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Abstract

Discovery of apparently atavistic males in the parthenogenetic European hothouse millipede Poratia digitata has allowed the problem of its identity to be resolved versus the bisexual trans-Amazonian Muyudesmus obliteratus. Both these species, although similar superficially, are quite distinct taxonomically, but their respective genera appear extremely close if not identical. A parthenogenetic (= thelytokous) population of M. obliteratus has been recorded in a hothouse at Kiel, Germany, thus making both the species and the genus formally new to the fauna of Germany and of Europe. Males were obtained from eggs of obligatorily parthenogenetic females when kept at higher temperatures in the laboratory compared to the hothouse. Based on laboratory observations, the first data on the biology of both species and on cross-breeding experiments in M. obliteratus, between the bisexual populations from Manaus, Tabatinga and Nauta (Amazonia of Brazil and Peru) as well as the parthenogenetic population from Kiel, are provided.