Millipede (Diplopoda) Synthesis Meeting
Torsten DikowA group of seven researchers, including two students, from three countries (Bulgaria, Germany, and the USA) working on millipedes (Diplopoda) met at the Zoologische Staatssammlung in Munich, Germany from March 21–25 to discuss ways to update the classification and species catalogue of the megadiverse arthropod taxon Diplopoda. This meeting was organized by Dr. Petra Sierwald from the Field Museum of Natural History and sponsored by the Biodiversity Synthesis Center and the Species Pages Group of the EOL.
Group photo (from left to right): Peter Decker, Pavel Stoev, Michael Brewer, Jörg Spelda, Petra Sierwald, Jason Bond, Roland, Melzer, Hans Reip, Torsten Dikow. (photo taken by Rüdiger Bieler)
There are about 13,000 species of millipedes known to science today and many more species are certainly still undetected. General information on millipedes can be found at myriapoda.org.
Harpaphe haydeniana (image by W. Leonard) + Chicobolus spinigerus (image by R. Shelly)
The main aim of the meeting was to merge three comprehensive databases of taxonomic names and literature developed by three researchers to provide a consensus classification down to the species level. This updated classification will serve the Diplopoda research community as well as be displayed on the Encyclopedia of Life millipede pages in the future. The Diplopoda classification was updated using the powerful classification editing tool in LifeDesk on a big screen and the millipede LifeDesk will be used in the future by the community to exchange information on this interesting group of arthropods.
LifeDesk classification editor dragging a species from an alternative classification (right) to the master classification (left) (example from Leptogastrinae LifeDesk).
The millipede community has been very active already in databasing information and making it available online, e.g., the extensive millipede literature database with more than 13,000 titles. Quite a few of these publications have been digitized by the Biodiversity Heritage Library to this day (see list at EOL Diplopoda page), but many more will become available soon as the meeting participants submitted a list of the 30 most important works on millipedes to be digitized by the BHL. Another initiative started years ago is the Global Myriapd Information System that provides the current Diplopoda classification to the Catalogue of Life from where the EOL imports it. As this meeting focused on enhancing the current classification changes to the EOL species catalogue will certainly appear in the near future.
Overall, this meeting was a successful synthesis meeting focusing on a megadiverse arthropod taxon.