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Vol. 51 No. 7, 2012
Daily Activities of the Giant Pill-Millipede Zephronia cf. viridescens Attems, 1936 (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida: Zephroniidae) in a Deciduous Forest in Northern Thailand
Nattarin Wongthamwanich1,2, Somsak Panha1,2, Duangkhae Sitthicharoenchai1,2, Art-ong Pradatsundarasar1,2, Tosak Seelanan1,3, Henrik Enghoff4, and Kumthorn Thirakhupt1,2,*
1Biological Science Program, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
2Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
3Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
4Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15,0 Copenhagen DK-210, Denmark
Nattarin
Wongthamwanich, Somsak Panha, Duangkhae Sitthicharoenchai, Art-ong
Pradatsundarasar, Tosak Seelanan, Henrik Enghoff, and Kumthorn
Thirakhupt (2012) For the 1st time in the order Sphaerotheriida, daily activities of the giant pill-millipede Zephronia cf. viridescens
Attems, 1936 (family Zephroniidae) were studied. In 2009 and
2010, an investigation was conducted during the rainy season
(May-Sept.), the period when millipedes are most active, in a deciduous
forest at Wiang Sa District, Nan Province, Thailand. From a total
of 20 observation periods of 1 d each, 16 males and 23 females were
marked with acrylic paint on the anal shield, and each was optically
observed in its natural habitat every 30 min for 24 h. Key
visually discernible activities of each individual, such as feeding,
walking, mating, and resting, were recorded. The majority of
millipedes fed throughout the day under the leaf litter. Walking
activity was significantly higher in males than females throughout the
day. Compared to males, females rested more during the night and
fed more during the day. Average daily distances moved were
significantly higher in males than females. It was concluded that
females tend to accumulate energy throughout the day, probably for
reproduction, while males tend to spend more time walking, probably for
the purpose of finding mates.
Key words: Giant pill-millipede, Daily movement, Behavior, Reproduction, Survival.
*Correspondence: Tel: 662-2185260. E-mail:kumthorn.t@chula.ac.th
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