Spirobolus

With 94 species (supposedly) spread across the globe, Spirobolus is a large, generally colorful genus that nonetheless requires some taxonomic reevaluation, both in the wild and in captivity. Species from this genus can be found from Brazil to Cameroon to China to the Philippines. Spirobolus walkeri and bungii, both from China, remain the most common species circulated in the hobby. A few other species, such as formosae and grahami, have also supposedly entered the hobby, though they are uncommonly circulated and possibly misidentified.

As far as can be gathered, walkeri and bungii do well with standard millipede care, though seemingly they do not tolerate high temperatures (above 65-70°F/18.3-21.1°C); considering both species are found in cooler, mountainous regions this makes sense. Many enthusiasts have struggled to breed them however, suggesting that perhaps some critical component of care still remains to be discovered, such as providing seasonal variation, or perhaps merely consistently cool temperatures.

S. walkeri has a black body overlaid with red or orange striping. S. bungii has yellow or green striping, and both species have black-brown legs. See below for an article on the millipedes of Taiwan, which includes information on five Spirobolus species.

1. Sierwald, P.; Spelda, J. (2021). MilliBase. Spirobolus Brandt, 1833. Accessed at: http://www.millibase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=893908 on 2021-11-13

2. echinops.de.tl. (2021). Spirobolus "bungii". https://echinops.de.tl/Spirobolus--g-bungii-g-.htm

3. Spider_nerd. (N.A.). Spirobolus panmaus. Mt. Shi-tou, Taiwan. Permission Granted to TMED.

4. Billey, A., Hoffman, E., Jeekel, Krsos, Golovatch, Mesibov, Shelley, Sierwald. (N.A.) Taxonomic Study of the Millipede order Spirobolida (Class Diplopoda) of Taiwan. National Sun Yat-Sen University. 1-92.