Syncopulatory mate-guarding affected by predation in the aposematic millipede Centrobolus inscriptus in a swamp forest

Abstract

Mate-guarding can be affected by predation. While filming mate-guarding and prolonged copulations in a South African swamp forest aposematic millipede observations were made of the results of predation on a mated pair. This is a documentation of the sheared male coleopods inserted remains in the female forest millipede Centrobolus inscriptus and incidentally corroborates the lock-and-key hypothesis for the evolution of millipede genitalia (gonopods (coleopods)).