Tasmanian Thipsels
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Failed searches for M18
Yesterday I did another failed search for the elusive thipsel M18. The aim is to get a fresh male for an improved gonopod image; see here (bottom of webpage) for a pretty poor image from 2012.
So far there are five M18 records
1M, QVMAG QVM:23:52286, 1992-02-13
2M, QVMAG QVM:2017:23:0194, 2017-10-01
1M, TMAG J6488, 2022-10-03
4M, TMAG J6490, 2022-10-18
4M, TMAG J6491, 2022-10-18
from the spots shown below, on the western side of the Wilmot River catchment.
Millipede search sites (white dots) and M18 localities (red dots)
I haven't had much luck over the years in finding M18. Here are three excuses/explanations, none of which is especially convincing:
- Most of the western Wilmot catchment has been cleared for farms and forestry plantations [Yes, but M18 is elusive within the remaining native forest, which is in good condition and full of millipedes]
- These things are tiny, they're easy to overlook [Yesterday I picked up wee juvenile Polydesmida and Chordeumatida]
- M18 is seasonally surface-active, and all adults were so far found in the warmer months [Most of the failed searches were in the warmer months]
For the moment I'm going with
M18 is very narrow-range, not locally abundant and jackpot-distributed in forest litter
and hoping for better luck in future searches.
2026-07-21