Key to Australian Freshwater and Terrestrial Invertebrates

Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Myriapoda

Key to the Classes and Orders of Myriapoda

Common name: myriapods

Myriapods, like all arthropods, have a segmented body, segmented limbs and a thick chitinous cuticle called an exoskeleton. �Myriapod� means 10,000 legs, although no species has anywhere near that number. The group includes the centipedes and millipedes, and the animals generally have an elongated segmented body with numerous paired legs, a single pair of antennae and simple eyes. All myriapods are terrestrial, and can be found in environments such as moist forests, grasslands and deserts. There are around 700 species of myriapods described from Australia, and over 10,000 species known worldwide. There are four extant classes within the Myriapoda: Chilopoda (centipedes), Diplopoda (millipedes), Pauropoda (pauropods) and Symphyla (symphylans).

Diplopoda - curling up is a defensive mechanism
Image credit: tpgprice
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Diplopoda - Procyliosomatidae
Image credit: Marshal Hedin
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Chilopoda - Cormocephalus westwoodi
Image credit: Abbey Throssell
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Chilopoda - Geophilida
Image credit: Photographer: Mark Harvey, � Western Australian Museum
used with permission

Chilopoda - Lamyctes emarginatus
Image credit: � Kristi Ellingsen
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Chilopoda - Scutigeromorpha
Image credit: teejaybee
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Pauropoda from England
Image credit: � Andy Murray
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Australian species of Symphyla
Image credit: � Kristi Ellingsen
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Spirobolida - Chersastus anulatus
Image credit: Photographer: Erich S. Volschenk, � Western Australian Museum
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References and further information

ABRS Australian Faunal Directory: Myriapoda
Atlas of Living Australia: Myriapoda
Encyclopedia of Life: Myriapoda
CSIRO Entomology, key to Centipedes of Australia
Tree of Life: Myriapoda
Millipedes of Australia

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia License.