orthoporus ornatus ( also known as the desert millipede ) is a north american species of millipede in the family spirostreptidae that can be found in the u.s. states of arizona , new mexico and texas , and as far south as the mexican state of san luis potosí .

individuals on average are 4 inches ( 10 cm ) in length , but can either be as small as 3 inches ( 76 mm ) , or exceed up to 6 inches ( 150 mm ) in length .

they are dark brownish coloured , but can sometimes be yellow .

in fact , in every state the species look different .

the antennae are located near the organs of tömösváry .

the species feed on both living and dead organic material .

the species prefer sunshine , but can be seen on summer rainy days as well .

a disturbed orthoporus ornatus may curl into a coil and release a toxic substance that is located on all sides of its body .

the species can live more than 10 years .

the species feed on shrubs of ephedra , which grows in jornada del muerto , and on salsola that grows in albuquerque .

orthoporus ornatus

orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipedes . first captive bred o . ornatus . spirostreptida . spirostreptidae .
feeding - season production in the desert millipede orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( diplopoda ) .
maggie whitson set
image of orthoporus ornatus
as an exemplar on
spirostreptidae
.
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipede . baby . first of hopefully many more to come .
desert millipede , orthoporus ornatus ( spirostreptidae ) detail . tucson , pima co . arizona .
click the button below to add the orthoporus ornatus - giant arizona brown to your wish list .
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipedes . feeding . even these guys are enjoying the new blend !
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipede . adult . these fellas are happy , burrowing and eating well .
it ' s definitely an orthoporus species . whether it ' s actually o . ornatus would require dissection .
desert millipede ( orthoporus ornatus ) desert _ millipede . jpg ( 504×378 ) | espécies da fauna | pinterest
evan white with texas gold - banded millipedes ( orthoporus ornatus ) . ( photo by kathy keatley garvey )
feeding - season production in the desert millipede orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( diplopoda ) . - pubmed - ncbi
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipedes . juveniles . so happy and pleased to say , to my knowledge these are the first 2 captive bred orthoporus ornatus juveniles ! hopefully more to come . 2 more pics being uploded without tags .
bob corrigan added the english common name
desert millipede
to
orthoporus ornatus ( girard , 1853 )
.
birthday present ! 2 more orthoporus ornatus . 3 tonkinbolus dolfusii . 4 narceus gordanus
ocal gold ' s
. thankyou
orthoporus ornatus . texan gold millipede . adult . a stunning millipede to observe ! hopefully the mating season is upon us .
ordered an orthoporus ornatus for one of my friends . currently feeding it a banana slice while it sits on my leg .
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipedes . adult . the largest north american species that is native to alot of the deserts ! there are also brown phase orthoporus but these are a different species . spirostreptida . spirostreptidae .
o . ornatus is a cool species . i kept 8 smaller ( 3
) o . ornatus in a 10gallon tank no prob .
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipedes . coiled . love these guys , ive set them up with rotten wood , cuttle fish , fresh fruit and dry food .
currently measuring at about 4 inches . orthoporus are the largest regularly available millipedes anywhere .
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipede . yet another beautiful us species which is hopefully producing more babies as i leave to be in peace 99 % of the time .
orthoporus ornatus from albuquerque , new mexico increased in dry weight during 92 days in 1974 more rapidly and to a greater extent than comparable size classes at tornillo flat .
click here for the complete photographic archive of all burrows produced by o ornatus .
orthoporus texicolens looooove dogwood apparently . seconds after tossing in some leaf fragments they all swarmed 😂
respiratory metabolism was measured each month for orthoporus ornatus throughout a year . respiratory rates were determined at a standard 20°c and at the mean ambient soil temperature at time of collection .
3 . ) i have heard that o . ornatus stinks . is this true ?
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipedes . adult . i am so happy to see the progress of my breeding project and you will see in the next post ! spirostreptida . spirostreptidae .
taylor , e . c . ( 1982 ) . fungal preference by a desert millipede , orthoporus ornatus ( spirostreptidae ) . pedobiologia , 23 ( 5 ) : 331 - 336 [ details ]
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipedes . juveniles . well after digging through and searching a while i ' ve discovered after half a year another 2 small juveniles of this impossible to breed species .
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipedes . 2 / 3 . these large beautiful millipedes from the american deserts are popular kept pets . their crazy habits and scurrying around will make amusement for ages !
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipede . adult . well weve had fun chewing on my little finger , doesnt hurt but it really send your nerves off on a weird one , a bit like tickling .
production during an assumed 131 - day feeding season in 1974 was estimated for orthoporus ornatus between 4 . 0 and 12 . 0 mm in midsegment width at tornillo flat , big bend national park , texas .
( of julus ornatus girard , 1853 ) causey , n . b . ( 1954 ) . three new species and new records of southern millipeds . tulane studies in zoology , 2 ( 4 ) : 63 - 68 . new orleans page ( s ) : 67 ; note : orthoporus ornatus [ details ]
orthoporus ornatus ( the sonoran desert millipede ) is present in soils of the dry grasslands of the southwestern united states . sonoran desert millipedes are considerably smaller than the giant african millipedes , reaching only 10–13 cm long .
i cannot match the gonopod structure of “caperanus” exactly with any species known to me , but it comes very close to one of the local variants recorded for orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) , the most co . . .
after looking up the difference in orthoporus ( on google image search ) i ' m wondering if mukmewx has both texicolens and and ornatus . can we see a bigger picture of your striped and all brown ones side by side ?
seasonal changes in the use of metabolic reserves by o . ornatus were indicated by corresponding changes in rq values .
crawford , c . s . ( 1972 ) . water relations in a desert millipede orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( spirostreptidae ) . comparative biochemistry and physiology , part a , 42 ( 2 ) : 521 - 535 [ details ]
i ' ve kept orthoporus ornatus for over a year with no losses . i keep them the same as any other millipede , but water a little less and drill extra ventilation holes in their tub . what was your setup like ?
these two make a nice contrast . the most orange porcellionides floria i have and the orthoporus ornarus millipedes side by side .
okay , thanks so much ! that was very helpful . is the sonoran desert millipede the same thing as the brown variety of orthoporus ornatus ? ( i was looking at bugsincyberspace for that one . it has the same scientific name . )
i was gifted 22 beautiful orthoporus texicolens for my research ! each weighing 5 - 6g . time to get sciencey up in here
nunez , f . s . & c . s . crawford ( 1977 ) . anatomy and histology of the alimentary tract of the desert millipede orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( diplopoda : spirostreptidae ) . journal of morphology 151 ( 1 ) : 121–130 .
wooten , r . c . , jr . , and c . s . crawford ( 1975 ) food , ingestion rates and assimilation in the desert millipede orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( diplopoda ) . oecologia 20 : 231 - 236 . ( pdf )
nunez , f . s . ; crawford , clifford s . ( 1976 ) . digestive enzymes of the desert millipede orthoporus ornatus ( diplopoda spirostreptidae ) . comparative biochemistry and physiology , part a , 55 ( 2 ) : 141 - 145 [ details ]
wooten , r . c . ; crawford , c . s . ( 1975 ) . food , ingestion rates , and assimilation in the desert millipede orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( diplopoda ) . oecologia , 20 : 231 - 236 . berlin [ details ]
i cannot match the gonopod structure of “caperanus” exactly with any species known to me , but it comes very close to one of the local variants recorded for orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) , the most common and widespread spirostreptid of southwestern united states and northern mexico .
trace morphology orthoporus ornatus produces five distinct burrow architectures : vertical shafts , subvertical ramps , j - , u - , and y - shaped burrows ; examples of each are shown below . each photo is linked to an information page about the specific burrow architecture shown .
texas gold - banded millipedes ( orthoporus ornatus ) . they ' re new and permanent residents of the museum ' s “petting zoo” and they ' re ready to be observed or held , said lynn kimsey , director of the bohart museum and uc davis professor of entomology .
wooten , jr . , r . c . , c . s . crawford & w . a . riddle ( 1975 ) . behavioural thermoregulation of orthoporus ornatus ( diplopoda : spirostreptidae ) in three desert habitats . zoological journal of the linnean society 57 ( 1 ) : 59–74 .
walker , l . j . ; crawford , clifford s . ( 1980 ) . integumental ultrastructure of the desert millipede , orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( diplopoda : spirostreptidae ) . international journal of insect morphology and embryology , 9 ( 3 ) : 231 - 249 [ details ]
orthoporus ornatus . texas gold millipede . adult . these are one of the larger and extremely beautiful species available in the pet trade ! they are a desert species which live naturally in a large area of the usa ! and they freaking nibble all the time ! ! ! ! !
orthoporus ornatus feeds mostly on dead plant material and on superficia tissue of desert shrubs . sand , small particles of rock , and parts of arthropods are also ingested . millipedes could not be induced to feed in the absence of moist soil in the laboratory after an initial day of feeding .
considering probable net primary production at tornillo flat , local o . ornatus exert a trophic impact similar to that of other large invertebrate detritivores elsewhere .
pugach , s . ; crawford , clifford s . ( 1978 ) . seasonal changes in hemolymph amino acids , proteins , and inorganic ions of a desert millipede orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( diplopoda : spirostreptidae ) . canadian journal of zoology , 56 ( 6 ) : 1460 - 1465 [ details ]
burrowing technique orthoporus ornatus burrows primarily by excavation , physically removing sediment particles and transporting them to the surface . the millipede uses its mandibles and the legs on the first three body segments to pluck sediment grains from the burrow walls . it then uses its walking legs on the posterior segments to transport the individual grains and particles along the length of the body and deposits them on the sediment surface . this technique allows o . ornatus to burrow into very dense , clay - rich soil .
have you been having trouble keeping orthoporus ? i just knew they were impossible to breed , i didn ' t know they had a reputation as difficult to keep . my d . macracanthus doesn ' t really like carrots , i wonder if he ' s just an oddball . after looking up the difference in orthoporus ( on google image search ) i ' m wondering if mukmewx has both texicolens and and ornatus . can we see a bigger picture of your striped and all brown ones side by side ?
horst , d . h . van der ; oudejans , r . c . h . m . ( 1973 ) . cyclopropane fatty acids in the millipede orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) ( myriapoda : diplopoda : spirostreptidae ) . comparative biochemistry and physiology , part b comparative biochemistry , 46 ( 2 ) : 277 - 281 [ details ]
the desert millipede ( orthoporus ornatus ) is a large , docile millipede species found throughout north america . depending on the species , the color of millipedes can range from a dark gray , brown or tan . millipedes have cylindrical , segmented bodies with two pairs of legs per segment . they can grow as long as 6 inches in length .
the 1000 - foot elevation line usually makes a suitable line of separation between o . ornatus ( above ) and o . texicolens ( below ) * 01 * .
upton , s . j . ; crawford , c . s . ; hoffman , r . l . ( 1983 ) . a new species of thelastomatid ( nematoda : thelastomatidae ) from the desert millipede , orthoporus ornatus ( diplopoda : spirostreptidae ) . proceedings of the helminthological society of washington , 50 ( 1 ) : 69 - 82 [ details ]
it is rare to find o . ornatus in either caves or cave entrances , although there are caves within their ranges that are occupied by other millipedes * 01 * .
edit : i ' m not 100 % if mine are orthoporus or texicolens . they were collected in central texas and have the gold / brown bands rather than the solid dark markings .
crawford , c . s . ( 1979 ) . a year in the life of orthoporus ornatus , a desert millipede . in : linn , r . m . [ ed . ] . proceedings of the first conference on scientific research in the national parks , new orleans , louisiana , november 9 - 12 , 1976 . volume 1 . national park service [ details ]
i could be wrong . i ' m not sure on the specifics of how to tell apart ornatus and texicolens , i don ' t want to imply anything bad about greenjewls !
i bet it is fun ! ! i ' ve decided i ' m not getting o . ornatus because of their high maintenance needs . i ' m getting florida ivories instead i think .
i would actually really rather not bother with the bumblebee relocation , i just worry about getting babies from the orthoporus texicolens if there is any problem there ? that ' s my big goal is to get them to breed . i know i shouldn ' t have a problem with the bumblebees . i ' m mostly concerned about the overall well - being of the orthoporus texicolens , since the bumblebees seem to be hardier .
although there is considerable variation in the lateral coxal spine of the gonopod of o . ornatus , it is never in the form of a broad , flattened wedgelike process , as in o . flavior
yeah , the setup might have been to blame , though they didn ' t all die at once , so i ' m not too sure about that . like i said , since they don ' t readily breed in captivity , i ' ll probably pass on orthoporus in the future . its really a shame though , because my orthoporus were some of the most mellow , easy going pedes that i have . however , peter from urltoken ( that ' s where i got my n . americanus ) told me he ' s getting some dendrostreptus in stock soon , so maybe i ' ll replace my orthoporus with them as the ' big pede ' in my collection .
millipedes usually live in dark damp habitats , but archispirostreptus syriacus and orthoporus ornatus prefer dry habitats and live in deserts . most species are under leaf litter , woodpiles , and stones . soil dwellers are usually found in the top inch or two of soil . a few species climb trees . for example , some species of bristly millipedes live in the small cracks in tree bark . although many millipedes are active at night , pill millipedes , such as glomeris marginata , are usually active during the day .
( of julus ornatus girard , 1853 ) loomis , h . f . ( 1966 ) . descriptions and records of mexican diplopoda . annals of the entomological society of america , 59 : 11 - 27 page ( s ) : 25 [ details ]
here is a photo i took this morning , i wad lucky enough to find them this way this morning when i turned their light on . and it ' s totally fine if he gave me some ornatus , since they were more expensive ! lol
( of julus ornatus girard , 1853 ) loomis , h . f . ( 1966 ) . millipeds from the region of monterrey , mexico . journal of the kansas entomological society , 39 : 513 - 524 page ( s ) : 523 [ details ]
have you been having trouble keeping orthoporus ? i just knew they were impossible to breed , i didn ' t know they had a reputation as difficult to keep . my d . macracanthus doesn ' t really like carrots , i wonder if he ' s just an oddball .
figure 20 . bray curtis cluster diagram comparing the 21 burrow casts produced by orthoporus ornatus ( oo ) and archispirostreptus gigas ( ag ) . branch points near the top of the diagram indicate higher levels of similarity . key branch points are marked with their similarity value ( at arrows ) . values > 0 . 80 indicate high similarity , 0 . 79–0 . 60 indicate moderate similarity , and values of 0 . 59 or less indicate dissimilarity . groups of burrow casts found to be most similar are marked with brackets and their level of similarity .
nunez , f . s . ; crawford , clifford s . ( 1977 ) . anatomy and histology of the alimentary tract of the desert millipede ornothoporus ornatus ( diplopoda : spirostreptidae ) . journal of morphology , 151 ( 1 ) : 121 - 130 [ details ]
selling 2 female orthoporus ornatus ( sonoran desert millipede ) with their habitat . they ' re both about 6
. i ' ve had them for about a year , but my new apartment isn ' t too fond of me having millipedes . great pet for a classroom or kids ! and yes , if threatened they do ooze cyanide . . . so please do not eat them . ( old picture of the habitat . it ' s much drier now . they ' re a desert species so i also added lots of dead wood . )
5 . ) i have also heard that o . ornatus is prone to
juicing
a person that handles them . i don ' t really care if they do that , except i ' m worried it will make my fingers all pink like i got burned .
( of julus ornatus girard , 1853 ) loomis , h . f . ( 1963 ) . millipeds from states immediately north abd south of the mexican boundary . journal of the kansas entomological society , 36 : 118 - 126 page ( s ) : 125 [ details ]
( of julus ornatus girard , 1853 ) hoffman , r . l . ( 1999 ) . checklist of the millipedes of north and middle america . virginia museum of natural history , special publication , 8 : 1 - 584 . martinsville page ( s ) : 127 [ details ]
crawford ( 1971 ) found that the dessication resistance of o . ornatus is considerably than in millipedes previously studied . forced coiling reduced transpiration of his specimens at 40 degrees c , but not at 30 degrees c . the metabolic waste products are ammonia and uric acid * 01 * .
unfortunately there ' s been no success breeding them in captivity as far as i know . if you wanna give breeding a try , i suggest something easy to care for and breed in captivity , like c . spinigerus or n . americanus . unfortunately neither of these have the colors or size of an orthoporus .
i noticed something odd about my orthoporus ornatus , they like to eat meat , as well as plant matter ! i saw them chewing on each others legs , so i decided to throw in some live crickets , and the millipedes
attacked !
they grabbed the crickets , coiled around them , and began feasting away . since then i have been feeding them crickets / roaches weekly . i would like to know if anyone else has had the same experience with these millipedes , or if anyone would be willing to try feeding their millies crickets . btw i use prekilled cricketss now , for the safety of the
( of julus ornatus girard , 1853 ) krabbe , e . ( 1982 ) . systematik der spirostreptidae ( diplopoda , spirostreptomorpha ) . abhandlungen und verhandlungen des naturwissenschaftlichen vereins in hamburg ( n . f . ) , 24 : 1 - 476 . hamburg page ( s ) : 350 [ details ]
orthoporus ornatus are millipedes native to the southwestern united states in the states of texas , new mexico , and arizona . they grow to be between 5 - 6 inches , but the ones shown in the video are about 4 1 / 2 inches long . they are not venomous , but can secrete a toxin through their skin when they feel threatened . they are deterivores , feeding primarily on decomposing plant matter . music :
industrial revolution
kevin macleod ( incompetech . com ) licensed under creative commons : by attribution 3 . 0 urltoken . . . the bugguide page for this species can be found here : urltoken
i noticed something odd about my orthoporus ornatus , they like to eat meat , as well as plant matter ! i saw them chewing on each others legs , so i decided to throw in some live crickets , and the millipedes
attacked !
they grabbed the crickets , coiled around them , and began feasting away . since then i have been feeding them crickets / roaches weekly . i would like to know if anyone else has had the same experience with these millipedes , or if anyone would be willing to try feeding their millies crickets . btw i use prekilled cricketss now , for the safety of the rnatus .
production during an assumed 131 - day feeding season in 1974 was estimated for orthoporus ornatus between 4 . 0 and 12 . 0 mm in midsegment width at tornillo flat , big bend national park , texas . a conservative density estimate in 1973 of 1 , 302 millipedes ha - 1 involved daily specimen removal from three , 929 - m 2 plots for a month . each plot typified a different aspect of local desert vegetation ; most specimens came from the plot with greatest plant diversity and relatively high ( 20 % ) cover . production calculations using 1973 density estimates were based on increase in size - class specific dry weight ( minus gut contents ) between 14 may and 21 september , 1974 . production ha - 1 of cuticle and tissue was estimated at 0 . 85 kg ( 1972 kcal ) , while that of tissue alone came to 0 . 29 kg ( 1971 kcal ) . orthoporus ornatus from albuquerque , new mexico increased in dry weight during 92 days in 1974 more rapidly and to a greater extent than comparable size classes at tornillo flat . an estimated feeding - season energy budget based on ash - free values of shrub food eaten at tornillo flat indicated ingestion ha - 1 of 3 , 434 g ( 13 , 712 kcal ) and defecation of 3 , 181 g ( 9 , 187 kcal ) . an independent estimate of ingestion based on known ingestion rates was 8 , 851 g ha - 1 . considering probable net primary production at tornillo flat , local o . ornatus exert a trophic impact similar to that of other large invertebrate detritivores elsewhere .
( of spirobolus ornatus ( girard , 1853 ) ) krabbe , e . ( 1982 ) . systematik der spirostreptidae ( diplopoda , spirostreptomorpha ) . abhandlungen und verhandlungen des naturwissenschaftlichen vereins in hamburg ( n . f . ) , 24 : 1 - 476 . hamburg page ( s ) : 350 [ details ]
wooten , r . c . jr . ; crawford , c . s . ; riddle , w . a . ( 1975 ) . behavioural thermoregulation of orthopoms ornatus ( diplopoda : spirostreptidae ) in three desert habitats . zoological journal of the linnean society , 57 ( 1 ) : 59 - 74 [ details ]
( of orthoporus caperanus ( attems , 1950 ) ) hoffman , r . l . ( 1997 ) . deletion of two enigmatic milliped species from the hawaiian fauna ( diplopoda : spirostreptida ) . bishop museum occasional papers , 49 : 49 - 50 page ( s ) : 389 - 390 ; note : o . caperanus . [ details ]
type locality : restricted ( causey , 1954 ) to palo duro canyon state park , randall county , texas . neotype ( causey , 1967 ) male , national museum of natural history * 01 * . variations in somatic and sexual characters have made the taxonomy of orthoporus difficult , and many names have been placed in synonymy * 01 * .
thousand
and ped for
foot .
scroll down to read more about me , complete an activity , and test your knowledge in a quiz . go on get going and have fun ! who am i ? i am long and have more legs than you can count . i am usually brown or black . do you know who i am ? yes , i am a desert millipede . i can grow to be about 4 to 5 inches and i can be found in the sonoran desert . i am part of the orthoporus ornatus family which is , commonly known as the arizona desert millipede . some of my predators are birds , badgers , and rodents .
appendix 9 . bray curtis similarity matrix comparing burrows produced by narceus americanus ( na ) to burrows produced by orthoporus ornatus ( oo ) . cells outlined in thick black lines in the matrix indicate comparison of burrows with the same architecture . oo1 , oo7 , and oo10 are subvertical burrows . oo2 , oo4 , oo6 , oo8 , and oo9 are vertical burrows . oo5 is a sinuous burrow . oo3 is a u - shaped burrow . oo11–13 are j - shaped burrows . colors inside the matrix indicate the level of similarity : blue cells indicate highly similar burrows ; orange cells indicate moderately similar burrows ; red cells indicate dissimilar burrows . appendixes 5 - 13 are presented in pdf format .
today i will teach you about a desert crawler ! have you ever heard of the term orthoporus ornatus ? no ? well let me tell you a little about myself i am commonly known as the desert millipede . i am about four to five inches long and i can be found in arizona lying under a rock in the sonoran desert ! i enjoy eating decaying material and staying moist . i have two pairs of legs on each segment of my body and depending how many segments i have can mean i have hundreds of legs . male millipedes enjoy the benefits of a few pairs of gonopods , which is how you can identify females and males . the name millipede comes from the latin milli for
( of julus ornatus girard , 1853 ) girard , c . ( 1869 ) . myriapods . in : marcy , randolph barnes : exploration of the red river of louisiana , in the year 1852 , by randolph b . marcy , assisted by george b . mcclellan . 243 - 246 . page ( s ) : 274 [ details ]
7 . ) since o . ornatus apparently can ' t be bred in captivity , that means any i buy will be wild - caught . does anyone know if they are taken in such numbers as to possibly affect the ecosystem they live in ? i know they ' re
just a bug
but it still concerns me that way .
appendix 10 . bray curtis similarity matrix comparing burrows produced by floridobolus penneri ( fp ) to burrows produced by orthoporus ornatus ( oo ) . cells outlined in thick black lines in the matrix indicate comparison of burrows with the same architecture . oo1 , oo7 , and oo10 are subvertical burrows . oo2 , oo4 , oo6 , oo8 , and oo9 are vertical burrows . oo5 is a sinuous burrow . oo3 is a u - shaped burrow . oo11–13 are j - shaped burrows . colors inside the matrix indicate the level of similarity : green cells indicate identical burrows ; blue cells indicate highly similar burrows ; orange cells indicate moderately similar burrows ; red cells indicate dissimilar burrows . appendixes 5 - 13 are presented in pdf format .
the surface of the prozonites and metazonites of o . ornatus and o . flavior is finely pitted and obscurely wrinkled . males of each species have postfemoral and tibial pads on the legs , and the coxae of legpair 1 are of a somewhat uniform shape . two tibial spurs , the proximal acute and the distal blunt , are on the gonopods of each species
appendix 13 . bray curtis similarity matrix comparing burrows produced by orthoporus ornatus ( oo ) to burrows produced by archispirostreptus gigas ( ag ) . cells outlined in thick black lines in the matrix indicate comparison of burrows of the same architecture . oo1 , oo7 , and oo10 are subvertical burrows . oo2 , oo4 , oo6 , oo8 , and oo9 are vertical burrows . oo5 is a sinuous burrow . oo3 is a u - shaped burrow . oo11–13 are j - shaped burrows . ag2 and ag8 are sinuous burrows . ag1 , ag3 , ag4 , and ag6 are helical burrows . ag7 and ag5 are u - shaped burrows . colors inside the matrix indicate the level of similarity : blue cells indicate highly similar burrows ; orange cells indicate moderately similar burrows ; red cells indicate dissimilar burrows . appendixes 5 - 13 are presented in pdf format .
appendix 5 . bray curtis similarity matrix comparing all burrow casts produced in this study . from top - down and left - right ; 29 narceus americanus burrows ( na ) , 42 floridobolus penneri burrows ( fp ) , 13 orthoporus ornatus burrows ( oo prefix ) , and 8 archispirostreptus gigas burrows ( ag ) . color bars along the sides and top indicate primary burrow architectures : black = subvertical burrow , gray = vertical burrow , tan = j - shaped burrow , brown = helical burrow , magenta = o - shaped burrow , dark green = sinuous burrow , yellow = u - shaped burrow . colors inside the matrix indicate the level of similarity : green cells indicate identical burrows ; blue cells indicate highly similar burrows ; orange cells indicate moderately similar burrows ; red cells indicate dissimilar burrows . appendixes 5 - 13 are presented in pdf format .
burrowing behavior orthoporus ornatus begins to burrow within 1 - 3 hours of placement in experimental enclosures . prior to burrowing , the millipede move around the perimeter of the terrarium . specimens are able to burrow completely below the surface within 15 - 45 minutes . while there is no consistent placement of the burrows within the enclosure , more than 80 % are constructed away from the terrarium walls . burrows are produced during detritus feeding as well as for temporary shelters to permanent dwellings . when occupied for long durations ( days to months ) , chambers were constructed at the end of the burrow . many of the chambers were sealed off from the surface by backfilling the shaft or tunnel just above the chamber entrance . fecal pellets are deposited both on the surface and within shallow , subhorizontal burrows occupied for short periods . fecal pellets are not deposited in burrows with chambers .
figure 18 . bray curtis cluster diagram comparing the 71 burrow casts produced by narceus americanus ( na ) and floridobolus penneri ( fp ) with 13 burrow casts produced by orthoporus ornatus ( oo ; shaded gray ) from hembree ( 2009 ) . burrow cast id numbers are color coded by architecture : red = subvertical burrow ; blue = vertical burrow ; orange = helical burrow ; purple = o - shaped burrow ; green = j - shaped burrow . branch points near the top of the diagram indicate higher levels of similarity . key branch points are marked with their similarity value ( at arrows ) . values > 0 . 80 indicate high similarity , 0 . 79–0 . 60 indicate moderate similarity , and values of 0 . 59 or less indicate dissimilarity . groups of burrow casts found to be most similar are marked with brackets and their level of similarity .
millipedes lay their eggs in the soil . some species make individual cases for their eggs out of chewed - up leaves . in some species , the female , and occasionally the male , guards the eggs until they hatch . although young millipedes resemble small adults , they are usually legless when they first hatch from the egg . after they molt , or shed their exoskeleton for the first time , they have six body segments and three pairs of legs . they add additional body segments and pairs of legs with each molt until they reach the maximum adult number . millipedes molt in sheltered places underground or in cracks in the soil . narceus americanus and orthoporus ornatus seal themselves off in special chambers dug for this very delicate stage of their lives . millipedes reach adulthood in one or two years , sometimes longer . adults live for one to eleven years , although some individuals may live longer .
hey everyone ! i am pretty new to keeping millipedes . . . a couple months ago was the first i really fell in love with millipedes because i found two yellow - spotted millipedes ( harpaphe haydenia i think is how the scientific name is spelled . . . lol ) anyway . those aren ' t the problem . i found out how to keep those from the internet and they ' re doing just fine . but in researching them i found out about all these other beautiful species for sale online . and that led me to wanting more . so i would like you experienced millipede hobbyists ' advice . is orthoporus ornatus texas gold phase a good
beginner
millipede ? i do want a large specimen , and since a . gigas are quite a bit out of my reach . . . i decided the next best thing would be to get the largest american species . especially since it ' s beautiful as well .
grabende detritivoren wie tausendfüßer spielen eine wichtige rolle bei der bodenbildung . um das erkennen von tausendfüßer - grabgängen zu verbessern und somit die präsenz von millipeden makrodetritivoren im fossilbericht zu erhöhen , beschreibt diese arbeit das grabverhalten und die daraus resultierenden grabgang - morphologien von zwei arten spirobolider tausendfüßer : narceus americanus und floridobolus penneri . sieben bis 94 tage lang wurden tausendfüßer in terrarien mit kontrollierten feuchtigkeitsgehalten gesetzt , die mit sediment verschiedenster zusammensetzung gefüllt waren . offene gänge wurden mit gips abgeformt , ausgegraben und sowohl qualitativ als auch quantitativ beschrieben . sowohl n . americanus als auch f . penneri fertigten vertikale , subvertikale , helicale und o - förmige grabgänge an . floridobolus penneri erzeugte zudem j - förmige grabgänge . die grabgang - morphologien beider arten wurden unbeeinträchtigt von sedimenteigenschaften als ähnlich befunden , indem die bray curtis ähnlichkeit beziehungsweise der spearman ' s rank korrelationstest angewendet wurde . grabgänge von zwei anderen tausendfüßerarten der ordnung spirostreptida , orthoporus ornatus und archispirostreptus gigas , die während einer vorangegangenen studie erzeugt worden waren , wurden ebenfalls mit den spiroboliden grabgängen verglichen . während grabgänge von o . ornatus ähnlich waren , waren die gänge von a . gigas , der größten der vier arten , am wenigsten ähnlich selbst nach entfernung von größenabhängigen grabgang - eigenschaften aus der analyse . unterschiede und ähnlichkeiten in der grabgang - morphologie waren stattdessen der verhaltensfunktion des grabgangs , refugiums oder ernährung zuzuschreiben . trotz einiger unterschiede hatten alle schächte und tunnel der tausendfüßer - grabgänge ein mittleres verhältnis von weite zu breite von 1 . 0–1 . 14 . diese ergebnisse zeigen , dass juliforme tausendfüßer grabgänge mit einzigartiger morphologie produzieren , welche dazu genutzt werden können ihre grabgänge von denen anderer bodenorganismen zu unterscheiden .
hello everyone ! so , i ' m a relative newbie to the whole bug keeping thing ( just passed my 1 year anniversary this august ) and , for now , most of my interest is in keeping millipedes . i ' ve acquired several species at this point , managed to keep most of them alive and successful bred two of them . but , sadly one of my favorite species has neither done that well for me or bred , namely orthoporus ornatus
texas gold
. i stared with 2 of them ( my first bugs , actually ! ) and then picked up a 3rd in hopes of getting a male for breeding , which i did . however , the two original ones have since passed on to the great compost pile in the sky and the poor male has been left all alone . i ' m here now because i ' m at a turning point . i want to make a decision about whether to try to keep any more orhtoporus or not . i ' ve read a lot of conflicted things online about them : some people say their easy to care for , some people say their hard to care for , some people say they live a long time , some people say they tend to die off quickly , etc , etc . so , given that i know there are number of experienced ' peders on here , i thought this would be the best place to come for answers . anything you can tell me about your experiences with orthoporus care and breeding would be greatly appreciated . i think the golds are some of the biggest , prettiest , most easy going millipedes around ( at least mine were ) and i hate to have to write them off as a species to keep in my collection . thanks !
burrowing animals like millipedes that consume decaying vegetation play an important role in soil formation but are seldom preserved as body fossils . their burrows , however , are capable of being preserved as trace fossils but are poorly understood . to improve the recognition of millipede burrows and , therefore , the presence of millipedes in the fossil record , this study describes the burrowing behavior and resulting burrows of two species of spirobolid millipedes : narceus americanus and floridobolus penneri . forty millipedes were placed in terraria filled with sediment composed of different amounts of organic matter , soil , and sand and different moisture levels for 7–94 days . at the end of the experiments , any open burrows were cast with plaster and described . both n . americanus and f . penneri produced vertical , subvertical , helical , and o - shaped burrows . floridobolus penneri also produced j - shaped burrows . the burrow casts were compared to each other and to the environmental conditions using nonparametric statistics . burrows of two spirostreptid millipede species , orthoporus ornatus and archispirostreptus gigas , were also included in the comparisons . burrows of n . americanus , f . penneri , and o . ornatus were found to be similar , and their morphology was unaffected by sediment properties . burrows produced by a . gigas , the largest species , were the least similar to other species even after removing the size - dependent burrow properties such as tunnel height and width from the analysis . differences and similarities in burrow morphology were instead attributed to the behavioral function of the burrow , such as dwelling vs . feeding . despite their differences , all millipede burrows had a mean width - to - height ratio of 1 . 0–1 . 14 . these results show that millipedes produce burrows with unique morphologies that may be used to differentiate their burrows from those of other soil animals . the presence of millipedes in ancient soils may , therefore , be interpreted based on trace fossils .
o . ornatus may not be the best species for someone just getting into the hobby . they require high humidity , but twice the ventilation as other millipedes . these conditions may be hard to maintain over the long run . also , wild caught adults usually only live one to three years in captivity . for a starter millipede , i would recommend either chicobolus spinigerus ( florida ivory millipede ) or one of the narceus species . both are quite hardy and can reach lengths of over 4 inches . the albino narceus americanus is quite colorful and narceus gordanus is considered the largest north american millipede , although not the longest .
los detritívoros que producen madrigueras , tales como milípedos o milpiés , juegan un papel importante en la formación del suelo . con el fin de avanzar en el reconocimiento de las madrigueras de los milípedos y , por lo tanto , de la presencia de milípedos macrodetritívoros en el registro fósil , el presente estudio describe el comportamiento de realización de madrigueras y las morfologías resultantes de las madrigueras de dos especies de milpiés espirobólidos : narceus americanus y floridobolus penneri . los milípedos se colocaron en terrarios llenos de sedimentos de composiciones variadas y niveles de humedad controlados durante 7 - 94 días . se abrieron las madrigueras y se rellenaron con yeso , luego se excavaron , para posteriormente describirlas tanto cualitativa como cuantitativamente . tanto n . americanus como f . penneri produjeron madrigueras helicoidales , verticales , subverticales y en forma de o . floridobolus penneri también produjo madrigueras en forma de j . se observó que las morfologías de las madrigueras de ambas especies eran similares y no estaban afectadas por las propiedades de los sedimentos de acuerdo con los tests de similitud de bray curtis y rangos de correlación de spearman , respectivamente . las madrigueras de otras dos especies de milípedos del orden spirostreptida , orthoporus ornatus y archispirostreptus gigas , producidas en un estudio anterior , también se compararon con las madrigueras de espirobólidos . mientras que las madrigueras de o . ornatus fueron similares , las madrigueras producidas por a . gigas , la mayor de las cuatro especies , fueron las menos similares , incluso después de que se eliminasen del análisis las propiedades de la madriguera dependientes del tamaño . las diferencias y las similitudes en la morfología de las madrigueras fueron en cambio atribuidas a la función del comportamiento de formar una madriguera , es decir , si la función era la de refugio o la de alimentación . a pesar de algunas diferencias , todos los ejes y galerías de las madrigueras de los milípedos tenían una proporción media entre anchura y altura de 1 , 0 a 1 , 14 . estos resultados muestran que los milípedos juliformes producen madrigueras con morfologías únicas que pueden utilizarse para diferenciar sus madrigueras particulares de las producidas por otros organismos del suelo .
les détritivores fouisseurs tels que les mille - pattes jouent un rôle important dans la formation des sols . afin d ' améliorer la reconnaissance des terriers de mille - pattes et , par conséquent , la présence de mille - pattes macrodétritivores dans le registre fossile , cette étude décrit le comportement fouisseur et les morphologies résultantes des terriers de deux espèces de mille - pattes spirobolide : narceus americanus et floridobolus penneri . des mille - pattes ont été placés dans des terrariums remplis de sédiments de compositions variées et des teneurs en humidité contrôlées pendant 7 à 94 jours . les terriers ouverts ont été coulés avec du plâtre , déterrés , et décrits à la fois qualitativement et quantitativement . n . americanus et f . penneri ont tous deux produits des terriers verticaux , subverticaux , hélicoïdales , et en forme de ' o ' . floridobolus penneri a également produit des terriers en forme de ' j ' . les morphologies des terriers des deux espèces ont été jugés similaires et non affecté par les propriétés des sédiments à l ' aide de la similarité de bray curtis et des tests de corrélation de rang de spearman , respectivement . les terriers de deux autres espèces de mille - pattes de l ' ordre spirostreptida , orthoporus ornatus , et archispirostreptus gigas , produit dans une étude précédente ont été également comparés aux terriers spirobolides . alors que les terriers d ' o . ornatus étaient similaires , les terriers produits par a . gigas , le plus grand des quatre espèces , étaient les moins similaire , même après avoir retiré de l ' analyse les propriétés des terriers dépendant de la taille . les différences et similitudes dans la morphologie des terriers ont été à la place attribuée à la fonction du comportement du terrier , du refuge , ou de l ' alimentation . malgré quelques différences , tous les tubes et tunnels de terrier de mille - pattes avaient une moyenne de rapport largeur à hauteur entre 1 , 0 à 1 , 14 . ces résultats montrent que les mille - pattes juliformes produisent des terriers avec des morphologies uniques qui peuvent être utilisées pour différencier leurs terriers à ceux produits par d ' autres organismes du sol .
all p . monodon used in this study were seen to have bacteria attaching to the surface of the hindgut or to the posterior part of the midgut wall where it connects with the start of the hindgut . these findings support those of harris [ 12 ] who reported that the presence of bacteria in the hindguts of crustacea are widespread , occurring throughout taxa belonging to marine thalassinidae and brachyura ( 9 genera , 16 species ) . there was , however , a high degree of variability between specimens in both the types and the total numbers of bacteria in the hindguts , indicating that this bacterial population may be regulated by its host . it has been suggested that molting may have a direct influence on the bacterial communities within the hindgut [ 64 , 65 ] . for each molting cycle of the exoskeleton , the chitinous hindgut lining is displaced and replaced with a new lining [ 66 ] . while there is no report in the literature on the effect of molting on the hindgut microbiota of shrimp , the newly molted hindgut surface was shown to be devoid of microbes in a study on desert millipedes orthoporus ornatus ( girard ) [ 67 ] . it is not currently known how microbes recolonize in the hindgut after molting . from our observations in penaeid shrimp , however , it can be hypothesized that the bacteria attached to the posterior part of the midgut , i . e . immediately adjacent to the hindgut , can function as a bacterial inoculum . the presence of bacteria in the posterior midgut in our study supports this hypothesis .
i kept them in a large kk with my usual substrate mix of 50 % cocofiber , 25 % rotten wood , 25 % dead leaves , and an extra layer of dead leaves on top . the substrate reached nearly the top of the kk . i mist once or twice a week as the top layer of sub dries out . i felt like they needed more space so a few days ago i moved them into a big plastic sweater box with way more airholes than i usually add ( millipedes in captivity says these guys need a lot more ventilation than most pedes ) . they started mating before i even finished the rehousing . i ' ve found them mating several times over the past year , but never got any offspring . i give them a piece of dog kibble or some fruit of vegetables every couple weeks . i ' ve noticed this species loves carrots , which my other pedes aren ' t real fond of . i hope this is helpful for everyone ! edit : i ' m not 100 % if mine are orthoporus or texicolens . they were collected in central texas and have the gold / brown bands rather than the solid dark markings .
desert millipedes are docile , fairly large millipedes from north america . there are many different colors of desert millipedes . depending on the locality of the specimen , a desert millipede could be a dark brown to a bright orange , or a glossy tan to yellow and black stripes ! the specimen to the left was collected in new mexico , usa . it is not a particularly colorful specimen , but she is a large one . desert millipedes come out during the summer , after heavy rains , and can be collected by the hundreds on a night like that in some areas ! there are many orthoporus species that are known as the desert millipede . don ' t worry , most of them have a similar shape , and require the same conditions in captivity , so it is safe to put them all in one caresheet . desert millipedes seem easy to keep alive in captivity . humidity is not as important with these millipedes as it is with some of the tropical species . desert millipedes are interesting in any millipede collection , simply because they are large , they come in many different colors , and they are of the few giant millipedes that come from the desert instead of the tropics .
observations on feeding and locomotion of the desert millipede orthopoms ornatus were made in three separate habitats during the summer feeding season . the habitats were tornillo flat in big bend national park , texas ; the jornada validation site of ibp / desert biome near las cruces , new mexico ; and the base of a volcanic escarpment near albuquerque , new mexico . in each habitat diurnal or diel temperatures were monitored in a typical millipede microsite . microsites included portions of a larrea / opuntia shrub complex ( tornillo flat ) , an ephedra shrub ( jornada site ) , and a salsola shrub ( albuquerque ) . adjacent mammal - burrow temperatures were also monitored , as were soil - surface temperatures ( two habitats ) and air temperatures ( one habitat ) . diurnal feeding and locomotion were greatest in early morning and late afternoon ; nocturnal activity also occurred . soil - surface activity generally ceased before surface temperatures reached 35 o c and began again when they cooled to about the same level . in the meantime , movement to burrows , to beneath rocks and vegetation , and to aerial portions of shrubs occurred . additional behavioural thermoregulation was manifested by horizontal and vertical movements within shrubs , maximum air temperatures encountered being 35 . 5 o c . such behaviour is considered in light of recent studies of water balance and metabolism in this species .
the experiment has begun . it was a bit earlier than i intended for a number of reasons , but all three millipedes have been burrowed under the substrate for several weeks now . i check the moisture level of the lower substrate from time to time , by eye and finger ( bought a soil moisture meter but it was worthless , stayed on dry when i tested it in mud ) . anyway , i guess they ' re hibernating for now . . . probably won ' t lay eggs for a while yet . . . or have and they stay dormant for a while too . . . ( i hope my o . ornatus weren ' t virgins because i think all three of mine were girls , but being wild - caught and then kept with others of their kind before being sold to me , surely they would have mated . . . or i ' m really hoping for a miracle , lol ) . time , temperature , and moisture are the factors now . . . i guess i should wait nearly a year before i make it rain . . . temperature is the only thing i really can ' t change now as in a one bedroom apartment with numerous other lifeforms , i have to settle on what we can all live with . . . someday i ' m going to have incubators for species that need it a bit cooler or warmer . . . oh , and the native cacti are doing well at least . i rotate the terrarium regularly so they don ' t grow crooked . i miss my lovely golden millipedes and hope that at worst this does them no harm . . . if i have three healthy adults plus plings next year it will be worth it !
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urltoken
these desert millipedes are found only on a few rainy nights each year . these millipedes are the longest us species in the hobby . they tolerate dry conditions for a short while , but their substrate should be wet down from time to time since they spend most of their lives underground .


the pallas 's leaf warbler or pallas 's warbler ( phylloscopus proregulus ) is a bird that breeds in mountain forests from southern siberia east to northern mongolia and northeastern china .

it is named for german zoologist peter simon pallas , who first formally described it .

this leaf warbler is strongly migratory , wintering mainly in southern china and adjacent areas of southeast asia , although in recent decades increasing numbers have been found in europe in autumn .

pallas 's leaf warbler is one of the smallest eurasian warblers , with a relatively large head and short tail .

it has greenish upperparts and white underparts , a lemon-yellow rump , and yellow double wingbars , supercilia and central crown stripe .

it is similar in appearance to several other asian warblers , including some that were formerly considered to be its subspecies , although its distinctive vocalisations aid identification .

the female builds a cup nest in a tree or bush , and incubates the four to six eggs , which hatch after 12 – 13 days .

the chicks are fed mainly by the female and fledge when they are 12 – 14 days old ; both parents then bring food for about a week .

pallas 's leaf warbler is insectivorous , feeding on the adults , larvae and pupa of small insects and spiders .

birds forage in bushes and trees , picking items from leaves or catching prey in short flights or while hovering .

the pallas 's leaf warbler has a large range , and its numbers are believed to be stable .

it therefore is evaluated as of " least concern " by the international union for conservation of nature ( iucn ) .

pallas ' s leaf warbler

select an image : 1 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 2 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 3 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 4 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 5 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 6 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 7 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 8 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 9 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 10 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 11 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 12 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 13 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 14 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 15 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 16 . pallas ' s leaf warbler > > adult 17 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 18 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 19 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 20 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 21 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 22 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 23 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 24 . pallas ' s leaf warbler > > adult 25 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 26 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 27 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 28 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 29 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 30 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 31 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 32 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 33 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 34 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 35 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 36 . pallas ' s leaf warbler 37 . pallas ' s leaf warbler > > adult
the pallas ' s warbler or pallas ' s leaf warbler ( phylloscopus proregulus ) is a leaf warbler which breeds in southern siberia , mongolia and parts of tibet and china . it is strongly migratory and winters in subtropical asia .
note that the sixth edition of clements checklist [ 3 ] refers to pallas ' s grasshopper warbler , rather than this species , as
pallas ' s warbler
.
martens j , tietze dt , eck s . veith m . radiation and species limits in the asian pallas’s warbler complex (
pallas’s leaf warbler was found to be an abundant breeding visitor to the mid - and higher altitudes . martens et al . (
the pallas ' s leaf warbler or pallas ' s warbler is a leaf warbler which breeds in southern siberia ( from novosibirsk oblast east to magadan oblast ) , northern mongolia , and northeastern china . it is strongly migratory and winters mainly in subtropical southern china and northeastern indochina , but also in small numbers in western europe .
like pale - legged leaf warbler , sakhalin leaf warbler pumps its tail steadily , often remaining otherwise motionless . ( craig brelsford )
two different pallas ' s leaf warblers ( phylloscopus proregulus ) singing near erdenebulgan , khovsgol aimag , mongolia , july 2009 .
the pallas ' s leaf warbler or pallas ' s warbler ( phylloscopus proregulus ) is a leaf warbler which breeds in southern siberia ( from novosibirsk oblast east to magadan oblast ) , northern mongolia , and northeastern china . it is strongly migratory and winters mainly in subtropical southern china and northeastern indochina , but also in small numbers in western europe .
pallas’s leaf warbler song was the most conspicuous background bird noise from 750 to 800 m up to the highest forests ( which grew almost to the highest peak ) , with some birds in the taller stands of montane shrubland . loud , near - continuous , song right through to late summer is typical of pallas’s leaf warbler elsewhere ( dementiev and gladkov
these three or four species and the chinese leaf - warbler , p . yunnanensis ( sometimes p . sichuanensis ) were until recently united in the pallas ' warbler sensu lato .
päckert m , blume c , sun y - h , wei l . martens j . acoustic differentiation reflects mitochondrial lineages in blyth’s leaf warbler and white - tailed leaf warbler complexes ( aves :
) . this species does not breed in myohyang . eastern crowned leaf warbler (
) and allows confidence that the observations document the species’s real ecological distribution within myohyang . the sharp lower altitudinal limit to territorial pallas’s leaf warbler in natural forest reflected no change in vegetation obvious to the human eye : it occurred within a wide band of mixed broad - leaf and
of these , phylloscopus chloronotus forresti is possibly also a separate species , but further analysis is required to confirm this . gansu leaf warbler and chinese leaf warbler overlap in breeding range in southern gansu , but are separated ecologically , with gansu leaf warbler using taller forest habitats and chinese leaf warbler in lower , often scrubby habitats .
of these , phylloscopus chloronotus forresti is possibly also a separate species , but further analysis is required to confirm this . gansu leaf warbler and chinese leaf warbler overlap in breeding range in southern gansu , but are separated ecologically , with gansu leaf warbler using taller forest habitats and chinese leaf warbler in lower , often scrubby habitats .
an arrival of spring pallas ' s warblers in coastal habitat in beidaihe , china . filmed using a panasonic g2 .
pallas’s warblers can best be distinguished from the similar yellow - browed warbler ( p . inornatus ) by the stripe on their cap and their bright yellow rump .
——— . kamchatka leaf warbler in shanghai . post to urltoken published 6 june 2017 .
4 . 11 march 2000 kawasaki - shi , kanagawa prefecture . only pallas ' s leaf warbler have yellowish rump in japanese phylloscpus warblers . the call is weak and short ' chui ' . it is softer and shorter than yellow - browed warbler .
on two hill trails , ca . 10 km apart , which led almost directly uphill , the lowest territorial singing pallas’s leaf warblers were consistently at 700–800 m ( table
) suggest that , as with these pallas’s leaf warblers , links with tree species may be particularly strong when the tree is structurally distinct from others in the area .
like its sister species pale - legged leaf warbler , sakhalin leaf warbler has an affinity for sturdy , leafless branches . here , the leaf warbler , drawn by playback of its own voice , is using the perch to investigate the source of the sound . ( craig brelsford )
querytime : 0 . 0498 s , querycount : 810 , parsetime : 0 . 7050 s , totaltime : 0 . 7548 s , source : database
chinese leaf warbler phylloscopus yunnanensis ( syn . p . sichuanensis ) . western china . monotypic .
chinese leaf warbler phylloscopus yunnanensis ( syn . p . sichuanensis ) . western china . monotypic .
martens j , eck s , päckert m . sun y - h . the golden - spectacled warbler
) . however , fir cannot be the only cue for settling pallas’s leaf warblers at myohyang , because the warbler’s lower edge of breeding lies 200–300 m below the lower margin of unplanted firs , and the warbler is abundant within this band . no cause of the warbler’s lower altitudinal limit in natural forest suggested itself during these observations . tree species distributions may be found to have a widespread role in how birds locate themselves on a mountain . among eight
martens j . systematic notes on asian birds : 72 . a preliminary review of the leaf warbler genera
on sun . 17 sept . 2017 at pudong’s cape nanhui , i achieved a personal first : photos of an unmistakable sakhalin leaf warbler phylloscopus borealoides . as expected , the photos show a leaf warbler whose plumage and bare parts are virtually indistinguishable from those of pale - legged leaf warbler p . tenellipes . coupled , however , as they are with sound - recordings of the same individual , ensuring the id , the photos constitute a rare visual record of sakhalin leaf warbler in shanghai .
planting of firs in these temple gardens at altitudes much lower than they naturally grow has apparently stimulated individual pallas’s leaf warblers to settle well below the species’s usual altitudinal zone . not many fir trees are needed : pulyong temple holds only five mature trees yet attracted one singing male , while at kumgang temple many trees within an area 200 m across held three territorial birds , a density broadly similar to those in natural hill forest . pallas’s leaf warbler is a long - distance migrant , wintering in southern china and indochina ( dickinson
— century yielded yet another regional record of sakhalin leaf warbler . evidence is growing that in the shanghai area this passage migrant has been neglected and is more common than previously thought . i recently wrote a series of posts , the latest being this one , on distinguishing sakhalin leaf warbler from its sister species pale - legged leaf warbler .
even when the pallas’s warbler did appear , the views it gave were frustratingly brief – often just a glimmer of yellow wing bars , or a quick flash of its stripy crown as it flitted rapidly between the leaves .
pallas’s warbler is one of the smallest of all british birds – just nine centimetres long and weighing a mere seven grams . so it’s difficult to believe that it can migrate at all , let alone fly several thousand miles from the forests of northern russia all the way to britain .
——— . separating pale - legged & sakhalin leaf warbler on call . post to urltoken published 31 aug . 2017 .
pallas’s leaf warbler ( phylloscopus proregulus ) is a common breeding bird above 700 m in the forests of the myohyang range , korea . within the largely natural forest are several temple gardens , four of which at 140–520 m held territorial pallas’s leaf warblers . all had mature planted firs ( abies ) , which occur naturally in the area only over 1 , 000 m . the planted firs evidently stimulated the warblers to settle below their natural altitudinal range , but cannot be the only stimulus because the natural lower distribution of the warbler is 300 m below that of the tree .
the closely related southern species , pale - rumped warbler ( or lemon - rumped warbler ) , p . chloronotus , and gansu leaf warbler , p . kansuensis , move to lower latitudes in winter , but do not migrate long distances .
here is the recording i made of the calling sakhalin on thurs . 5 oct . apart from a dna assay , call as well as song is the only reliable way to separate sakhalin leaf warbler from pale - legged leaf warbler . at 4 . 9 khz , the “tink” recorded below is a full kilohertz deeper than the call of pale - legged leaf warbler .
brelsford , craig . sakhalin & pale - legged leaf warbler , singing together . post to urltoken published 5 may 2016 .
pale - legged leaf warbler , call , magic parking lot , 4 sept . 2017 ( 00 : 10 ; 2 mb )
pale - legged leaf warbler , call , magic parking lot , 4 sept . 2017 ( 00 : 01 ; 332 kb )
the first description of pallas ' s leaf warbler was by pallas in 1811 as motacilla proregulus . the committe for check - list of japanese birds ( 2000 ) treated it as a polytypic species and described pallas ' s leaf warbler that have been recorded in japanes was p . p . proregulus . many authors , however , treate non - nominate subspecies as full species and the pallas ' s leaf warbler p . proregulus as a monotypic species ( dickinson 2003 , del hoyo et al . 2006 , rheindt 2006 ) . the first record of pallas ' s leaf warbler for japan was in april , 1967 , tsuno - shima , yamaguchi prefecture . it is rare in japan , but recently recorded on the islands in the sea of japan almost annually . there is also some wintering records in main island , honshu . references del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . and christie , d . ( eds ) . 2006 . handbook of the birds of the world vol . 11 . old world flycatchers to old world warblers . lynx , barcelona . dickinson , c . ( ed . ) 2003 . the howard and moore complete checklist of the birds of the world , 3rd edition . christopher helm , london . the committe for check - list of japanese birds ( ed . ) 2000 . check - list of japanese birds sixth revised edition . ornithological society of japan , obihiro . rheindt , f . e . 2006 . split galore : the revolution in asian leaf warbler systematics . birdingasia 5 : 25 - 39 .
madge , s . c . 1987 . field identification of radde ' s and dusky warblers . brit . birds 80 : 595 - 603 .
round , philip d . , pierce , andrew j . , saitoh , takema , & shigeta , yoshimitsu . 2016 . addition of kamchatka leaf warbler phylloscopus examinandus and sakhalin leaf warbler p . borealoides to thailand’s avifauna . bulletin of the japan bird banding association 28 : 9–21 . available here for download ( 708 kb ) through shanghaibirding . com .
experts since at least as far back as 1989 have been arguing that pale - legged leaf warbler phylloscopus tenellipes and sakhalin leaf warbler p . borealoides are separable not only by their distinctive songs but also by their calls . thailand - based birder and urltoken contributor phil round is among those making that argument . round and his co - authors write : “ [ t ] he call of p . tenellipes is markedly higher in frequency than that of p . borealoides ” ( round et al . , “addition of kamchatka leaf warbler phylloscopus examinandus and sakhalin leaf warbler p . borealoides to thailand’s avifauna , ” downloadable through urltoken ) .
the sound - recordings and audio spectrograms below show clearly the difference in frequency between the calls of sakhalin and pale - legged leaf warbler .
pale - legged leaf warbler , call , magic parking lot , 4 sept . 2017 ( 00 : 41 ; 7 . 9 mb )
editor’s note : in the photo above , a pale - legged leaf warbler emits its characteristic “tink” call in microforest 4 , cape nanhui , pudong , 27 aug . 2017 . the tink call of pale - legged is appreciably higher - pitched than that of sakhalin leaf warbler . distinguishing the two calls is the subject of this post . — craig brelsford
c & ne china ( e qinghai , s gansu , shaanxi , shanxi and hebei s to sichuan ) ; non - breeding apparently se asia .
) . no singing pallas’s leaf warbler was ever found during may–june along many kilometres of trail walked ( repeatedly , in all 3 years ) in the intervening natural forest at these low altitudes . to the human eye , a striking difference between the gardens and the surrounding natural forest was that all gardens held mature stands of planted fir (
the new entries on the urltoken list are sakhalin leaf warbler , dusky warbler , and white - throated rock thrush . the new entries on the ebird list are those three plus japanese paradise flycatcher and taiga flycatcher .
) found 15 spring migrant pallas’s leaf warblers , all during 8–26 april except for one atypically late non - singing bird on 25 may 2002 . nor could post - breeding dispersal account for these garden birds ; observations on the sangwon trail suggested such roaming began about 1 july ( table
) , there is no published information on the species’s breeding ecology in korea .
podos j . correlated evolution of morphology and vocal signal structure in darwin’s finches .
featured image : sakhalin leaf warbler phylloscopus borealoides , cape nanhui , shanghai , 17 sept . 2017 . craig brelsford photographed and sound - recorded this individual , getting a rare record of the poorly known species in earth’s greatest city .
here are photos of the sakhalin leaf warbler of 17 sept . 2017 . the bird below is the same individual whose voice i sound - recorded .
pale - legged leaf warbler phylloscopus tenellipes , call , magic parking lot , 4 sept . 2017 ( 00 : 19 ; 3 . 7 mb )
forest which extended several hundred metres above and below the warbler’s limit . nor was there any plausible replacement bird species at lower altitudes . bourski and forstmeier (
sakhalin leaf warbler , call , microforest 4 ( 30 . 953225 , 121 . 959083 ) , 8 may 2016 ( 00 : 15 ; 1 mb )
the pallas ' s leaf warbler occurs exceptionally in central europe . it is a resident of the southeast siberian taiga , of mongolia and china . most of them spend the winter in south china . its size and behaviour is similar to a goldcrest . this species is easy to identify by its yellow supercilium and its pale yellow crown stripe as well as its yellow rump patch .
now consider the spectrograms and sound - recordings of pale - legged leaf warbler below . the spectrogram immediately below was recorded by me on 10 june 2016 in my wife elaine du ’s hometown of boli , heilongjiang , part of the breeding range of pale - legged leaf warbler . the call ( here a grace note ) and song both clock in at about 6 khz , a frequency a full 25 percent higher than the call of sakhalin leaf warbler and , as with sakhalin , consistent with the frequencies of pale - legged calls on xeno - canto . org .
pale - legged leaf warbler p . tenellipes , magic parking lot , cape nanhui , 4 sept . 2017 ( 00 : 19 ; 3 . 7 mb )
last september , in “ pale - legged leaf warbler & the shanghai big 5 , ” i asserted that “pale - legged leaf warbler is safely separable from sakhalin leaf warbler only by song . ” i was wrong . call as well as song is a reliable separator . in this post , i am going to tell you how i arrived at this insight , and i will show you how you too can achieve clear , indisputable ticks of these tricky species through call alone .
this article is part of project phylloscopidae , a all birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each leaf - warbler , including made - up species .
in the wake of my recent post on distinguishing pale - legged leaf warbler from sakhalin leaf warbler by call , i have been hoping to find more members of this species pair in shanghai . on 4 sept . 2017 at pudong ’s cape nanhui , my hopes were fulfilled in a big way . at the magic parking lot ( 30 . 884889 , 121 . 968222 ) , not one but both species were calling .
that does indeed apply to rare birds from north america , found in places such as the isles of scilly or the western isles , which have been swept across the atlantic on autumn gales . but it isn’t true for those species – like the pallas’s warbler – that birders call “sibes” after their place of origin .
) . most species migrate seasonally ( from seasonal elevational movements to long - distance migration between continents ) . leaf warbler males vocalize a lot in the breeding period . despite a remarkable interspecific variation in leaf warbler song , song characteristics are highly repeatable within species . all that makes phylloscopid warblers a good model to study vocal trait evolution .
bergman s ( 1935a ) några korta brev från korea . fauna och flora 30 : 170–172
ding t - s , yuan h - w , geng s , lin y - s , lee p - f ( 2005 ) energy flux , body size and density in relation to bird species richness along an elevational gradient in taiwan . global ecol biogeogr 14 : 299–306
round , philip d . e - mail message to craig brelsford , 18 oct . 2016 . round’s e - mail message was originally cited in the urltoken post “ pale - legged leaf warbler & the shanghai big 5 , ” published 26 sept . 2016 .
9–10 cm ; 4·6–5·1 g . a small , “chunky” leaf - warbler with well - patterned plumage . nominate race has well - defined pale buffish or whitish . . .
pale - legged leaf warbler , call , microforest 4 ( 30 . 953225 , 121 . 959083 ) , 27 aug . 2017 ( 00 : 01 ; 193 kb )
in shanghai in 2017 , important facts about common birds such as pale - legged leaf warbler and sakhalin leaf warbler remain unknown . this ornithological semi - wilderness is both difficult and exciting . if we rise to the challenge and become better birders , then we will make new discoveries and blaze a trail of knowledge for future birders to follow .
) . breeding leaf warblers could be found between 34°s and 71°n and between 18°w and 41°w ( across eurasia and north america ) with a diversity hotspot in southwest china ( fig .
may have increased in recent years . the presence of an unknown population of swinhoe ' s petrel
sakhalin leaf warbler phylloscopus borealoides , century park ( 31 . 219361 , 121 . 551900 ) , pudong , 5 oct . 2017 ( 00 : 20 ; 3 . 9 mb )
sakhalin leaf warbler phylloscopus borealoides , microforest 1 ( 30 . 953225 , 121 . 959083 ) , cape nanhui , 17 sept . 2017 ( 01 : 03 ; 12 . 2 mb )
bergman s ( 1935b ) glimtar fram djulivet i en koreanask floddal . fauna och flora 30 : 203–209
— white’s thrush : a healthy 11 taking advantage of the high - quality woodland in the park .
( pallas ) goldhanchenlaubsanger . in : dathe h , loskot wm ( eds ) atlas der verbreitung palaearktischer vogel . akademie verlag , berlin , lieferung 17 ( unpaginated )
c . 9–10 cm . a small , rather “chunky” leaf - warbler with prominent head stripes . median crownstripe is pale olive - grey , more distinct posteriorly than anteriorly ( often . . .
alström , p . , clement , p . & kirwan , g . m . ( 2018 ) . pallas ' s leaf - warbler ( phylloscopus proregulus ) . in : del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . , sargatal , j . , christie , d . a . & de juana , e . ( eds . ) . handbook of the birds of the world alive . lynx edicions , barcelona . ( retrieved from urltoken on 9 july 2018 ) .
our first exhibit is the spectrogram of a call i sound - recorded of sakhalin leaf warbler on 8 may 2016 in cape nanhui’s microforest 4 ( 30 . 953225 , 121 . 959083 ) . the frequency is 4 . 8 kilohertz , a number that matches closely the frequency of sakhalin calls on urltoken . *
pale - legged leaf warbler , call and song , xidaquan national forest ( 45 . 727751 , 130 . 317316 ) , boli , heilongjiang , 10 june 2016 ( 01 : 59 ; 6 mb )
sakhalin leaf warbler phylloscopus borealoides , call , microforest 4 ( 30 . 953225 , 121 . 959083 ) , cape nanhui , pudong , shanghai , 4 sept . 2017 ( 00 : 02 ; 528 kb )
pallas’s warbler is as small as a goldcrest , and looks like a small plump leaf - warbler . they have olive green backs with distinctive bright yellow rumps . their dark green heads are clearly marked with a yellowish cap stripe and a brighter yellow eye - stripe . their primary wing feathers are brown with pale edges . their inner secondaries and tertials ( large feathers at the base of their wings ) have yellowish edges and two pale stripes run across their wings . their underparts are pale yellowish . they have dark greenish brown legs , dark brown beaks with a yellowish base , and dark brown irises .
bertelli s . tubaro pl . body mass and habitat correlates of song structure in a primitive group of birds .
forced copulation occurs when one animal subverts another’s mating choice and uses physical means to force copulation on that animal .
a stunning black - throated accentor was found by nils kjellén when he was trying to relocate a pallas ' s leaf warbler . it was seen feeding at some clumps of salix and dense herbage several kilometres inland in the southeast part of scania , southernmost sweden . representing the first record for the province of scania and the second for sweden . the previous one was of a ringed individual in june 1988 at stora fjäderägg , västerbotten . a sought after species in the western palearctic and a real stunner !
( left ) typifies the family . it is a small , plain , rather drab but restless little bird whose vocalizations make it much easier to identify than anything in its plumage . as it happens , chinese leaf - warbler is a newly described species , discovered and split from the pallas ' s / lemon - rumped warbler group on the basis of its distinctive song and calls ( alström , olsson & colston 1992 ) . it breeds in a few forested mountains outside of beijing ; its winter range and migration routes are virtually unknown because it is almost impossible to identify when silent . it was initially named
appearance : a small leaf - warbler , about the size of a goldcrest . distinctive markings include two pale wing stripes , bright yellow rump , orange - yellow eye - stripe and pale yellowish stripe on cap .
sakhalin leaf warbler , call , magic parking lot ( 30 . 884889 , 121 . 968222 ) , cape nanhui , pudong , shanghai , 4 sept . 2017 ( 00 : 07 ; 1 . 4 mb )
lee p - f , ding t - s , hsu f - h , geng s ( 2004 ) breeding bird species richness in taiwan : distribution on gradients of elevation , primary productivity and urbanization . j biogeogr 31 : 307–314
to summarize what i argued in the previous post : the calls , as well as the very distinctive songs , of pale - legged leaf warbler and sakhalin leaf warbler are diagnostic–that is , they differ markedly and consistently and are a reliable basis for an id . the diagnosability of the calls of the two species has been affirmed by various researchers , among them yap et al . ( 2014 ; birding asia 21 : 76–81 ) .
gil d , slater pj . graves ja . extra - pair paternity and song characteristics in the willow warbler
altitudinal migrant . post - breeding descent to lower levels in himalayas , and also to s assam hills . . .
distribution map . breeding distribution of leaf warbler ( phylloscopidae ) species according to birdlife international & natureserve ( 2011 ) ; species richness increases from dark blue ( 1 ) via green and yellow to red ( 16 ) .
1 . 22 may 1996 wajima - shi , ishikawa prefecture . the both sides of the head are darker than yellow - browed warbler and the yellow mediun crown stripe is distinct . the supercilium is broader and yellower in front of eye than yellow - browed warbler . the superciliums of both sides join over the forehead , while yellow - browed warbler ' s superciliums are usually not join . the tips of greater and median coverts are yellowish .
leaf warblers ( aves : sylviidae ) : a tale of sexual selection , habitat adaptation , and morphological constraints .
price td , helbig aj . richman ad . evolution of breeding distributions in the old world leaf warblers ( genus
( j . e . gray & g . r . gray , 1847 ) – c & e himalayas ( e from c nepal ) ; non - breeding in foothills at lower altitudes s to s assam hills ( ne india ) .
to assess the generality of this fortuitous observation , there are probably many other culturally revered mountains in north - east asia where , amid a largely natural forest matrix , small manicured gardens hold mature planted trees outside their natural altitudinal zones . of the 12 passerines with myohyang breeding distributions restricted to higher slopes ( author’s unpublished data ) , pallas’s leaf warblers was the only one to settle in the temple gardens ; so perhaps such simple linkage by a bird to a single tree type may be unusual , as further suggested by the lack of previous examples in the literature .
the total data set used for phylogenetic reconstructions comprised sequence data of 80 leaf warbler taxa compared with 30 taxa analyzed by mahler and gil ( 2009 ) . genbank sequences of acrocephalus dumetorum were included in the analysis for hierarchical outgroup rooting .
pallas ' s leaf warbler is named after the german zoologist peter simon pallas , who discovered it on the ingoda river in siberia in 1811 ; the species name proregulus derives from its similar size to the goldcrest regulus regulus . in the past , it was treated as a complex of several subspecies ; apart from the nominate subspecies breeding in northern asia , two to four other subspecies were accepted , breeding much further south at high altitudes in the sino - himalayan mountain system from the western himalaya east to western china ( yunnan north to gansu and hebei ) . even though they differ only slightly in plumage , they are very distinct vocally with both song and calls differing . genetic analysis has also shown them to be distinct , and they are now treated as separate species :
pallas ' s leaf warbler is named after the german zoologist peter simon pallas , who discovered it on the ingoda river in siberia in 1811 ; the species name proregulus derives from its similar size to the goldcrest regulus regulus . in the past , it was treated as a complex of several subspecies ; apart from the nominate subspecies breeding in northern asia , two to four other subspecies were accepted , breeding much further south at high altitudes in the sino - himalayan mountain system from the western himalaya east to western china ( yunnan north to gansu and hebei ) . even though they differ only slightly in plumage , they are very distinct vocally with both song and calls differing . genetic analysis has also shown them to be distinct , and they are now treated as separate species :
) . only in 2003 were the gardens specifically visited , but pohyon temple is beside the site’s main stream , and several territorial pallas’s leaf warblers were found there during river - bird surveys in 2002 ; hence , 2003 was not an aberrant year . at least in pohyon temple and the scenic spots administration office ( the two sites visited on many dates ) , males occurred right through the breeding season , although it is impossible to tell whether it was the same individual birds on each visit . females may also have settled , as suggested by a non - singing bird in mid - june ( table
podos j , southall ja . rossi - santos mr . vocal mechanics in darwin’s finches : correlation of beak gape and song frequency .
some of the siberian vagrants that appear in western europe have managed to survive into winter . records are frequent for richard ' s pipits
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cramp s ( ed ) ( 1992 ) the birds of the western palearctic , vol . vi . warblers . oxford university press , oxford
greig ei , price jj . pruett - jones s . song evolution in maluridae : influences of natural and sexual selection on acoustic structure .
alström p , saitoh t , williams d , nishiumi i , shigeta y , ueda k , et al . the arctic warbler
even though the expectant crowd of birders knew the pallas’s warbler was there , it was not proving easy to see . the bird was doing a feeding circuit with a loose flock of goldcrests , chiffchaffs , long - tailed tits and a lone female blackcap , which meant that we had to wait at least half an hour between sightings . there were the usual false alarms , as a shout would go up , only for our hopes to be dashed when a more familiar bird came into view .
t’s hard to imagine a bird that weighs less than a two pence coin travelling all the way from siberia to end up near my home in somerset . but that’s exactly what the tiny creature making its way through the dense foliage of ivy and sycamores in front of me had just done .
hypothesis 2 : body size is negatively correlated with frequency characteristics ( wallschläger 1980 ; badyaev and leaf 1997 ; mahler and gil 2009 ) .
sakhalin leaf warbler shows the classic features of the pale - sak species pair , among them an olive - brown crown contrasting with olive - green mantle and wings , a long and creamy supercilium , and faint wing bars on the median and greater coverts . ( craig brelsford )
pallas’s warblers used to migrate south and east , to spend the winter in the jungles of south - east asia . but in recent years a significant minority have changed their migration strategy , travelling west , and probably spending the winter in spain or northwest africa . on the way , each october and november , they pass through britain – with up to 100 being seen here every year .
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dean , a . r . 1985 . review of british status and identification of greenish warbler . brit . birds 78 : 437 - 451 .
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the leaf warbler i found was easily identifiable as a member of the pale - sak species pair . it had strikingly pale pink tarsi , an olive - brown crown contrasting with olive - green mantle and wings , a long and creamy supercilium , and faint wing bars on the median and greater coverts .
hypothesis 3 : song characters ( particularly frequency parameters ) are strongly influenced by habitat characteristics ( badyaev and leaf 1997 ; rheindt et al . 2004 ) .
olsson u , alström p , ericson pg . sundberg p . non - monophyletic taxa and cryptic species - evidence from a molecular phylogeny of leaf - warblers (
main season jun–jul , nests with eggs found between mid - jun and late jul ; one brood , in s part of range possibly two . nest built by . . .
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basic components of leaf warbler song evolve under a brownian motion model , being possibly innate . although body size is also phylogenetically constrained , it is strongly correlated with frequency even after phylogenetic correction . this indicates a causal correlation for physical reasons reported earlier . the habitat variable might still be too simplified , because it merely reflects increasing habitat density . the impact of habitat on leaf warbler song appears to be more complicated than could be tested in this approach . habitat and geographical dimensions should be replaced by environmental - niche components in order to work out ecological–physiological causalities . this should be further combined with historical biogeography in order to trace song trait evolution more realistically .
in recent months , my work with sound - recordings has helped give shanghai birders a clearer picture not only of sakhalin leaf warbler but also of kamchatka leaf warbler phylloscopus examinandus , like sakhalin a poorly known passage migrant through shanghai ( brelsford , june 2017 ) . in the case of pale - sak in shanghai , a picture is emerging of overlapping migratory pathways . this finding comports with the findings of yap et al . at beidaihe , a thousand kilometers to the north . after analyzing calls obtained at beidaihe of both pale - legged and sakhalin , yap hypothesizes that in coastal hebei “the migratory pathways of the two sister species may largely overlap” ( 2014 ) .
derryberry ep , seddon n , claramunt s , tobias ja , baker a , aleixo a , et al . correlated evolution of beak morphology and song in the neotropical woodcreeper radiation .
lemon - rumped warbler phylloscopus chloronotus . himalaya , sw china . three subspecies , p . c . chloronotus , p . c . forresti , p . c . simlaensis .
the simla warbler is the westernmost subspecies p . chloronotus simlaensis which may be anything between a distinct species and invalid due to clinal variation ( alström 2006 [ 2 ] ) .
lemon - rumped warbler phylloscopus chloronotus . himalaya , sw china . three subspecies , p . c . chloronotus , p . c . forresti , p . c . simlaensis .
tamura k , peterson d , peterson n , stecher g , nei m . kumar s . mega5 : molecular evolutionary genetics analysis using maximum likelihood , evolutionary distance , and maximum parsimony methods .
the spectrogram below is of a brief sound - recording i made in microforest 4 this past sunday . the song element of this passage migrant is absent ( though note that i have heard pale - legged and sakhalin singing in shanghai in spring ) . the call has a frequency of 5 . 9 khz and clearly belongs to pale - legged leaf warbler .
: 0 . 7–1 . 1 ) was only detected for the duration of the longest and of the shortest element – much larger than for any other song parameter . a medium signal strength ( blomberg’s
it’s often said that these unexpected autumn visitors are “lost” , or “blown off course” – waifs and strays that have taken the wrong turn , or been the unwitting victims of a rogue weather system .
9–10 cm ; 4·5–7·5 g . a small , short - tailed and extremely active warbler with well - marked plumage . has well - defined pale median crownstripe , equally . . .
phylogeny of leaf - warblers ( phylloscopidae ) . molecular phylogeny of leaf - warblers ( phylloscopidae ) based on a 1900 - bp alignment of three genes ( for details see table s5 ) reconstructed in beast ( genes and codon positions partitioned , gtr + γ + i model for cytochrome b and myoglobin , gtr + i model for 12s rdna , 30 million generations ) .
martens j . 2013 . vocalizations of leaf - warblers and spectacled warblers ( phylloscopus and seicercus ) . double audio cd , no . sx 419 726 , syrinx tonstudio berlin [ urltoken ]
there is no
family book
covering the leaf - warblers so information must be sought in a variety of texts . the next volume of hbw will cover all the sylvioid warblers .
patterson bd , stotz df , solari s , fitzpatrick jw , pacheco v ( 1998 ) contrasting patterns of elevational zonation for birds and mammals in the andes of southeastern peru . j biogeogr 25 : 593–607
: 0 . 7–1 . 1 ) was found in body length and mass as well as habitat . mean elevation , maximal range extension to the west , and main biogeographic region exhibited medium signal strength ( blomberg’s
the exact parameters of the phylloscopidae is not yet known . there are at least 56 species that are currently assigned to the genus phylloscopus , and another 12 assigned to seicercus which , as noted above , is embedded within phylloscopus from a biochemical standpoint . our headline species — chinese leaf - warbler ( above ) — is a phylloscopus , one of several recently described species ( e . g . , alström et al . 1992 , 1997 ) . so a whole lot of this family is composed of these leaf - warblers . dickinson ( 2003 ) has a subfamily
phylloscopinae
that might suggest the limits of this group , but it includes a variety of genera that proved not to be related . for example , both the monotypic genus tickellia ( broad - billed warbler ) and the 3 species in abroscopus proved to be members of the cettiidae . all of the phylloscopidae breed exclusively in the old world , except for arctic warbler phylloscopus borealis , whose range extends across the bering strait into northern alaska .
alström , p . ( 2018 ) . chinese leaf - warbler ( phylloscopus yunnanensis ) . in : del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . , sargatal , j . , christie , d . a . & de juana , e . ( eds . ) . handbook of the birds of the world alive . lynx edicions , barcelona . ( retrieved from urltoken on 9 july 2018 ) .
yap , f . , yong , d . l . , low , b . , cros , e . , foley , c . , lim , k . k . & rheindt , f . e . 2014 . first wintering record of the sakhalin leaf warbler in south east asia , with notes on vocalisations . birdingasia 21 : 76–81 . downloadable here ( accessed : 28 sept . 2017 ) .
) . the species’s small size and habitual hover - picking allow it to forage readily within the needle - like foliage of conifers and to feed upon the abundant small arthropods , e . g . spiders ( forstmeier and keßler
orme d , freckleton r , thomas g , petzoldt t , fritz s , isaac n , et al . 2012 . caper : comparative analyses of phylogenetics and evolution in r . r package version 0 . 5 urltoken .
additionally , there is the tendency for more complex song further east in eurasia where the diversity hotspot of leaf warblers is . this could be explained by some contrast reinforcement or acoustic niche partitioning within this bird family .
featured image : pale - legged / sakhalin leaf warbler , yangkou , rudong , jiangsu , 1 may 2014 . photo by craig brelsford . some of the salient characteristics of pale - sak are pointed out . separating pale - legged from sakhalin on the basis of plumage and bare parts is not possible ; because this bird was neither singing nor calling , it cannot be determined to which of the two species it belongs .
in case you’re wondering , this elusive little sprite was named after the 18th - century german - born russian ornithologist peter simon pallas . he also gave his name to a gull , a sandgrouse , a now - extinct cormorant , a volcano , a new kind of meteorite , three species of reptile and no fewer than seven mammals . but when i finally got a decent view of the bird – a two - second glimpse as it flew from one tree to another – i was reminded of its older , and in many ways more appropriate name : lemon - rumped warbler .
in contrast to previous studies , song complexity indicated by both relative element dissimilarity and diversity of leaf warbler songs decreased northwards . in more detail , greig et al . ( 2013 ) found the opposite latitudinal gradient for the same complexity measure ( their “song versatility” is based on the same calculation as “element diversity” in our study ) , while complexity indices ( pcs ) used by mahler and gil ( 2009 ) and cardoso et al . ( 2012 ) were more strongly influenced by syllable structure rather than by element dissimilarity and diversity ( our study ) . although we did not account for repertoire sizes as a measure of complexity in our study while mahler and gil ( 2009 ) did , by far the greatest individual male repertoires in the phylloscopidae were documented from tropical seicercus species , with no < 44 distinct verse types per male ( s . omeiensis ; see martens et al . 1999 ; päckert et al . 2004 ) . thus , even considering repertoire sizes of tropical species , our results cast some doubt on a predicted greater selective pressure at temperate latitudes on male leaf warbler repertoires or on complexity of verse patterns .
precise definitions of all song parameters used for analysis and explanatory variables with phylogenetic signal ( blomberg’s k with p value , pagel’s λ ) , estimated model of evolution ( bm : brownian motion , eb : early burst , ou : ornstein–uhlenbeck , λ : lambda ; alternative models in parentheses , if δaicc < 2 ; for details see text ) and r labels used in the electronic appendix . temporal parameters were measured in seconds to three digits , frequency parameters in kilohertzes to three digits .
alström , p . & christie , d . a . ( 2018 ) . lemon - rumped leaf - warbler ( phylloscopus chloronotus ) . in : del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . , sargatal , j . , christie , d . a . & de juana , e . ( eds . ) . handbook of the birds of the world alive . lynx edicions , barcelona . ( retrieved from urltoken on 9 july 2018 ) .
a clearer picture will add to our knowledge of the movement of leaf warblers along the central chinese coast , focus attention on little - known east asian species , and heighten the allure of shanghai as a world - class birding location .
why should you care about all this ? because prepared birders have a chance to get solid ticks of “pale - saks” that are merely calling and not necessarily singing . if you hear a pale - sak calling and trust your ear ( or better yet , sound - record the call and later analyze the spectrogram ) , then you may be able to go beyond the safe , boring record of “pale - legged / sakhalin leaf warbler” to a more satisfying full tick .
in leaf warblers trait conservation of element duration might have a strong heritable component , too , at least with respect to the results of experiments with naïve birds reared in acoustic isolation showing that element length is largely innate ( schubert 1976 ; thielcke 1983 ) . although these experiments were conducted with two leaf warbler species only ( p . collybita , p . trochilus ) and thus the results might not easily be generalized for the entire family , element parameters in these species seem to be the relevant song traits involved in species recognition ( schubert 1971 ; helb 1973 ; martens and hänel 1981 ; martens and meincke 1989 ; martens et al . 2004 ) and might therefore be more strongly conserved than other song traits .
in this model , when the female chooses to pair bond with a male , she gains the male’s services in protecting her from forced copulations by other males . females can also combat forced copulations by evolving methods of expelling or not using the resulting sperm .
the bird , which was in microforest 1 , behaved in a way typical of the pale - saks i have observed in the cape nanhui microforests , eight tiny woodlands that dot the coastline of the cape . rarely venturing more than 2 m off the ground , the leaf warbler favored low branches and vines for browsing and sturdy low branches for perching . it pumped its tail steadily , called spontaneously , and upon hearing playback of its own call moved in to investigate the source .
the long distances traveled by phylloscopus warblers present much opportunity for migratory mistakes and vagrancy . a few such birds will go the
wrong way
and become vagrants to western north america . i refuted one claim years ago (
willow warbler ;
roberson & pitelka 1983 ) but recently an actual willow warbler was found as a vagrant in alaska . i ' ve had the good fortune to see both arctic p . borealis and dusky p . fuscatus warblers in california .
answers to these questions are currently unknown , but they are probably knowable , and it is very much possible for the citizen - scientists of shanghai to be the producers of that knowledge . we only need to change our habits . when it comes to identifying lookalike species such as pale - legged and sakhalin leaf warbler , birders need to understand that photos do nothing to cut through the muddle . only sound - recordings lead to indisputable records and a clearer picture of the species in shanghai .
songs in passerine birds are important for territory defense and mating . speciation rates in oscine passerines are so high , due to cultural evolution , that this bird lineage makes up half of the extant bird species . leaf warblers are a speciose old - world passerine family of limited morphological differentiation , so that songs are even more important for species delimitation . we took 16 sonographic traits from song recordings of 80 leaf warbler taxa and correlated them with 15 potentially explanatory variables , pairwise , and in linear models . based on a well - resolved molecular phylogeny of the same taxa , all pairwise correlations were corrected for relatedness with phylogenetically independent contrasts and phylogenetic generalized linear models were used . we found a phylogenetic signal for most song traits , but a strong one only for the duration of the longest and of the shortest element , which are presumably inherited instead of learned . body size of a leaf warbler species is a constraint on song frequencies independent of phylogeny . at least in this study , habitat density had only marginal impact on song features , which even disappeared through phylogenetic correction . maybe most leaf warblers avoid the deterioration through sound propagation in dense vegetation by singing from exposed perches . latitudinal ( and longitudinal ) extension of the breeding ranges was correlated with most song features , especially verse duration ( longer polewards and westwards ) and complexity ( lower polewards ) . climate niche or expansion history might explain these correlations . the number of different element types per verse decreases with elevation , possibly due to fewer resources and congeneric species at higher elevations .
sc & se siberia , from altai mts e to n sea of okhotsk , s to n mongolia , ne china ( heilongjiang , e & n jilin and n inner mongolia ) , sakhalin and n korea ; non - breeding se china , n thailand and n indochina .
cibois , a . , e . pasquet , and t . s . schulenberg . 1999 . molecular systematics of the malagasy babblers ( timaliidae ) and warblers ( sylviidae ) , based on cytochrome b and 16s rrna sequences . molecular phylogenetics & evolution 3 : 581 - 595 .
diversity - tempo index , combining relative element diversity and speed of element delivery according to the formula : complexity2 + zel / tges / 30 . 268 s . tempo component is adjusted to set the fastest tempo in the data set to 1 . 0 ( p . borealis ) .
: 0 . 4–0 . 8 ) was found for all other compositional parameters but the element diversity , for the frequency parameters maximum frequency and maximum element bandwidth , and for complexity2 . element diversity and the remaining frequency parameters as well as complexity1 and complexity3 exhibited a weak signal ( blomberg’s
the most convenient separator of pale - sak is song , the cricket - like trill of pale - legged being easily separable from the metallic whistle of sakhalin . as shanghai is not in the breeding range of either species , pale - sak songs are not often heard in earth’s greatest city . i have heard sakhalin sing only once , on 5 may 2016 at shanghai’s zhongshan park ( brelsford 2016 ) . the song of pale - legged i have heard at various locations in shanghai as well as on its breeding grounds in heilongjiang ( brelsford & du 2017 ) .