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Phenology of O. sabulosus in Provence (March 2010–November 2010). See explanations in the legend to Fig. 1.
Source publication
Growth, development and life-cycle duration of the millipede Ommatoiulus
sabulosus (f.
aimatopodus) were studied in a Mediterranean shrubland of southern France and compared with previous data from northwest Europe. Changes in the proportions of stadia during the course of the year were analysed in several generations. The results show that stadia...
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The genus Grallaricula (Grallariidae) comprises 8-9 species of small, semi-terrestrial antpittas (Krabbe & Schulenberg 2003, del Hoyo et al. 2017, Remsen et al. 2017). Following the first nest description for Rusty-breasted Antpitta G. ferrugineipectus (Schwartz 1957), the first for the genus, our knowledge of the breeding biology of other Grallari...
Citations
... Beetles, dipterans, and other insects usually moult through their 3-5 instar larvae stages (Klausnitzer and Zwick, 1997). Studies devoted to the size distribution of the instar larvae of insects or myriapods are usually published by taxonomists who describe their differences and development throughout the life cycle (David and Coulis, 2015;Ferreira et al., 2018). There are seemingly no published reports on the estimated abundance of soil macrofaunal taxa, including the separation of instar larval stages. ...
The soil macrofauna, including animals between 1–2 mm and 20–30 mm in size, uses soil differently from the mesofauna, which lives in cavities, or microfauna that inhabits water films. In some ecosystems, the macrofauna accounts for most of the total soil animal biomass and substantially contributes to soil food-web functioning. Additionally, the macrofauna can be among the most diverse groups in the soil environment. A few macrofaunal taxa (e.g. earthworms and termites) are considered to be ecosystem engineers attracting research focus, while studies on most other soil macrofauna remain scattered and uneven. An analysis of 80 publications conducted for this study showed inconsistent definitions of soil macrofauna by specialists. Further, a comparison of taxa listed among the soil macrofauna and mesofauna deduced that researchers allocate soil animals to either group by higher-level taxonomic categories and not by size. The main challenge in soil macrofaunal surveys is the extremely high diversity of species from widely different taxa, which require highly specialised taxonomists to identify them to species level. The abovementioned publication analysis showed that small taxa, mainly insects, are often not surveyed. In addition, animals of the same species at different ontogenetic stages that coinhabit the soil are not analysed separately. This tendency leads to an underestimation of the abundance and biomass of early larval stages. Hence, the soil macrofauna is seldom included in analyses of soil ecosystem functioning and modelling. Synchronised and unified studies across biomes could draw more attention to this size group and increase research focus and output from soil ecologists and other scientists.
... Cardboard roll traps consisted of a 50 mm diameter, 200 mm length PVC pipe with a piece of single sided corrugated cardboard (length: 250 mm × width: 50 mm rolled to form 50 mm diameter) inserted into the pipe. Rolls have not been used previously to capture millipedes though the trap is similar in nature to hay traps (David & Coulis, 2015;Tuf et al., 2015). Three rolls were placed approximately 2 m from the pitfall traps (i.e. 12 cardboard rolls per site). ...
... Females collected in our study carried mature eggs at a later stadial stage than found by Baker (1978c), who noted mature eggs at stadium 7. In France, David and Coulis (2015) found females of Ommatoiulus sabulosus L., a close relative of O. moreleti, breeding in autumn, consistent with the peak breeding period observed here. This is contrary to Blower and Miller (1977) who observed female Cylindroiulus nitidus (Verhoeff) to have either laid or be laying eggs in May (Northern hemisphere -spring), which is opposite to the autumn laying period observed in our study. ...
• The Portuguese millipede, Ommatoiulus moreleti (Lucas, 1860), is increasingly a pest of grains crops in Australian agricultural ecosystems. With the rapid uptake of minimum‐tillage practices, habitat quality has been enhanced for several species of soil dwelling invertebrates, in particular O. moreleti.
• To understand the population dynamics of O. moreleti in Australian grains crops, populations were sampled at multiple sites for more than 2 years using pitfall traps and cardboard roll traps. Specimens were dissected to investigate reproductive status and developmental stage.
• Millipede trapping rates varied between sites and across the year, and tended to be lower when soil water content (m³/m³) was high. Both sexes were active year round, however females were relatively more abundant when ground temperatures were higher.
• Males in a copulatory state and females with mature eggs were collected year round although females lacking mature eggs were more common when ground temperatures were higher and the soil was drier, and female egg load was higher under cooler conditions. Females at a stadium 9 or later carried mature eggs and copulatory males tended to be from stadium 8 or later. Different developmental stages could be recovered at all times of the year.
• These findings indicate persistent populations of O. moreleti across fields throughout the year, with a key breeding period in autumn but likely opportunistic breeding all year. Control of millipedes will need to focus on increasing the impact of biological agents, decreasing suitable habitat for millipede breeding and intensive control at susceptible crop periods.
... Based on the number of these body segments it is possible to determine the post-embryonic development stage of the species (Blower 1985). This is considered an important characteristic as there is little to no variation in the development patterns of these taxa (Enghoff et al. 1993), thus allowing aspects of their phenology to be evaluated (David et al. 2003, Youngsteadt 2009, David and Coulis 2015. ...
Studies that address biodiversity and its supporting mechanisms in different ecosystems are fundamental to understanding the relationships between species and the prevailing environmental conditions within each habitat type. This study presents information on the phenology of Promestosoma boggianii (Silvestri, 1898) and its association with seasonal flood and dry events in a floodplain of Mato Grosso's northern Pantanal region, Brazil. Sampling was carried out in three areas located between the Bento Gomes and Cuiabá rivers, on the Porto Cercado Road, Poconé-MT. Each sample area was composed of two treatments: (I) floodable habitats and (NI) non-floodable habitats. Three quadrats (10 x 10 m) were established within each treatment, with sampling carried out using pitfall traps and mini-Winkler extractors during the dry season, rising water , high water and receding water phases for the duration of two hydrological cycles within the Pantanal (2010/2011 and 2011/2012). A total of 295 P. boggianii individuals were sampled at different stages of development (except stages I and II), distributed between the rising water (209 ind., 70.8%), dry (76 ind., 25.8%) and receding water (10 ind., 3.4%) seasons. No specimens were sampled during the high water season. The higher abundances recorded between the dry and rising water seasons, primarily at early stages of development, indicate that P. boggianii is characterized as a univoltine species in these habitats. The data demonstrate that individuals of P. boggianii were more abundant in floodable habitats. In addition, the results show that the life cycle of this diplopod is sinchronized to the seasonal nature of this floodable environment, as a strategy to survive the extreme conditions of terrestrial and aquatic phases Brazil's northern Pantanal region.
... In arthropods, stressors can cause many alterations of all of the organelles and structures in the cells that form the midgut epithelium, and eventually they can severely damage the entire epithelium (Rost-Roszkowska et al. 2008, 2016bWilczek et al. 2014;Fontanetti et al. 2015;Karpeta-Kaczmarek et al. 2016). Therefore, the midgut is treated as a model organ for studies on how the external environment can affect the entire organism with special emphasis on the effects of the stressors that originate from the soil in terrestrial ecosystems (Fontanetti and Godoy 2007;David and Coulis 2015). Changes in the tissues/organs of animals, which are treated as bio-indicators, are at the center of analyses in the environmental sciences (Karpeta-Kaczmarek et al. 2016). ...
... Changes in the tissues/organs of animals, which are treated as bio-indicators, are at the center of analyses in the environmental sciences (Karpeta-Kaczmarek et al. 2016). Millipedes are considered to be bio-indicators in assessments of soil pollution because by living in the soil, they play an important role in the aeration, humification, and enrichment of the soil and they are very sensitive to all changes of the environment (Hopkin et al. 1985;Godoy and Fontanetti 2010;Nogarol and Fontanetti 2010;David and Coulis 2015). ...
The midgut of millipedes is composed of a simple epithelium that rests on a basal lamina, which is surrounded by visceral muscles and hepatic cells. As the material for our studies, we chose Telodeinopus aoutii (Demange, 1971) (Kenyan millipede) (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida), which lives in the rain forests of Central Africa. This commonly reared species is easy to obtain from local breeders and easy to culture in the laboratory. During our studies, we used transmission and scanning electron microscopes and light and fluorescent microscopes. The midgut epithelium of the species examined here shares similarities to the structure of the millipedes analyzed to date. The midgut epithelium is composed of three types of cells-digestive, secretory, and regenerative cells. Evidence of three types of secretion have been observed in the midgut epithelium: merocrine, apocrine, and microapocrine secretion. The regenerative cells of the midgut epithelium in millipedes fulfill the role of midgut stem cells because of their main functions: self-renewal (the ability to divide mitotically and to maintain in an undifferentiated state) and potency (ability to differentiate into digestive cells). We also confirmed that spot desmosomes are common intercellular junctions between the regenerative and digestive cells in millipedes.
... In this study, we focused on the two most abundant shrub species Q. coccifera and C. albidus. The saprophagous macrofauna community is dominated by the julid millipede O. sabulosus aimatopodus, a Mediterranean subspecies of O. sabulosus with no dorsal yellow bands and that has a phenology adapted to the Mediterranean climate (David and Coulis 2015). Its population density and biomass, which vary seasonally and annually, were estimated at 164 ± 37 individuals m -2 and 9.2 ± 2 g (live mass) m -2 , respectively, in the spring of 2010. ...
In many terrestrial ecosystems, large amounts of leaf litter are consumed by macroarthropods. Most of it is deposited as faeces that are easily transferred into deeper soil layers. However, the decomposition of this large pool of organic matter remains poorly studied. We addressed the question of how leaf litter transformation into macroarthropod faeces, and their burial in the soil, affect organic matter decomposition in a Mediterranean dry shrubland. We compared mass loss of intact leaf litter of two dominant shrub species (Quercus coccifera, Cistus albidus) with that of leaf litter-specific faeces from the abundant millipede Ommatoiulus sabulosus. Leaf litter and faeces were exposed in the field for 1 year, either on the soil surface or buried at 5 cm soil depth. Chemical and physical quality of faeces differed strongly from that of leaf litter, but distinctively between the two shrub species. On the soil surface, faeces decomposed faster than intact leaf litter in Quercus, but at similar rates in Cistus. When buried in the soil, faeces and leaf litter decomposed at similar rates in either species, but significantly faster compared to the soil surface, most likely because of higher moisture within the soil enhancing microbial activity. The combined effects of leaf litter transformation into faeces and their subsequent burial in the topsoil led to a 1.5-fold increase in the annual mass loss. These direct and indirect macroarthropod effects on ecosystem-scale decomposition are likely more widespread than currently acknowledged, and may play a particularly important role in drought-influenced ecosystems.
