Zoosphaerium, Pocock, 1895

Wesener, Thomas, 2009, Unexplored richness: discovery of 31 new species of Giant Pill-Millipedes endemic to Madagascar, with a special emphasis on microendemism (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida), Zootaxa 2097 (1), pp. 1-134 : 130

Distribution of Zoosphaerium species-groups on Madagascar

Members of the giant pill-millipede genus Zoosphaerium can be found all over Madagascar, from the driest parts on the Southern Mahafaly plateau and the Cap Sainte Marie to the wet, high mountains of Andringitra and Marojejy (Figs 5, 38, 50). Nevertheless, more than half of the 49 currently known Zoosphaerium species are only recorded from humid rainforests or montane rainforests ( Table 2). Only four Zoosphaerium species are known from the dry Southern spiny forest region. Three of those species belong to the Z. libidinosum species-group, with 14 members the second largest group known from Madagascar. No single member of the most species-rich group, the Z. coquerelianum species-group (15 species), has been recorded so far from the spiny forest, but some species live in the subhumid forests of Petriky, Isalo and Vohibasia (Fig. 50). Members of different species-groups can occur sympatrically, and quite often two species of the same species-group were collected in the same place. All three major species groups, the Z. coquerelianum group (15 species), the Z. libidinosum group (14 species) and the Z. platylabum group (6 species) are widely distributed in different ecosystems all over Madagascar (Figs 5, 38, 50).