Enantiulus armatus (Ribaut, 1909)
Status:
- GB IUCN status: Least Concern
- GB rarity status: Nationally Rare
ID Difficulty
Identification
A rare millipede, readily identified by having a projecting telson and a well developed projecting ventral scale (see image to right). This feature is otherwise only seen in the recently discovered Cylindroiulus apenninorum and C. pyrenaicus (which both lack setae (hairs) on the body).
Distribution
This species is most frequently recorded from south Devon but has also been found in Cornwall and north Devon.
Enantiulus armatus has a strict Atlantic distribution and outside of south west England it is known only from south west France (Kime, 1999). The presence of the species in synanthropic habitats may suggest it has been introduced to Britain. However, it is also found within a variety of habitats in France (Kime, 1990a) so there is no reason at this point in time to assume it is anything other than native.
Habitat
It was originally collected in 1958 from leaf litter in deciduous woodland and from a golf course, both near Sidmouth (Blower, 1985). Subsequent records have been from a range of coastal, synanthropic and woodland sites but the latter include plantations of non-native trees (Barber, 1987; Bolton, 1996). Analysis of the recording scheme habitat data suggests no strong association with any of the habitats or environmental factors considered.
Phenology
The species has been recorded in most months of the year but there are confirmed records of adults from February and May only.
This species account is based on Lee (2006).
Links
MilliBase - Global catalogue of Millipedes: https://millibase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1024650
BRC code
65
idBmigTaxa
Mil_175