Salpidobolus

Salpidobolus is a relatively large genus with 142 recognized species, spread across Oceania. Despite this, it is a rather underrepresented genus in culture, with only one unidentified species available to European enthusiasts with any regularity (S. sp. "Irian Jaya").

Standard millipede care seems sufficient for Salpidobolus sp. "Irian Jaya", which hails from Western Papua. This species has been bred in captivity (2); indeed it seems to be quite prolific, breeding easily and producing hundreds of young, though babies don't appear to grow particularly quickly.

Little is still known about this genus from an enthusiast's perspective, though investigations are still ongoing by The MED team. S. sp. "Irian Jaya" is a steel-grey, greenish color with grey legs and greyish-black antenna. As the name suggests it hails from Western Papua. It can reputedly reach to 12-18 cm/4.7-7 inches in length. For further information on some of the systematics of this genus, please check Christopher Taylor's excellent break-down here (3).

Salpidobolus sp. "Irian Jaya". Note the large number of specimens and great amount of frass in the last photo; with such a prolific species care must be taken that enough food is available to maintain growth in specimens, otherwise colony crashes can occur (a problem that also commonly happens with many of the prolific Anadenobolus species). Photos courtesy of Michael McNichols (4).

  1. Sierwald, P.; Spelda, J. (2021). MilliBase. Salpidobolus Silvestri, 1897. Accessed at: http://www.millibase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=892519 on 2021-11-13

  2. Simon. (2015). Salpidobolus sp. Irian Yaya offspring. Mar, 24, Post #1, 2, & 5. http://forum.diplopoda.de/forum/index.php?thread/6507-salpidobolus-sp-irian-yaya-nachwuchs/

  3. Taylor, C. Salpidobolus. (2015). Accessed at: http://coo.fieldofscience.com/2015/11/salp on 2022-1-5

  4. McNichols, M. (N.A.). Salpidobolus sp. “Irian Jaya”. Photographs 1-3.

  5. Purkart, A. (2019). Salpidobolus spec. Irian Jaya. Salpidobolus Genus Page Header. Photograph. Permission Granted Solely to TMED.