Glomeris marginata

Glomeris marginata is found in Europe from the Pyrenees to the British Isles, southern Scandinavia, and the coastal plain of Poland. This species has been recorded in Spain, France, Belgium the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Denmark, as well as in Sweden south of Lake Vänern and along the east coast of southern Norway. In the British Isles, this millipede is common in England, Ireland, and Wales, but is found in Scotland only as far north as the Midland Valley. This species is most common in western Europe near the Atlantic. This millipede appears to be averse to prolonged cold and is rarely found more than 300 meters above sea level. ==Description==

Females of this species range from 8 mm to 20 mm in length and from 4 mm to 8 mm in width, whereas males tend to be somewhat smaller, ranging from 7 mm to 15 mm in length and from 3.5 mm to 6 mm in width. When fully enrolled, G. marginata forms a "pill" shaped like an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere, with the diameter in the vertical plane slightly larger than the width along the transverse axis. Moreover, when fully rolled into a ball, G. marginata can be distinguished from a fully enrolled pill woodlouse by the shape of the pill that results: pill woodlice roll into more perfect spheres. The cuticle of G. marginata is also darker and shinier than the surface of the pill woodlouse, and the antennae in G. marginata are club-shaped at their distal ends and shorter than those of a pill woodlouse, which features a flagellum at the distal end of each antenna. ==Ecology and habitats==

Glomeris marginata lives in leaf litter as well as in grass and under stones, with a preference for calcareous soils. This species can serve an important role in recycling the nutrients in the leaf litter. These chemicals act as antifeedants and toxins to spiders, insects and vertebrates, and the fluid is sticky enough to entrap the legs of ants. After completely discharging these chemical defenses, these millipedes can take up to four months to replenish their supplies. ==Reproduction and life cycle==

Juveniles of G. marginata develop into mature adults over the course of multiple years. By the sixth stage of anamorphosis, these millipedes reach the adult number of tergites and legs, but they continue to develop through additional (epimorphic) molts. During these epimorphic molts, for example, the last three leg pairs in males differentiate and are modified for use in mating. During mating, the male grasps the female using his telopods, then produces a droplet of sperm from a genital opening behind his second leg pair. The female does not make a nest for these eggs, but like other females in the order Glomerida, females of this species enclose each egg in a capsule of soil passed through the gut. Females of this species survive after laying eggs to breed again in later years. After first reaching maturity, these females can live long enough to produce seven or eight more annual broods. These millipedes can live as long as ten or eleven years, molting once per year as adults and reaching as many as 15 or 16 stages during their life spans. ==References==