Abstract
The ingestion of soil by the millipedeJonespeltis splendidus was studied under laboratory conditions. The feeding and excretory rates followed a diurnal rhythm with a peak of feeding and excretory activity during the morning hours of the day. The millipede consumes the soil, assimilates most of its organic matter and defaecates the soil along with nitrogenous excretory products. The castings are rich in ammonia. In its movement in the gastrointestinal duct, the soil becomes humified; the excrements contain more humus than in the ingested soil. The stomodaeal region of the gut has a rich bacterial population while the proctodaeal region has a rich fungal population. When the fungal isolates of the gut are incubated with soil, humification of the soilin vitro occurred. The bacterial isolates of the gut failed to humify the soil. The surface and feeding activity of the millipedes under field conditions showed a peak activity at about 8 a.m. Under laboratory conditions, well-fed individuals survived for 21 days but starved individuals started dying from the 5th day onwards.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cloudsley-Thompson, J. L., Economics of the spotted snake millipedeBlaniulus guttulatus (Bose).Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (Ser. 12)3 1047–1052 (1950).
Blower, J. G., Millipedes and centipedes as soil animals. InSoil Zoology (D. K. McE. Kevan, Ed.), Butterworths Scientific Publications, London pp. 138–151 (1955).
Banerjee, B., Seasonal changes in the distribution of the millipedeCylindroculus punctatus (Leach) in decaying logs and soil.J. Anim. Ecol. 36 171–177 (1967a).
Blower, J. G., The millipedes in cheshire wood.J. Zool. London 160 455–496 (1970).
Blower, J. G., Age structure of millipede population in relation to activity and dispersion.Syst. Ass. Publ. No. 9 (1969).
Striganova, B. R., Age changes in feeding activity of millipedes (Julidae).Zool. Zh. Ukr. 50 1472–1476 (1971).
Krishnan, G., The millipedeThyropygus. C.S.I.R. Zoological Memoirs on Indian Animal Types No. 1. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi (1968).
Barlow, C. A., A factorial analysis of distribution in three species of diplopods.Tijdschr. Entomol. 100 349–35 (1957).
Banerjee, B., Diurnal and seasonal variations in the activity of the millipedesCylindroculus punctatus (Leach),Tachypodoiulus niger (Leach) andPolydesmus angustus Latzel.Oikos 18 141–144 (1967).
El-Kifl, A. H., Ecological studies and biological notes of a green lawn at Giza.Bull. Soc. Entomol. Egypte 51 145–150 (1970).
Byzova, Y. B., Oxygen consumption in millipedes (Diplopoda-Julidae) during enforced starvation.Zool. Zh. Ukr. 51 364–369 (1972).
Satchell, J. E., Lumbricidae. InSoil Biology (A. Burgess and F. Raw, Eds.), Academic Press, London pp. 259–322 (1967).
Graham, E. R., Determination of soil organic matter by means of a photoelectric colorimeter.Soil Sci. 65 181–183 (1948).
Oser, B. L.,Hawk’s Physiological Chemistry, 14th ed., McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, pp. 1218–1239 (1965).
Folin, O. and Svedberg, A., Micro-methods for the determination of non-protein nitrogen, urea, uric acid and sugar in unlaked blood.J. Biol. Chem. 88 85–96 (1930)
Sirockin, G. and Cullimore, S.,Practical Microbiology, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York (1969).
Barnett, H. L.,Illustrated Genera of Imperfect Fungi. Burgess, Minneapolis, Minn. (1962).
Allison, L. E., Organic soil carbon by reduction of chromic acid.Soil Sci. 40 311–320 (1935).
Kononova, M. M.,Soil Organic Matter, 2nd Ed., Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 400–404, (1966).
Campbell, C. A., Paul, E. A., Rennie, D. A. and McCallum, K. J., Applicability of the carbondating method of analysis to soil humus studies.Soil Sci. 104 217–224 (1967).
Kang, K. S. and Felbeck, G. T., Jr., A comparison of the alkaline extract of tissues ofAspergillus niger with humic acids from three soils.Soil Sci. 99 175–181 (1965).
Szegi, J. and Gullyas, F., Data on humus decomposing activity of some streptomycetes and microscopic fungi.Agrokem. Talajtan. 17 109–119 (1968).
Kutzner, H. J., Formation of humic substances by streptomycetes.Landwirtsch Forch. 21 48–61 (1968).
Schnitzer, M., Characterization of humic constituents by spectroscopy. InSoil Biochemistry (A. D. McLaren and J. Skujins, Eds.), Marcel Dekker, New York2 60–95 (1971).
Felbeck, G. T., Jr., Chemical and biological characterization of humic matter. InSoil Biochemistry (A. D. McLaren and J. Skujins, Eds.), Marcel Dekker, New York1 36–59 (1971).
Bocock, K. L., The digestion and assimilation of food byGlomoris. InSoil Organisms (J. Doeksen and J. van der Drift, Eds.), North Holland, Amsterdam pp. 85–91 (1963).
Prosser, C. L. and Brown, F. A.,Comparative Animal Physiology, 2nd ed. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, Penn. pp. 688 (1961).
Franz, H. and Leitenberger, L., Biologische Chemische untersuchungen fiber Humus-bildung durch Bodentiere.Osterr. Zool. Z. 1 498–518 (1948).
Drift, J. van der, Analysis of the animal community in a beech forest floor.Tijdschr. Ent. 94 1–168 (1951).
Drift, J. van der., The role of soil fauna in the decomposition of forest litter.Proc. 15th Inter. Cong. Zool. London, Sec. 4, Paper 3, pp. 357–360 (1958).
Gere, G., The examination of the feeding biology and humificative function of Diplopoda and Isopoda.Acta biol. Hung. 6 257–271 (1956).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bano, K., Bagyaraj, D.J. & Krishnamoorthy, R.V. Feeding activity of the millipede,Jonespeltis splendidus Verhoeff and soil humification. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 83, 1–11 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03045468
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03045468