Millipede

About the Millipede

The name means a thousand feet, and only one known species lives up to it: Eumillipes persephone, described in 2021 from Australia, has up to 1,306 legs. The previous record holder, Illacme plenipes, has 750. They are decomposers, breaking down leaf litter and recycling nutrients. When threatened, many species coil into spirals and secrete toxic or foul-smelling chemicals. Some produce cyanide as a defense. They have been around for over 400 million years and were among the first animals to live on land. Over 12,000 species described. They have two pairs of legs per body segment. Some species glow under UV light (fluorescence), and a few Motyxia species are truly bioluminescent. The giant African millipede reaches 30 cm.