Overview
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Xystodesmidae is a family of millipedes. Its members often have very small distributional areas, with many species only known from a single locality.1] They are found across the northern hemisphere, with peak diversity in the Appalachian Mountains, where one-third of the 300 or so species occur.[2] They are particularly abundant in deciduous broadleaf forests in the Mediterranean Basin, Africa, Asia, Central and North America, and Russia.[2] Information on basic taxonomy is scant for this family; for example, it is estimated that the genus contains over 200 species, but only 25 have so far been described.[2]
The family is divided into the following tribes:[3]
- Aphelorini Hoffman, 1980
- Chonaphini Verhoeff, 1941
- Harpaphini Hoffman, 1980
- Nannarini Hoffman, 1964
- Orophini Hoffman, 1964
- Pachydesmini Hoffman, 1980
- Rhysodesmini Brolemann, 1916
- Sigmocheirini Causey, 1955
- Xystocheirini Cook, 1904
External links
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Data related to Xystodesmidae at Wikispecies