Nefediev P.S.1, Gashkov S.I.2, Golovatch S.I.3, Yatsuk A.A.3, Matyukhin A.V.3, Nefedieva J.S.4 2026. First records of millipedes (Diplopoda) from bird nests inside birdhouses in southwestern Siberia, Russia // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.35. No.2: 155–161 [in English].
1 Altai State University, Institute of Biology and Biotechnology, Lenina Avenue 61, Barnaul 656049 Russia.
2 Tomsk State University, Zoological Museum, Lenina Avenue 36, Tomsk 634050 Russia.
3 Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospekt 33, Moscow 119071 Russia.
4 Tomsk State University, Biological Institute, Lenina Avenue 36, Tomsk 634050 Russia.
* Corresponding author
Pavel Nefediev p.nefediev@mail.ru; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6074-5635
Sergei Gashkov parusmajor@rambler.ru; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9620-5147
Sergei Golovatch sgolovatch@yandex.ru; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7159-5484
Aleksandra Yatsuk sasha_djedi@mail.ru; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0913-7823
Aleksandr Matyukhin amatyukhin53@mail.ru; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4787-7681
Julia Nefedieva j.nefedieva@mail.ru; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2501-3698
doi: 10.15298/arthsel.35.2.02
ABSTRACT. The first records of millipedes discovered in bird nests of hole-nesting birds in the Asian part of Russia are presented. Only four Diplopoda species of eleven that are known to occur in the Tomsk Oblast have been found to populate bird nests during two years of monitoring. The species richness remained unchanged during both years of observation, while the abundance of millipedes and the incidence of occurrence varied significantly. Thus, the abundance increased from 13 specimens in 2021 to 40 in 2022, whereas the incidence of occurrence varied between ca 16% and ca 39% in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The nests were dominated by Polydesmus denticulatus C.L. Koch, 1847, Schizoturanius clavatipes (Stuxberg, 1876) and Brachyiulus jawlowskii Lohmander, 1928, during the most abundant year of observation. The latter species, as well as the julid genus Brachyiulus Berlese, 1884, are new to the millipede fauna of the Tomsk Oblast. All millipede species encountered can only be considered as purely facultative nidicoles.
KEY WORDS: millipedes, facultative nidicoly, birdhouse, bird box, hole-nesting birds, Tomsk Oblast, Siberia.