Facts about millipedes

  • no species of millipede has more than 750 legs
  • how do you count the legs on a millipede? Ignore the first four trunk segments then count the others and multiply by 2.
  • millipedes’  bodies are nearly circular
  • the millipede with the most legs was found in 1926
  • Three villages in north-west Scotland had to impose a wartime-style “blackout” in 2008 to help repel an invasion force of  thousands of inch-long black millipedes attracted by light,.
  • When a millipede feels that it is in danger it curls up into a spiral
  • some species of millipede release a disgusting smelling liquid to deter predators
  • The female millipede can lay up to 1,000 eggs at once although the number is usually closer to 500.
  • When baby millipedes hatch they only have 3 pairs of legs. Each time they molt they develop more body segments and legs.
  • the longest millipede on record was 15 inches in length
  • male millipedes transfer sperm to the female by means of  modified legs called gonopods
  • Some species emit hydrogen cyanide gas through microscopic pores along the sides of their bodies as a secondary defence.
  • The millipede is the oldest myriapod in the fossil record, and possibly the oldest known terrestrial oxygen-breathing organism.
  • The oldest known millipede fossil species is Pneumodesmus newmani from the mid Silurian dating to about 425 million years ago.