Sigmocheir
Sigmocheir is a genus of millipedes in the family Xystodesmidae. These millipedes are found only in California, living in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada from Placer County down to the northern part of Tulare County.
They have a distinctive look: three lemon-yellow spots on each body segment (two on the sides and one in the center). The side plates (paranota) rise high on the segments, giving the millipedes a flat appearance.
Naming history: The genus Sigmocheir was established in 1951 by R. V. Chamberlin from a sample collected in Crystal-Stanislaus Cave in 1950. Earlier, in 1941, Chamberlin described another species that would later be moved to Sigmocheir as Paimokia maculifer, based on a single female. In 1953 he published more samples from Crystal Palace cave; one paper described Sigmocheir dohenyi, while another described the same individual and others as Tuolumnia dahenyi, creating confusion and a temporary synonym for the genus. The confusion was resolved by moving P. maculifer to Sigmocheir, and a new species, Sigmocheir furcata, was added in 1995 by Rowland M. Shelley.
Current recognized species include Sigmocheir calaveras (the type species), Sigmocheir maculifer, Sigmocheir dohenyi, and Sigmocheir furcata.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:25 (CET).