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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing pill millipedes. Don’t roll away without subscribing. We’ve talked about millipedes in general in the past, so with this episode we’ll be getting a little more specific. Most millipedes are recognizable as slow moving, long bodied arthropods with a kaboodle of legs, but not these guys. There are two kinds of pill millipedes in the world: the northern pill millipedes found in the northern hemisphere and the giant pill millipedes found mostly in the southern hemisphere. Forgoing the slender bodies of their millipede relatives, pill millipedes are short and stout. Northern pill millipedes aren’t recognized as giants because they don’t come anywhere near as big as their southern hemisphere counterparts - usually coming in at less than an inch (2.54 centimeters) in length. Giant pill millipedes, however, can reach about four inches (10 centimeters) in length meaning they can be about the size of a pingpong ball when they roll up into their defensive posture. This superficially resembles the roly polies we’ve previously discussed, but these two arthropods are not at all related. There are also cockroaches that bear a striking resemblance to pill millipedes, however, these two groups are also unrelated. It would seem the natural world just thought this design was sexy enough to produce it at least three times over!

Pill millipedes are able to completely cover their heads when rolled up, and some can even lock themselves in place, making them almost impossible to open. Rolling up in this position can make pill millipedes more difficult for predators to grasp. Northern pill millipedes also come equipped with toxic secretions that can cause paralysis when consumed and tastes bitter. Southern pill millipedes don’t have this defensive strategy meaning they aren’t as frequently avoided by birds, small mammals such as mongeese, reptiles such as tortoises, and invertebrates like slugs. To get past that iron defense, predators will drop pill millipedes from staggering heights or smash them against rocks which seems super rude, but that’s just the circle of life.

There are more than 300 species of pill millipedes and likely many more awaiting discovery or reclassification. Pill millipedes in general are poorly studied, however, speaking in broad terms, they will mate with a partner of the opposite sex and eggs will be fertilized via the passing of a spermatophore from the male to the female. Before mating, some of the giant pill millipede species will produce sounds in order to attract a lady lover. Of course, considering these arthropods don’t have ears, for them it’s probably more about good vibrations. When the females are ready to lay their eggs, they will do so in pellets of fecal matter that are placed in the ground, and the babies will hatch as smaller versions of their parents. At the beginning of their lives, pill millipedes will have only a few pairs of legs, but they will gain more as they grow larger and molt. Some species of pill millipedes have been known to reach ten years of age, though species liver in warmer environments may develop faster.

Pill millipedes live in tropical and temperate areas around the world, though they aren’t found in large expanses of South America. They live in forests with dense leaf litter or porous soil into which they can dig. They’re mostly nocturnal creatures and they spend their active hours seeking out food in the form of vegetation including fruits, berries, moss, and leaves as well as detritus. Most of them live on the forest floor, though some are somewhat arboreal. The idea of a giant pill millipede falling from the forest canopy may sound frightening, but if you’ll recall from our millipede episode, these animals can’t really break human skin, so they’re not too scary.

For more facts on pill millipedes, check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.