The millipede order Julida (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) in Tunisia, with an overview of the North African species

Authors

  • Nesrine Akkari Research Unit of Biodiversity and Biology of Populations, Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis, 9 Avenue Dr. Zouheir Essafi, La Rabta, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia
  • Pavel Stoev National Museum of Natural History, Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. 1, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Henrik Enghoff Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Said Nouira Advances in systematics and biodiversity What is taxonomy? - An overview with myriapodological examples The millipede order Julida (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) in Tunisia, with an overview of the North African species Nesrine Akkari, Pavel Stoev, Henrik Enghoff & Said Nouira Title: The millipede order Julida (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) in Tunisia, with an overview of the North African species Abstract An overview of the millipedes of the order Julida in Tunisia based on both literature data and new material is provided. Fifteen species from two families and five genera are presently known, of which Ommatoiulus aumalensis (Brolemann, 1925) and Brachyiulus pusillus (Leach, 1814) are new. recorded for the country. All old records of Cylindroiulus distinctus (Lucas, 1846) from Tunisia are probably erroneous and refer to either C. algerinus (Brölemann, 1897) or C. attemsi Read, 2005. Notes on the species distribution are given along with geographical maps and comments on their habitat preferences. Ommatoiulus punicus(Brölemann, 1894) is the most euryecious species of all Tunisian julidans. B. pusillus is the sole member of the order occurring in the oases in the south, as its presence there is certainly due to human introduction. An illustrated dichotomous key for identification of the Tunisian species is provided. An annotated checklist of North African Julida comprising 58 species and subspecies from 12 genera and three families, as well as a historical overview of their exploration supplements this study. Ommatoiulus punicus, O. malleatus Akkari & Voigtländer, 2007 and Brachyiulus stuxbergi (Fanzago, 1875) are herewith reported for the first time from Algeria, while Proteroiulus hispanicus Schubart, 1959, which was hitherto known only from Spain, is now reported from Morocco. A concise biogeographic analysis outlines the similarities in the distribution of some species at regional and continental scales. Keywords: millipedes, taxonomy, Julida, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, distribution patterns, habitats PDF Authors Nesrine Akkari Research Unit of Biodiversity and Biology of Populations, Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis, 9 Avenue Dr. Zouheir Essafi, La Rabta, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia; nesrineakkari@gmail.com Pavel Stoev National Museum of Natural History, Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. 1, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria Henrik Enghoff Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; henghoff@snm.ku.dk Said Nouira Research Unit of Biodiversity and Biology of Populations, Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis, 9 Avenue Dr. Zouheir Essafi, La Rabta, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia

Keywords:

millipedes, taxonomy, Julida, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, distribution patterns, habitats

Abstract

An overview of the millipedes of the order Julida in Tunisia based on both literature data and new material is provided. Fifteen species from two families and five genera are presently known, of which Ommatoiulus aumalensis (Brolemann, 1925) and Brachyiulus pusillus (Leach, 1814) are new. recorded for the country. All old records of Cylindroiulus distinctus (Lucas, 1846) from Tunisia are probably erroneous and refer to either C. algerinus (Brölemann, 1897) or C. attemsi Read, 2005. Notes on the species distribution are given along with geographical maps and comments on their habitat preferences. Ommatoiulus punicus(Brölemann, 1894) is the most euryecious species of all Tunisian julidans. B. pusillus is the sole member of the order occurring in the oases in the south, as its presence there is certainly due to human introduction. An illustrated dichotomous key for identification of the Tunisian species is provided. An annotated checklist of North African Julida comprising 58 species and subspecies from 12 genera and three families, as well as a historical overview of their exploration supplements this study. Ommatoiulus punicus, O. malleatus Akkari & Voigtländer, 2007 and Brachyiulus stuxbergi (Fanzago, 1875) are herewith reported for the first time from Algeria, while Proteroiulus hispanicus Schubart, 1959, which was hitherto known only from Spain, is now reported from Morocco. A concise biogeographic analysis outlines the similarities in the distribution of some species at regional and continental scales.

Published

2009-12-01

How to Cite

Akkari, N. ., Stoev, P. ., Enghoff, H. ., & Nouira, S. . (2009). The millipede order Julida (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) in Tunisia, with an overview of the North African species. SOIL ORGANISMS, 81(3), 453. Retrieved from https://soil-organisms.org/index.php/SO/article/view/40

Issue

Vol. 81 No. 3 (2009)

Section

ARTICLES

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