Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 31, 2026

Zoosphaerium

Zoosphaerium is a genus of giant pill millipedes endemic to Madagascar. Some species within this genus express island gigantism. The largest of the known species of giant pill millipede known is Zoosphaerium neptunus, which is capable of growing to lengths of 90 mm (3.5 in).

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Jul 31, 2026
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Zoosphaerium
A giant pill millipede in the genus Zoosphaerium
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Diplopoda
Order: Sphaerotheriida
Family: Arthrosphaeridae
Genus: Zoosphaerium
Pocock, 1895

Zoosphaerium is a genus of giant pill millipedes endemic to Madagascar. Some species within this genus express island gigantism.1 The largest of the known species of giant pill millipede known is Zoosphaerium neptunus,2 which is capable of growing to lengths of 90 mm (3.5 in).

Distribution and habitat

Zoosphaerium is restricted to the island of Madagascar.3 Madagascar is a hotspot for biodiversity and localized endemism, as a result some species occur sympatrically as microendemics.4 Species within the genus Zoosphaerium can be found living amongst damp leaf litter in forest and jungle habitats.4

Species list

Below is a list of all 74 known species:5

  • Zoosphaerium actaeon (White, 1859)
  • Zoosphaerium album Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium alluaudi (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
  • Zoosphaerium amabile Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium ambatovaky Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
  • Zoosphaerium ambrense Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium analavelona Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium anale (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
  • Zoosphaerium anomalum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
  • Zoosphaerium arborealis Wesener & Sierwald, 2005
  • Zoosphaerium aureum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium bambusoides Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
  • Zoosphaerium bemanevika Sagorny & Wesener, 2017
  • Zoosphaerium bilobum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium blandum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
  • Zoosphaerium broelemanni Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium campanulatum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
  • Zoosphaerium coquerelianum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
  • Zoosphaerium corystoides Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium crassum (Butler, 1878)
  • Zoosphaerium darthvaderi Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
  • Zoosphaerium denticulatum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium discolor Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium elegans (Lenz, 1881)
  • Zoosphaerium endemicum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium fisheri Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium fraternarium Jeekel, 1999
  • Zoosphaerium glabrum (Butler, 1873)
  • Zoosphaerium haackeri Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium heleios Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
  • Zoosphaerium hippocastanum (Gervais, 1847)
  • Zoosphaerium ignotum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium immane (Karsch, 1881)
  • Zoosphaerium isalo Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium lambertoni (Brolemann, 1922)
  • Zoosphaerium lamprinum (Butler, 1878)
  • Zoosphaerium latum (Butler, 1872)
  • Zoosphaerium libidinosum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
  • Zoosphaerium masoala Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
  • Zoosphaerium micropilligerum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium minutus Sagorny & Wesener, 2017
  • Zoosphaerium mitoho Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium muscorum Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
  • Zoosphaerium neptunus (Butler, 1872)
  • Zoosphaerium nigrum Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
  • Zoosphaerium piligerum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
  • Zoosphaerium platylabum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
  • Zoosphaerium priapus (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
  • Zoosphaerium pseudoblandum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium pseudopiligerum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium pseudoplatylabum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium pseudopriapus Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium pulchellum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium pygidiale (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
  • Zoosphaerium reflexum (Brolemann, 1922)
  • Zoosphaerium reticulatum (Butler, 1878)
  • Zoosphaerium sakanum (Attems, 1910)
  • Zoosphaerium silens Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
  • Zoosphaerium smaragdinum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium solitarium Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium spinopiligerum Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
  • Zoosphaerium stigmaticum (Butler, 1873)
  • Zoosphaerium subreflexum Jeekel, 1999
  • Zoosphaerium tainkintana Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium tampolo Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium testaceum (Olivier, 1792)
  • Zoosphaerium tigrioculatum Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
  • Zoosphaerium trichordum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium tsingy Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium villosum Wesener & Sierwald, 2005
  • Zoosphaerium viridissimum Wesener, 2009
  • Zoosphaerium voahangy Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
  • Zoosphaerium voeltzkowianum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1901)
  • Zoosphaerium xerophilum Wesener, 2009
References

References

  1. Acton, Q. Ashton (2012). Issues in Life Sciences: Molecular Biology: (2011 ed.). ScholarlyEditions. p. 2906. ISBN 9781464963483.
  2. Wesener, Thomas; Bespalova, Ioulia; Sierwald, Petra (2010-05-01). "Madagascar's Living Giants: Discovery of Five New Species of Endemic Giant Pill-Millipedes from Madagascar (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida: Arthrosphaeridae: Zoosphaerium)". BioOne. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  3. Bhat, Tariq Ahmad (2021). Mutagenesis, Cytotoxicity and Crop Improvement - Revolutionizing Food Science. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 482. ISBN 9781527564381.
  4. Sagorny, Christina; Wesener, Thomas (2017-05-09). "Two new giant pill-millipede species of the genus Zoosphaerium endemic to the Bemanevika area in northern Madagascar (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida, Arthrosphaeridae)". Europe PubMed Central. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4263.2.4. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  5. "Zoosphaerium Pocock, 1895". millibase.org. 2022-08-31. Retrieved 2022-08-31.