Portuguese millipede
Ommatoiulus moreleti (spelt moreletii in older publications), commonly known as the Portuguese millipede, is a herbivorous millipede native to the western Iberian Peninsula where it shares its range with other Ommatoiulus species. From here, it has spread by international commerce to a number of new localities. This species was accidentally introduced into Australia without its natural enemies and has since become an invasive pest. A number of methods have been developed to manage this millipede.
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DetritivoreDetritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming detri...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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FossorialA fossorial animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, ...
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starts withO. moreleti is indigenous to the western Iberian Peninsula. It has spread to a number of Atlantic islands (Macaronesia and Bermuda), South Africa and Australia. This distribution appears to be related to 20th century shipping routes. Spread of O. moreleti by international trade may be facilitated by its ability to survive long sea voyages in a quiescent state. This species survives long, dry summers in a quiescent state in its natural habitat. After its initial introduction to South Australia in about 1953 (perhaps originating from ships’ ballast) the species is continuing to spread through southern Australia. It is possible that there has been more than one introduction to Australia. Since being introduced to Port Lincoln, South Australia in 1953, the millipede has spread to other parts of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, southern New South Wales and Western Australia around Perth.
In the southern Iberian Peninsula, a number of species of the genus Ommatoiulus share a similar range but divide their habitat on type of litter. This close species packing suggests habitat partitioning may operate to limit numbers of O. moreleti in relation to other Ommatoiulus species. O. moreleti prefers tree litter, particularly Quercus spp. (densities stage 7 or older O. moreleti of about 5 per m²) and Pinus spp. whereas O. moreleti is replaced by other species in shrub litter or grasslands By contrast, in southern Australia, grassland densities (stage 7 or older) of O. moreleti of over 40 per m².
As an invading species in the southern Australian detritivore community, O. moreleti does not appear to have negatively affected native millipedes sharing a similar range, and seems to have occupied vacant niches.
Gut contents of mature O. moreleti collected in Portugal were predominantly fragments of Quercus and Pinus litter. However, guts also contained significant amounts of fresh mosses and liverworts. O. moreleti can be raised in culture from egg to reproductive stage by feeding solely on fresh mosses.
Reproductive females mature their eggs during late summer-early autumn and may be seen mating during the autumnal activity period after which the female lays 60-80 eggs in a chamber 1–2 cm deep in the soil.The egg hatches to a pupoid stage, then develops by a series of moults up to 16 stages over 3 years. Males can be differentiated by the 8th and 12th stages but most are mature by the 10th or 11th stages. Females probably mature at similar stages. One-year-old immatures (stages 7–9) are light brown with a darker medial stripe. After 2 years the 10-11 stage millipedes have turned black. Adult Portuguese millipedes are smooth, 20–45 millimetres (0.8–1.8 in) long and coloured from grey to black. Millipedes older than 1 year moult only in spring and summer. Adult males are periodomorphic, alternating between a sexual and a non-sexual form. In their sexual form, they have gonopods (mating legs) in the seventh body segment, which they lose when they moult in spring. They remain in the non-sexual "eunuch" form until their late summer moult.
