Epibolus

"Casuarina and Conocarpus are evergreen trees that constantly drop and renew 'needles' and leaves. Thus the dropping foliage was covering the rocky ground at a steady pace. However, the break down of foliage's by micro-organism was prolonged because of the high content of tannin in Casuarinas 'needles.' The process of releasing the confined nutrients to other organisms was slowed down and the establishment of subsequent plant species was delayed thus. A lucky incident solved this problem when the red legged Mombasa trains (Epibolus pulchripes) happily started feeding on dry Casuarina 'needles'. The compost bacteria in millipedes' dropping converted needles into the needed humus. These useful animals were collected from coastal bushes and there was an instant success as the millipedes multiplied fast in the young forest. The leaf litter was slowly reduced and a layer of humus thickened underneath. The millipedes had found a land of milk and honey having the forest floor for them only but this happy state of affairs did not last long. Soon they became part of the food chain too as white tailed mongooses and civet cats started eating millipedes as they came in the forest on their own" (Haller & Baer, 1995). 

This observation gives a novel food source for E. pulchripes, the genus of trees Casuarina, in the family Casuarinaceae. I myself have not had experience with growing Causuarina, but taxonomically similar food sources in Casuarinaceae would be the other genera Allocasuarina, Ceuthostoma, and Gymnostoma. As it pertains to usual millipede food leaf litter, Casuarina is placed in the Order Fagales, which hosts two other, more readily available families of trees that may be good alternatives: 

1. Betulaceae- Alnus, Betula, Carpinus, Ostya. 

2. Fagaceae- Castanea, Castanopsis, Fagus, Quercus. There are other genera in these families but I have only listed the more commonly encountered or known families of trees; as well as not listed known unsafe related food sources like Juglans. 

In the observation by Haller & Baer, E. pulchripes was also observed feeding on Conocarpus, which is a genus of trees/shrubs in the family Combretaceae. Here in the states there is a native Conocarpus, C. erectus, and a common family relative is Languncularia racemosa, both found in the mangroves of the southern US and Americas (TWC Staff (a)(b), 2015). Keepers in central and south Florida may be able to try to utilize these food sources. 

Whether or not E. pulchripes will readily accepted any of above mentioned food sources awaits further collecting of data by keepers following this publication. If you would like to collect data on the mentioned food sources and contribute to the understanding of food sources for this species, please get in contact with a TMED team member and we will give you an appropriate form to fill out. 

In the study ‘Consumption Performance of Five Detritivore Species Feeding on Alnus glutinosa L. Leaf Litter in a Microcosm Experiment’, by Ardestani, Sustr, & Frouz (2019) Epibolus pulchripes was one the species that was studied to see the rates at which Alnus glutinosa, also known commonly as European Black Alder, was consumed by various species. It was found that E. pulchripes readily fed on A. glutinosa over the course of 5 trials, with only a slight decrease in feeding on the first trial, and an overall average 53% assimilation efficiency overall.
Assimilation efficiency in the context of feeding studies refers to the breakdown and process of absorption of minerals, vitamins, and other chemicals by an organism through digestion. 

Some of the important findings of the study were that assimilation efficiency rates were positively correlated with bigger species, with the highest rates being for E. pulchripes. Ardestani et al. (2019) also showed that assimilation rates increased even when consumption rates decreased. Potential reasons for this may be due to infected microbial activity on the leaves leading to higher digestion, and potential special cellulolytic enzymes within the species aiding in digestion. 

This study confirms the previously identified potential food source in the acceptable of a Betulaceae sp., Alnus glutinosa. 

In "Contribution to the study of the post-embryonic development and reproduction of the African millipede Epibolus pulchripes (Gerstacker, 1873) (Diplopoda, Pachybolidae)" by Dhaenens & VandenSpiegel (2006), the authors attempted to culture E. pulchripes on nothing but fresh cucumbers and TetraMin Fish Food. The authors were successful throughout the process of breeding, egg laying, and raising from stadium I, inside the capsule, all the way through stadium XI to maturity. 

The authors raised specimens on wet ‘Terrau Universal’ soil at 18-20°C/64-68°F, which is certainly a much cooler temperature than they have typically been kept at in captivity. Individuals in this study were collected from the coastline of Kenya at Arabuke Sokoke, a mixed Afzelia forest near Malindi, and were between 9-12cm long. 

The authors describe the process of egg-laying in great detail:

"The female can lay eggs several times following one copulation. In captivity, the first egg-laying event was observed two weeks after copulation, followed by a second egg-laying event one week later. For egg-laying, the female makes a small depression in the soil. She then rolls up and starts depositing the eggs one by one. As the eggs come out of the vulvae, she picks them up by her front legs to coat them with a mixture of soil and saliva, making them look exactly like faeces. Each time she produces 10 to 15 eggs, depositing them while defecating."