Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about millipedes. Creep over that sub button for more episodes. We’d like to thank Melissa Cantrell for today’s request. Just to be clear, this is a centipede, and this is a millipede. Centipedes possess one pair of legs per body segment while millipedes possess two. Also, centipedes are best left alone because they can produce a pretty nasty bite depending on the species, while millipedes are generally considered harmless and don’t have a bite strong enough to even break human skin. Millipedes can release toxic chemicals, however, and they do this as a means of defense - though, let’s be honest, cherry millipedes went a strange direction with the development of their defensive chemicals! What they’re defending from includes birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

There are thousands of millipede species throughout the world, and they come in a variety of colors. Some are even bioluminescent! Unscientifically speaking, millipedes can generally be grouped into three categories. There are the round bois, the flat bois, and the I’m-not-sure-if-that’s-a-roly-poly-or-a-millipede bois. On our episode of roly polies, we talked about the ability those animals have to roll up into a defensive ball - some millipedes can do this, too, though the millipedes are often bigger. There are millipedes who are less than a tenth of an inch (2.5mm) in size, while others can be nearly a foot (30.5cm) long! That’s almost as long as Chester’s body for comparison.

Millipedes are often given the moniker “thousand-leggers”, though, this isn’t entirely accurate. As far as has been documented, no millipede has 1,000 legs, though some of them come close with certain species possessing more than 300 pairs of legs. Who knows, with so many species undescribed by science, there may actually be some thousand-leggers out there just waiting to be unearthed. Speaking of which…

Millipedes live in cool, damp places. The space under a rock or a log or a few inches below a soggy layer of leaf litter are perfect habitats for these arthropods, though some species are found in deserts where they stick to shrubs and grasses. Millipedes have to be careful about their access to moisture because they’re prone to drying out. It’s for this reason millipedes tend to be more active at night. Most millipedes eating decaying plant material. Their appetite makes them second to earthworms when it comes to aerating soil, so in certain environments, they can be extremely beneficial. Some millipedes may eat animal matter, as well. Heck, they even eat their own exoskeleton after they molt.

Millipedes start out small with few legs and body segments. They hatch from eggs laid by their mother during the springtime in hiding places in the soil or under objects. There can be hundreds of eggs in a nest. As they grow, young millipedes shed their exoskeleton and add on new body segments. Some species have been recorded living nearly ten years!

For more facts on millipedes, check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up for leggy arthropods, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!