Congregating behavior and response to resource distribution of the Green House Millipede, Oxidus gracilis

Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.2642v1
Subject Areas
Animal Behavior, Ecology
Keywords
Congregation, Millipedes, Behavioral Ecology, Mo'orea, Tropical Rainforest
Copyright
© 2016 Bulpitt
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Bulpitt G. 2016. Congregating behavior and response to resource distribution of the Green House Millipede, Oxidus gracilis. PeerJ Preprints 4:e2642v1

Abstract

Background. Congregating behaviors, though common among many animal species, are little studied among millipedes. It is also unclear to what extent abiotic factors influence the distribution and behavior of millipedes. The species Oxidus gracilis was surveyed around several streams on the island of Mo’orea along with soil moisture, leaf litter cover, and rock cover. Experiments were designed in order to determine how an innate congregating behavior may affect their distributions.

Methods. Fifteen transects were performed in the field, recording O. gracilis abundances and the three environmental factors every 1 m. Forty trials were performed using covered bins filled with soil and five fruits of the Tahitian chestnut tree (Inocarpus fagifer). Ten millipedes were placed in the box and left for an hour, after which the number of individuals per fruit was recorded.

Results. It was found that while none of the three environmental factors were strong indicators of the distribution of O. gracilis , individuals did in fact demonstrate a tendency to congregate in the experimental trials.

Discussion. The lack of significant relationships with the three environmental parameters suggests a generalist behavior of this millipede species, potentially benefitting its invasive nature. The congregating behavior could potentially be for the purposes of mating or defense. Although not studied in this paper, it is possible that conspecific chemical cues are responsible.

Author Comment

This is a preprint submission to PeerJ

Supplemental Information

Experimental Data: Data recorded from Oxidus gracilis congregating experiment.

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.2642v1/supp-1

Field Data: Oxidus gracilis abundances and environmental factors recorded in the forests of Mo'orea

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.2642v1/supp-2