Pauropoda
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| Pauropods | ||||||||||
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Afrauropodidae |
Pauropods are small (0.5-2.0 mm), pale arthropods with soft, cylindrical bodies and paired antennae. About 500 species are found worldwide living in soil. The first instar has three pairs of legs, but that number increases with each molt so that adult species may have nine to eleven pairs of legs. They are without eyes, trachea or hearts.
Pauropods are members of Subphylum Myriapoda along with millipedes, centipedes, and symphylans. There are four families of pauropods, contained in the order Pauropodina, which is the only order in the class Pauropoda.