Natural history of the social millipede Brachycybe lecontii Wood, 1864

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dc.contributor.authorWong, Victoria L.en
dc.contributor.authorHennen, Derek A.en
dc.contributor.authorMacias, Angie M.en
dc.contributor.authorBrewer, Michael S.en
dc.contributor.authorKasson, Matt T.en
dc.contributor.authorMarek, Paul E.en
dc.contributor.departmentEntomologyen
dc.date.accessioned2020-09-02T12:44:29Zen
dc.date.available2020-09-02T12:44:29Zen
dc.date.issued2020-04-03en
dc.description.abstractThe millipede Brachycybe lecontii Wood, 1864 is a fungivorous social millipede known for paternal care of eggs and forming multi-generational aggregations. We investigated the life history, paternal care, chemical defence, feeding and social behaviour of B. lecontii and provided morphological and anatomical descriptions, using light and scanning electron microscopy. Based on observations of B. lecontii from 13 locations throughout its distribution, we report the following natural history aspects. The oviposition period of B. lecontii lasted from mid-April to late June and the incubation period lasted 3-4 weeks. Only males cared for the eggs and subsequent care of juveniles was not observed. In one case, the clutches of two males became combined and they were later cared for by only one of the males. The defensive compound of B. lecontii is stored in large glands occupying a third of the paranotal volume and were observed only in stadia II millipedes and older. We observed B. lecontii feeding on fungi of the order Polyporales and describe a cuticular structure on the tip of the labrum that may relate to fungivory. We found that their stellateshaped aggregations (pinwheels) do not form in the absence of fungus and suggest the aggregation is associated with feeding. We describe and illustrate a previously undescribed comb-like structure on the tibia and tarsi of the six anterior-most leg-pairs and measure the colour and spectral reflectance of the B. lecontii exoskeleton.en
dc.description.notesThis work was supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB #1655635) and by a USDA NIFA Hatch Project (VA-160028). AMM was supported by The Ruby Distinguished Doctoral Fellows Program, Morgantown, WV. Steve McCartney and Chris Winkler at the Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory at the Virginia Tech Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science assisted with SEM. Tsutomu Tanabe, Zoltan Korsos, Bob Mesibov and Sergei Golovatch supplied help with literature. Jackson Means, Pat Shorter, Bill Shear, Matt Berger and Cameron Stauder provided help with fieldwork. Robin Andrews, Carlyle Brewster, Peter Decker and Leif Moritz improved prior versions of the manuscript.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation (DEB)National Science Foundation (NSF) [1655635]; USDA NIFA Hatch Project [VA-160028]; Ruby Distinguished Doctoral Fellows Program, Morgantown, WVen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e50770en
dc.identifier.eissn1314-2828en
dc.identifier.issn1314-2836en
dc.identifier.otherE50770en
dc.identifier.pmid32296285en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/99891en
dc.identifier.volume8en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectsubsocialen
dc.subjectquasi-socialen
dc.subjectfungivoreen
dc.subjectDiplopodaen
dc.subjectColobognathaen
dc.subjectPlatydesmidaen
dc.subjectAndrognathidaeen
dc.titleNatural history of the social millipede Brachycybe lecontii Wood, 1864en
dc.title.serialBiodiversity Data Journalen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen
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