The millipeds of central Canada (Arthropoda: Diplopoda), with reviews of the Canadian fauna and diplopod faunistic studies

Abstract

The milliped fauna of central Canada, extending from the Rocky Mountains of Alberta to James Bay and eastern Lake Superior, Ontario, comprises nine species, four Palearctic introductions, Cylindroiulus latestriatus (Curtis), Archiboreoiulus pallidus (Brade-Birks), Nopoiulus kochii (Gervais), and Polydesmus inconstans Latzel, and five native species, Aniulus garius (Chamberlin), Oriulus venustus (Wood), Underwoodia iuloides (Harger), Underwoodia tida Chamberlin, and Brunsonia albertana (Chamberlin). Three additional species, Polyxenus lagurus (L.), Aniulus (Hakiulus)diversifrons diversifrons (Wood), and Oxidus gracilis (C.L. Koch), are potential inhabitants. Aniulus garius is newly recorded from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and Archiboreoiulus pallidus is newly reported from British Columbia and Illinois, U.S.A.; Zygotyla phana Chamberlin is formally placed in synonymy under Brunsonia atrolineata (Bollman). The total Canadian fauna consists of 6 orders, 20 families, 43 genera, and 62 species/subspecies, nearly one-third of which (20 species in total) are importations from the Palearctic and Asiatic realms. The total indigenous fauna therefore comprises 6 orders, 15 families, 30 genera, and 42 species, and 10 additional species potentially occur in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Uroblaniulus idahoanus (Chamberlin) is provisionally recognized as the representative of the tribe Uroblaniulini (Julida: Parajulidae) in British Columbia, and specific localities are reported, which also constitute new records for the province and country. Canada is the first large country in the world whose diplopod fauna is essentially completely known; other countries, islands, and island groups in this category are summarized.