Total Body Rings Increase with Latitude and Decrease with Precipitation in Forest Millipedes Centrobolus Cook, 1897

Abstract

The size of Juliformia has two main components, body diameter and the number of rings. The objectives were to study latitude and precipitation correlations with body rings and sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in Centrobolus. There was a significant correlation between the number of body rings in females and latitude (r=-0.53, Z score=-2.35, n=19, p<0.01) and body ring number in males and latitude (r=-0.41, Z score=-1.74, n=19, p=0.04). There was a significant correlation between the number of body rings in females and precipitation (r=- 0.60, Z score=-2.76, n=19, p<0.01) and body ring number in males and precipitation (r=-0.60, Z score=-2.76, n=19, p<0.01). There was a marginal difference between the number of body rings in males versus females (W=22.5, Z=-1.61, n=19, p=0.05); females had more rings. Anamorphic increase in the number of body rings at higher latitudes (South) is linked to lower precipitation and not temperature.