Zoosphaerium Pocock, 1895

Wesener, Thomas & Wägele, Johann-Wolfgang, 2008, The giant pill-millipedes of Madagascar: revision of the genus Zoosphaerium (Myriapoda, Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida), Zoosystema 30 (1), pp. 5-85 : 9

Genus Zoosphaerium Pocock , 189

Zoosphaerium Pocock , 189: 410. — Chamberlin 1921: 9. — Jeekel 1970: 29, 1974: 4, 1999:. — Enghoff 2003: 18.

Globotherium Brolemann, 1922: 230 . Type species: Sphaerotherium digitale de Saussure & Zehntner, 1897 , tentatively synonymized by Jeekel 1999: 9. — Enghoff 2003: 19, tables 8-19 (all Globotherium species assigned to Zoosphaerium ).

Heligmasoma Chamberlin, 1921: 8 , n. syn. Type species: Heligmasoma errans Chamberlin, 1921 , synonym of Zoosphaerium coquerelianum (de Saussure & Zehntner, 1897) .

TYPE SPECIES. — Sphaerotherium neptunus Butler, 1872 , by subsequent designation by Pocock 189.

DIAGNOSIS. — Head with numerous hairs and hair-pits, particularly around labrum and laterally of eyes. Body length of adults 20-9. mm. Legs without coxal lobe. Stigma-carrying plates 3-21 with single, spine-like process almost reaching up to the stigma opening of more anterior plate. Anterior telopods with fused syncoxite followed by three joints. Harp on first joint of anterior telopods with 1 or 2 stridulation ribs. Both male and female stridulation ribs never as regularly developed as in Sphaeromimus . First antennal joint with sclerotized teeth. Apical antennal joint cylindrical, with disc carrying a variable number (4 to 0) of sensory cones. Bristles of endotergum scaly. Two or 0 (never only 1) black locking carinae inside of anal shield. Cyphopod sclerites consisting of 2 triangular apical sclerites and a much larger third sclerite formed like a tuning-fork, all visible as dark structures near suture between inner and exterior plate.

REMARK

It is unclear if the genus Zoosphaerium in the current sense is monophyletic.