Ommatoiulus moreleti (Lucas, 1860)

(Order Julida, family Julidae)

O. moreleti is a stout, black species to 40 mm long. It is native to the Iberian Peninsula and is known in Australia as the Portugese millipede. In Adelaide it has been a household pest for some 20 years, and west of Melbourne it has stopped trains by swarming over the rail lines. As with many introduced species, the 'boom' in O. moreleti populations in particular areas has been followed several years later by a 'crash' to much lower numbers. For an overview of Australian research on this species, see Bailey (1997).

Mass occurrences of this species are usual in autumn (and sometimes in spring) in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport. In all of these places O. moreleti enters houses, which is not surprising given that Portugese millipede populations in some backyards are of the order of 1000 - 5000 individuals. Nevertheless, it is highly unusual to find O. moreleti more than half a kilometre from a Europeanised habitat, and I have yet to find this species in undisturbed bush in Tasmania. It has been present in the State at least since the mid-1970s. The map below shows only some of its known localities.

(Some) localities for O. moreleti. Scale bar = 100 km.
For an interactive map with more up-to-date localities, go to the mapper page.

More information:
 
Biology - Bailey (1997)
Distribution, conservation and general - Taylor et al. (1997)