Glomerin and homoglomerin from the North American pill millipede Onomeris sinuata (Loomis, 1943) (Diplopoda, Pentazonia, Glomeridae)

Specimens of the North American glomerid millipede Onomeris sinuata (Loomis, 1943) were collected at the type locality in Alabama, USA, and maintained briefly in the laboratory in native leaf litter. The millipedes could not be induced to produce defensive secretions by rough handling, tapping, squeezing or leg-pinching. Four specimens were extracted in methanol and the extract analyzed using gas chroma-tography/mass spectroscopy. The analysis revealed the alkaloids glomerin and homoglomerin, previously reported as components in the defensive secretion of the European glomerid Glomeris marginata (Villers, 1789). This report is only the second for the occurrence of quinazolinone alkaloids in animals. Keywords Onomeris sinuata , Glomeris marginata , quinazolinone alkaloids, Alabama, USA Introduction Nearly simultaneously in 1966, Schildknecht et al. (1966)and Meinwald et al. (1966) announced the discovery of two quinazolinone alkaloids in the defensive secre-tion of the European millipede Glomeris marginata