe in it's distribution (due to it's ability to sneak around in plant pots).

The bodies of B. siamensis's also fluoresce under a black light if I'm not mistaken...

I am not familiar with their life span, but apparently they breed so rapidly even if that is true it wouldn't make much of a difference.
I believe @skippy666 calls the one species Coromus sp. "Black".
Once you get Coromus sp. CB specimens, they are quite hardy I believe with proper care. Having not kept this species however I only say that due to the number of anecdotal reports I hear where they breed and do quite well.

If you already have a list of what's available you simply go through it and select the species that fall into the size range you are looking for. Then if you or your mate have any questions regarding those species you can ask them here.

Hope this helps,

Arthroverts

 

[Ponerinecat]

Personally, I would just explore for native species, Europe has some nice native Glomerida if you can find them. However there definitely is a lot of diversity on the market, I'm not very experienced with bought animals.

 

[Arthroverts]

Personally, I would just explore for native species, Europe has some nice native Glomerida if you can find them. However there definitely is a lot of diversity on the market, I'm not very experienced with bought animals.

I don't believe there are any Glomerida native to the UK, but you are right. Knew I was forgetting something!
G. pulchra, marginata, and I believe pustulata are relatively commonly offered I believe.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Ponerinecat]

There are four species in the British isles.
ORDER GLOMERIDA
Family Glomeridae
Geoglomeris subterranea
Glomeris marginata
Family Doderiidae
Adenomeris gibbosa
Trachysphaera lobata

Millipede Checklist | British Myriapod and Isopod Group

 

[Arthroverts]

There are four species in the British isles.
ORDER GLOMERIDA
Family Glomeridae
Geoglomeris subterranea
Glomeris marginata
Family Doderiidae
Adenomeris gibbosa
Trachysphaera lobata

Millipede Checklist | British Myriapod and Isopod Group

Ah, good to know! G. marginata is the only species kept in captivity out of those four, and the others I note are quite rare even in the wild it seems.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MontePython]

I actually was exploring Millibase, and T. dollfusii (been spelling it wrong this whole time...) is still an accepted species. The genus Atopochetus itself has actually been synonomized with Aulacobolus.
EDIT: I am finding conflicting information on this. Still researching.
EDIT No. 2: If this states what I think it states then Tonkinbolus was actually synonomized with Atopochetus Litostrophus, and not the other way around. Atopochetus would be the correct genus in this case.
EDIT No. 3: It is indeed Atopochetus dollfusii now, with the whole genus Tonkinbolus no longer being valid, having been synonomized with Litostrophus (except for perhaps a few species, including caudulanus it seems, that they are still working out the kinks on).

As for the Tonkinbolus(Atopochetus? Spirobolus?) caudulanus, those are merely specimens that have been misidentified (see my thread here). They are in actuality Apeuthes sp. No Tonkinbolus(Atopochetus? Spirobolus?) caudulanus have ever been disseminated into the hobby yet to my knowledge.
I have heard the same, but apparently captive bred specimens can actually be quite hardy and prolific. You just have to make sure you keep them correctly with a stable microclimate, as they are less tolerant of large temperature swings, poor substrates, etc. (as opposed to, say, the old strain of Archispirostreptus gigas). I wouldn't say they are difficult however once you get past the imported WC generation.

Oh the topsy-turvy world of diplopod taxonomy! (but also thank you for the links - I really enjoy reading these things)

The ones that were labelled ??? caudulanus that I've seen look like this - so are these actually an Apeuthes sp.?

The ones that were labelled Tonkinbolus sp. (under the common name 'Thai Rainbow') look like this (see what I mean about looking like A. dollfusii without spots?):


Yeah the stability is the thing I worry most about, as the climate here in the UK is not always super hospitable, even in the south. Though I've managed to get my large tank situated now to where it's pretty stable temperature and humidity-wise, with only a few dips into colder (in this case, colder meaning between 65-70F) temperatures (this has happened a couple times in the past week where it was very warm when I went to bed, and then the temperature dropped, making the heat mat insufficient to keep the tank above 72, as it usually relies on the room temperature being on the warm side of cool), so perhaps using that knowledge would let me be pretty stable.

Unfortunately, at the moment, it looks like the only place where I know for sure the dollfusii are captive-bred aren't in stock at the moment - right now my collection is almost 50-50 wc to cb, and while I adore my wild-caught girls (they were my first ones), the two captive bred 'pedes I've gotten since have been a dream. One stays burrowed mostly (he's a juvenile S. servatius who is only about 10cm so far, so I know odds are he'll spend a lot of time underground growing), and while my D. macracanthus went underground almost 2 weeks ago, he's unbelievably calm about being handled (I was expecting the worst, because I'd heard they're known to secrete heavily and sometimes thrash around). So I'd definitely prefer to go captive-bred wherever possible. Especially with this tank, since I would be okay with breeding and trying to help continue captive-breeding in the UK.

Y'know, maybe I should get together a bunch of US native species and send them over there...I've done importing, just not yet exporting, ha ha.
There is a similar species that has become available in mainland Europe however (Pseudodesmus sp. "Southern Thailand"). Perhaps they will make it over to the UK sometime soon; I think you can even order them directly from the European seller (PM me for specific info).

Haha maybe! I'm sure we'd appreciate it!

The only American (North or South) species that I've seen frequently in the UK are A. monilicornis, C. spinigerus (usually the white ivory, though I saw ebonies once - sadly not labelled with specific locales), T. corallinus (like obviously they're not native but wow they're everywhere), and O. ornatus. Once in a blue moon someone will have N. gordanus (usually either 'Ocala Gold' or 'Smokey Oak'). BugzUK has apparently had F. floydi and N. americanus in the past, both captive-bred, which generally means that someone in the UK does breed them (he prefers to sell captive-bred whenever possible, so often buys from people in the hobby here).

One German seller I've bought from in the past has a South American spirobolid (labelled Spirobolida sp. 2) that they speculate is a Rhinocricus sp., which is the first South American species I think I've ever seen up here.


Oh! The Pseudodesmus sp. seems really interesting! And look really neat (after a quick google search of the genus haha)! I know that there are a lot of European sellers who do ship to the UK (at least until the end of the year SIGH). I'll shoot you a PM in a moment!

You would be correct in that. I guess some poly-and-platydesmids could be kept together, but if you were to try that you would be breaking new ground, as to my knowledge no one has seriously attempted that before. You would want to avoid housing species of the same genus together however due to their potential ability to hybridize.
I know Coromus at least are very surface active, and hearing field reports I know other species are very active as well, even in the day time. I personally hypothesize that this is due to their strong chemical defenses and many species warning coloration.

Ahhhh gotcha! I wasn't sure if it was something that had been tried or not. It's a shame that as far as I can tell, almost all the poly-and-platydesmids readily available in the UK are Coromus sp. except for D. planata of course, because I'm now very tempted to set up a tank, but wouldn't want to accidentally hybridise the various Coromus species.

That makes sense to be honest - if I had more potent defences and really obvious warning colouration, I guess I would also be a bit more bold!

The brick red T. corralinus are mature, any that are a lighter color are still only large juveniles/sub-adults. No variability between locales has been reported to my knowledge, and this species literally spans the globe in it's distribution (due to it's ability to sneak around in plant pots).

The bodies of B. siamensis's also fluoresce under a black light if I'm not mistaken...

Gotcha! I was sure I had read it, but wasn't sure if it was T. corralinus or C. splendidus (because sometimes, telling small, red millipedes apart is like that I guess).

And yes! I did remember seeing some neat pictures of that somewhere!

I am not familiar with their life span, but apparently they breed so rapidly even if that is true it wouldn't make much of a difference.
I believe @skippy666 calls the one species Coromus sp. "Black".
Once you get Coromus sp. CB specimens, they are quite hardy I believe with proper care. Having not kept this species however I only say that due to the number of anecdotal reports I hear where they breed and do quite well.

That's good to know! At least one Coromus species (C. v. vitattus) I know for sure I can get captive bred, some of the others are wild caught or I'm not 100% sure if they are or not.

If you already have a list of what's available you simply go through it and select the species that fall into the size range you are looking for. Then if you or your mate have any questions regarding those species you can ask them here.

Thanks so much! My friend has ended up ordering a few each of A. monilicornis and C. annulatus, though I know she's also planning to set up a larger tank for some bigger species as well.

Me, I'm really tempted to set up a smaller tank some time soon as well but I have to decide what to put in it and plan for first.

 

[Arthroverts]

@MontePython, I would suggest editing your post for language. That can get you kicked off of here.
Just wanted to let you know.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MontePython]

@MontePython, I would suggest editing your post for language. That can get you kicked off of here.
Just wanted to let you know.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

Whoops! Thanks for the heads up - completely slipped my mind.

 

[aarons841]

I don't believe there are any Glomerida native to the UK, but you are right. Knew I was forgetting something!
G. pulchra, marginata, and I believe pustulata are relatively commonly offered I believe.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

You can Polydesmus here in UK. Found one yesterday on some wood

 

[Arthroverts]

You can Polydesmus here in UK. Found one yesterday on some wood

Polydesmus are uncommonly kept polydesmids however, not glomerids. If one can't find any other small species that is more appealing, then yes, Polydesmus might be a good choice. Their diminutive size and dull coloration however makes them difficult to appreciate in my opinion, though they do have an interesting body shape.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[aarons841]

There are four species in the British isles.
ORDER GLOMERIDA
Family Glomeridae
Geoglomeris subterranea
Glomeris marginata
Family Doderiidae
Adenomeris gibbosa
Trachysphaera lobata

Millipede Checklist | British Myriapod and Isopod Group

Polydesmus are uncommonly kept polydesmids however, not glomerids. If one can't find any other small species that is more appealing, then yes, Polydesmus might be a good choice. Their diminutive size and dull coloration however makes them difficult to appreciate in my opinion, though they do have an interesting body shape.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

Yes i didn't mean they were glomerids I know they are polydesmida - but something more unusual to find here in UK