Class Pauropoda
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| Figure 20-3 A, Pauropod. Pauropods are minute, whitish myriapods with three-branched antennae and nine pairs of legs. they live in leaf litter and under stones. They are eyeless but have sense organs that resemble eyes. B, Scutigerella, a symphylan, is a minute whitish myriapod that is sometimes a greenhouse pest. |
Pauropoda (Gr. pauros, small, + pous, podos, foot) are a group of minute (2 mm or less), soft-bodied myriapods, numbering almost 500 species. They have a small head with branched antennae and no eyes, but they have a pair of sense organs that resemble eyes (Figure 20-3A). Their 12 trunk segments usually bear nine pairs of legs (none on the first or the last two segments). They have only one tergal plate covering each two segments.
Tracheae, spiracles, and circulatory system are lacking. Pauropods are probably most closely related to diplopods.
Although widely distributed, pauropods are the least well known myriapods. They live in moist soil, leaf litter, or decaying vegetation and under bark and debris. Representative genera are Pauropus and Allopauropus.
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