!!!

Yellow Millipede

Millipede Mouth

Milli End

Apheloria virginiensis

So, I’ve been neglecting this blog for a bit. Here’s the thing, when it’s warm I’m outside finding neat critters. I’ll do more to post all my summer photos during the colder months when I’m stuck inside. So, with winter around the corner I thought I’d get back into posting-mode.

North American Millipede

And she was quite flashy. She was attempting to come and hang out in our garage, but generally we gently encourage bugs to rule the yard, and not hang out where we spend out time. So she was promptly release in the shrubs next to the porch.

So, in general – millis eat dead leaves and plant matter (known as detritivores). They juice the decaying matter with secretions and then scrape it up with their jaws. They don’t often go after live plants, so they aren’t too much of a garden nuisance; however they can strip little seedlings down on occasion.

Millipedes v. Centipedes
I’ve always had trouble figuring out which is which, and remembering how to tell. But generally, millipedes are slow and centipedes can move pretty quickly. Centipedes also have only a single pair of legs for each body segment and are skilled predators.  In summary – want a pet with lots of legs? Millipedes make the better companion. And remember: ‘Millipedes meander like molasses, Centipedes are swift little creepies!’. Now perfect alliteration but now you’ll never mix them up!

The Feetsies!
So… how many feet does a millipede have? It varies. Commonly they have between 36 – 400, according to Wikipedia. Some species can have as many as 750, which although impressive is a bit deceptive as milli+pede means ‘thousand foot’. For those of you that find it a tad frustrating when descriptive naming conventions are not actually descriptive: me too friend, me too.

Millipede Sex
Oh yea, I went there. First things first, how do you tell who is the boy and who is the girl? These millipedes are not sexually dimorphic so you have to look closely. Boys have one or two pairs of modified legs. Modified into what, you ask? Into gonopods that are used to romantically transfer sperm packets to the female during that magic moment. The sexual areas/openings are located generally on the 3rd segment. Fun fact – males may have one, or two penises. The girl’s sexual opening is a little less exciting – revealing a small vulva and cover with which they use to store the sperm. But, after this whole process the lady will lay her eggs (anywhere from 10 – 300) and then fertilize them herself with the sperm she had stored. Some even make cozy little nests lined with dried poo. And while this traditional family arrangement I’m sure is pulling at your heartchords, some millipede species are nearly all asexual females as they are parthenogenetic meaning they can reproduce asexually.

Are Millipedes Dangerous?
Some are, some aren’t. A lot of them can secret or emit poison out of little pores on the side of their bodies. Generally these are caustic and help to ward off predators like ants or even larger ones by affecting the skin and eyes. One of the gasses they can secrete is hydrogen cyanide. But, it’s not as deathly as it sounds. For us big hulking humans, their particular secretions aren’t that bad. They can make your skin itch and burn and maybe cause blisters, but if you try not to handle them and wash immediately afterward you are generally ok. However, what stings the hand always stings the eyes – so don’t wipe your eyes after playing with these! Be smart. Insects have pretty savvy defenses, even against us giants.