[2] Though described in 1902,[3] the genus was up to 2005 known from a single male specimen, whose appearance was so unusual that the authors suspected a mislabeled giant pill-millipede from India.

[5] It belongs to the family Arthrosphaeridae, which besides Sphaeromimus includes the Malagasy genera Zoosphaerium and Microsphaerotherium, and the Indian genus Arthrosphaera.

[6] Recent research has shown that Sphaeromimus is more closely related to the Indian genus Arthrosphaera than to the other Malagasy genera.

Males have a structure on their anterior telopod, known as the harp, which has several stridulation ribs and is able to produce sounds when rubbed against a sclerotized knob on the leg.

Females, on the other hand, have a structure on their subanal plate called the washboard, which, like the male harp, contains stridulation ribs and produces sounds.