Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 25, 2026

Spirobolellus immigrans

Spirobolellus immigrans is a species of millipede in the family Spirobolellidae. It is found in Australia, although it was first described in California, United States of America from a specimen from staghorn fern imported from Australia.

Last revised
Jun 25, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
319 w
Citations
8
Source
Spirobolellus immigrans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Diplopoda
Order: Spirobolida
Family: Spirobolellidae
Genus: Spirobolellus
Species:
S. immigrans
Binomial name
Spirobolellus immigrans
(Chamberlin, 1920)

Spirobolellus immigrans is a species of millipede in the family Spirobolellidae. It is found in Australia,12 although it was first described in California, United States of America from a specimen from staghorn fern imported from Australia.3

Description

According to its original description (under the name Strophobolus immigrans), Spirobolellus immigrans has an orange dorsal surface split by a narrow median black stripe. The sides of the body are black while the ventral surface is yellowish orange. The collum (first body segment) is black and in its median region has lighter areolations. The antennae are a dull fulvous colour while the legs are yellowish orange. Colouration of immatures is similar to that of adults.3

An adult male specimen of this species was measured as 2 mm wide and nearly 20 mm long. An immature specimen was measured as 8.5 mm long.3

Ecology

Little is known about the ecology of this species, apart from the type specimen being found on an unspecified species of staghorn fern. Spirobolid millipedes in general occur in moist areas, such as leaf litter and the undersides of logs, and feed on soft parts of plants as well as decaying vegetation.4

In captivity

Spirobolellus immigrans (or possibly a similar species of Spirobolellus) is sold in the pet trade under names such as "Maui Skunk Stripe Millipede" and "Hawaiian Glow Millipede".56

References

References

  1. "Species: Spirobolellus immigrans". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  2. "MilliBase - Spirobolellus immigrans (Chamberlin, 1920)". millibase.org. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  3. Chamberlin, Ralph V. (1920-07-24). "Two new spiroboloid diplopods from Australia". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 33: 37–40.
  4. "Spirobolid Millipedes". The Australian Museum. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  5. "Spirobolellus sp. Maui "Skunk Stripe Millipede"". Boogie Down Bugs. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  6. "Hawaiian Glow Millipede (Spirobollelus sp. Maui) - Isopods For Sale UK | PostPods". postpods.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-04-29.