Leptoiulus montivagus (Latzel, 1884)

Kime, Richard Desmond & Enghoff, Henrik, 2017, Atlas of European millipedes 2: Order Julida (Class Diplopoda), European Journal of Taxonomy 346, pp. 1-299 : 107-108

332. Leptoiulus montivagus (Latzel, 1884)

Iulus montivagus Latzel, 1884 .

Iulus braueri Verhoeff, 1895 .

Iulus tosanus Verhoeff, 1916 .

Leptoiulus braueri auct.

Leptoiulus weberi Verhoeff, 1927 .

Leptoiulus tosanus zurstrasseni Verhoeff, 1929 .

Leptoiulus catascaphicus Verhoeff, 1931 .

Leptoiulus triglavensis Strasser, 1940 .

Distribution

AT, CH, CZ, DE, FR-FRA, IT-ITA, SI. Alpine.

Habitat

Alpine meadows, under stones. In Switzerland it is found in pastures and dry grassland from as low as 280 m in the north. In the south it occurs from 920 to 2860 m ( Pedroli-Christen 1993). It reaches 2400 m in Slovenia, where it was found under stones and in cushions of turf ( Strasser 1940). In Bavarian woods it may be found under decaying bark and below moss on blocks of granite ( Schubart 1934). Kobel- Lamparski (1987) found it to be the most abundant millipede in vineyards in Kaiserstuhl, southern Germany, and gave detailed information on its population structure.

Remarks

Among all the species of Leptoiulus with complicated taxonomic histories, L. montivagus probably takes the prize. It seems to be a relict species surviving at high altitudes, formerly widespread during the ice age, and since then the now isolated populations on the summits of mountain chains have diversified to some degree. Regarded as highly endangered in Germany ( Voigtländer et al. 2011).