Ballophilidae Explained

Ballophilidae is a monophyletic group of centipedes belonging to the order Geophilomorpha and superfamily Himantarioidea.^{[1] [2]} Authorities now dismiss this group as a family, citing phylogenetic analysis, and instead refer to this clade as Ballophilinae, a possible subfamily within the family Schendylidae.^[3] Centipedes in this clade differ from others in the family Schendylidae by having bodies tapered toward the anterior tip, short heads, slender forcipules that are well apart, and an undivided lamina for the female gonopods. Centipedes in this clade are found in most tropical regions.

The number of legs in this clade varies within as well as among species and ranges from 37 to 113 pairs of legs.^[4] Two species in this clade can have as few as 37 leg pairs, Ballophilus pallidus^[5] and Leucolinum trinidadense,^[6] and one species, Ityphilus grandis, can have as many as 113 pairs.^[7] Species in this clade tend to have more leg-bearing segments and greater intraspecific variability in this number than generally found in the family Schendylidae.^[8] Some species in this clade are notable for their small sizes, including L. trinadadense (reaching only 9 mm in length), Caritohallex minyrrhopus (10 mm),^[9] B. pallidus (11 mm), and Taeniolinum panamicum (11 mm).^{[10] [11]}

Genera

Genera:

• Afrotaenia Chamberlin, 1951
• Ballophilus Cook, 1896
• Caritohallex Crabill, 1960
• Cerethmus
• Clavophilus
• Diplethmus
• Ityphilus Cook, 1899
• Koinethmus
• Leucolinum
• Taeniolinum
• Tanophilus
• Zygethmus

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ballophilidae . www.gbif.org . 16 June 2021 . en.
2. Bonato . Lucio . Drago . Leandro . Murienne . Jérôme . 2014 . Phylogeny of Geophilomorpha (Chilopoda) inferred from new morphological and molecular evidence . Cladistics. The International Journal of the Willi Hennig Society . 30 . 5 . 485–507 . 10.1111/cla.12060 . 34794246 . 86204188 . free .
3. Web site: Bonato . L. . Chagas Junior . A. . Edgecombe . G.D. . Lewis . J.G.E. . Minelli . A. . Pereira . L.A. . Shelley . R.M. . Stoev . P. . Zapparoli . M. . 2016 . ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda) . 2023-02-28 . chilobase.biologia.unipd.it.
4. Book: Bonato . Lucio . The Myriapoda. Volume 1 . Edgecombe . Gregory D. . Zapparoli . Marzio . Brill . 2011 . 978-90-04-18826-6 . Minelli . Alessandro . Leiden . 363–443 . Chilopoda – Taxonomic overview . 812207443.
5. Attems . C. . 1938 . Die von Dr. C. Dawydoff in französisch Indochina gesammelten Myriopoden . Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris . Nouvelle Série . German . 6 . 2 . 187–353 [323] . Biodiversity Heritage Library.
6. Chamberlin . Ralph V. . 1945 . Two new centipeds from Trinidad . Entomological News . 56 . 171–174 [174] . Biodiversity Heritage Library.
7. Turk . F. A. . 1955 . The chilopods of Peru with descriptions of new species and some zoogeographical notes on the Peruvian chilopod fauna. . Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . en . 125 . 3–4 . 469–504 . 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1955.tb00612.x . 0370-2774.
8. Minelli . Alessandro . Bortoletto . Stefano . 1988-04-01 . Myriapod metamerism and arthropod segmentation . Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . 33 . 4 . 323–343 . 10.1111/j.1095-8312.1988.tb00448.x . 0024-4066.
9. Crabill . Ralph E. . 1960 . Centipedes of the Smithsonian-Bredin Expeditions to the West Indies . Proceedings of the United States National Museum . 111 . 3427 . 167–195 [175] . 10.5479/si.00963801.111-3427.167 . Biodiversity Heritage Library.
10. Chamberlin . Ralph V. (Ralph Vary) . 1940 . On Some Chilopods from Barro Colorado Island . Psyche: A Journal of Entomology . en . 47 . 2–3 . 66–74 [69] . 10.1155/1940/840186 . free . 0033-2615.
11. Bonato . Lucio . Minelli . Alessandro . Drago . Leandro . Pereira . Luis Alberto . 2015-09-25 . The phylogenetic position of Dinogeophilus and a new evolutionary framework for the smallest epimorphic centipedes (Chilopoda: Epimorpha) . Contributions to Zoology . 84 . 3 . 237–253 [249] . 10.1163/18759866-08403004 . 1875-9866. 11577/3146565 . free .