Anthogona britannica Gregory, Jones & Mauriès, 1993

Distribution

This species was described as new to science as recently as 1993 from specimens collected at Slapton Ley, Devon. Although first collected in 1983, the specimen had been assumed to be an immature Craspedosoma rawlinsii until the collection of further examples in 1992 (Gregory, Jones & Mauriès, 1993). Bolton (1996) gives details of further sites in the Dartmouth area but the species has not been found outside of south Devon (VC 3). 

The genus Anthogona contains just two species and is restricted to Europe where it shows an Atlantic distribution. The second species, A. variegata Ribaut, 1913, has been found in France and Spain (Enghoff & Kime, 2005). When first discovered, A. britannica was expected to occur on the other side of the English Channel but, so far, all adult specimens of Anthogona from France have proved to be A. variegata (Kime, 2001). As a result this is the only British millipede that could be considered endemic.

Habitat

It has been collected from a variety of habitats including coastal cliffs, grassland, vegetated shingle and woodland. Insufficient data were available for reliable conclusions to be drawn on habitat associations, indeed Gregory, Jones and Mauriès (1993) concluded the millipede had no strong habitat preferences. However, it is worth noting that all of the records are from coastal locations and the majority of records have been from leaf litter samples below deciduous trees or a ground cover of ivy (Bolton, 1996).  

Phenology

 Mature adults have been found between October and February. The animal almost certainly has an annual life cycle.

This species account is based on Lee (2006).