This issue of Zookeys deals with millipedes from Madagascar, an understudied group from a still little understood place. Here presented are the findings of a 2007 expedition as well as the results from general inventory programs undertaken on Madagascar in the last 10 years. From Madagascar, only three genera of the order Spirobolida were previously known, most of them described more than 100 years ago. To our great surprise the newly collected material included more than 37 undescribed species and no less than 12 new genera, of which 11 are exclusively based on newly discovered species. All species are endemic to Madagascar. The family Spirobolellidae is for the first time recorded from Madagascar with one endemic genus, while all other 14 known genera belong to the family Pachybolidae. Therefore, more genera of Pachybolidae are now known from Madagascar than from continental Africa and India combined. Up to six different Spirobolida genera occur sympatric in the same forest. Three of the discovered genera contain large-bodied species with a conspicuous pitch-black blood-red colour pattern, the so-called ‘Fire Millipedes’.

Myriapods are the only major zoological group for which a modern encyclopedic treatment has never been produced. In particular, this was the single major gap in the largest zoological treatise of the XIX century (Grassé’s Traité de Zoologie), whose publication has recently been stopped. The two volumes of “The Myriapoda” fill that gap with an updated treatment in the English language. Volume II deals with the Diplopoda or millipedes. As in the previous volume, the treatment is articulated in chapters dealing with external and internal morphology, physiology, reproduction, development, distribution, ecology, phylogeny and taxonomy. All currently recognized suprageneric taxa and a very large selection of the genera are considered. All groups and features are extensively illustrated by line drawings and micrographs and living specimens of representative species of the main groups are presented in color photographs.

This comprehensive volume describes the present state of wildlife on a global scale, using a taxonomic approach.

A marvelously illustrated reference to the natural wonders of one of the most spectacular places on earth Separated from Africa’s mainland for tens of millions of years, Madagascar has evolved a breathtaking wealth of biodiversity, becoming home to thousands of species found nowhere else on the planet. The New Natural History of Madagascar provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date synthesis available of this island nation’s priceless biological treasures. Now fully revised and expanded, this beautifully illustrated compendium features contributions by more than 600 globally renowned experts who cover the history of scientific exploration in Madagascar, as well as the island’s geology and soils, climate, forest ecology, human ecology, marine and coastal ecosystems, plants, invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. This invaluable two-volume reference also includes detailed discussions of conservation efforts in Madagascar that showcase several successful protected area programs that can serve as models for threatened ecosystems throughout the world. Provides the most comprehensive overview of Madagascar’s rich natural historyCoedited by 18 different specialistsFeatures hundreds of new contributions by world-class expertsIncludes hundreds of new illustrationsCovers a broad array of topics, from geology and climate to animals, plants, and marine lifeSheds light on newly discovered species and draws on the latest scienceAn essential resource for anyone interested in Madagascar or tropical ecosystems in general, from biologists and conservationists to ecotourists and armchair naturalists