Spirostreptus

This genus is one of the most commonly encountered taxonomic disasters for those working with African Spirostreptidae. With 569 children but only 20 accepted species, the rest being nomen dubiums, nomen nudums, temporary names, unaccepted names, or unclear identifications, navigating this genus is a veritable minefield in identifying African Spirostreptidae. In the hobby, a variety of species have been called under the name Spirostreptus (it is in many ways an umbrella genus within the hobby), such as sp. "1" and sp. "8", though these identifications are unclear and should be left to the family level of Spirostreptidae. Despite these difficulties, there are three currently accepted species that has been made available to enthusiasts, the humble S. gregorius from Angola, the small but stunning S. ibanda from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the fantastic S. servatius. S. hamatus, another species commonly listed under the name of Spirostreptus by vendors and older literature, was redescribed in 2017 by Henrik Enghoff under the genus Tropostreptus. However, for the purposes of this site this species shall be included here for the time being.

All species kept in captivity do well with standard millipede care, and unlike other African spirostreptids, S. gregorius, T. hamatus, and S. servatius do not seem to require seasonal variation to breed consistently, the last of which is incredibly prolific. While S. ibanda has been available to enthusiasts for quite some time now (occasionally under the old name Archispirostreptus ibanda) information about its captive requirements is lacking, and there are no reports of it being captive bred to date.

S. gregorius is a green creature with dark green banding and green legs, reaching to about about 11 cm/4.3". T. hamatus has an orange body interspersed with yellowish tan, and bright pink legs, and grows to about the same length as gregorius. S. ibanda is pale green to dull red in coloration with marked black stripes and black legs, and only gets to about 6-7 cm/2.75". S. servatius is a dark steel grey color except for the head and telson, which is a bright, fierce orange, and a muter shade of the head color, respectively (these colors tend to darken while prominent black bands emerge on specimens as they get older). It has dark brown legs, and reaches to approximately 20 cm/7.8" in length, though one recently deceased female specimen (shown below with ruler) was measured at 10.5"/26.7 cm.