Millipedes of Australia

Polydesmida: Introduction

Polydesmida is by far the largest order of millipedes. Australia is not unique in having a highly diverse polydesmidan fauna, but the great majority of our native species remain undescribed. Seven introduced species of Polydesmida have been recorded in Australia.

The following classification of Australian polydesmidans is based on that of Shelley (2003):

Order Polydesmida Pocock, 1887
  Suborder Dalodesmidea Hoffman, 1980
    Family Dalodesmidae Cook, 1896a
    plus several genera not yet assigned to family
  Suborder Strongylosomatidea Brolemann, 1916
    Family Paradoxosomatidae Daday, 1889
  Suborder Polydesmidea Pocock, 1887
    Family Haplodesmidae Cook, 1895
    Family Pyrgodesmidae Silvestri, 1896

No native Pyrgodesmidae have been described from Australia, but a probably introduced semiaquatic species, Aporodesminus wallacei Silvestri, 1904, was found on the Macquarie University campus in Sydney, NSW (Burrows et al. 1994; Adis et al. 1998).