By Uriah St. John, Seasonal Naturalist
Today let’s take a look at some creatures that don’t get much love; millipedes! Millipedes are arthropods of the subgroup Myriapoda along with centipedes and others. The name millipede comes from Latin: “mili” meaning 1,000, and “pede” meaning feet, so a millipede is literally a thousand feet. While it seems like they certainly could have a thousand feet the largest fall just short at about 750. However, on the smaller end some millipedes only have 60 feet.
If you’re like me you see a ton of legs on a long thin creature and often have trouble telling millipedes from centipedes. It’s actually not too hard to tell the two apart though, once you know what to look for. The easiest way to tell them apart is to look at their legs; centipedes have fewer legs as they only have one pair of legs per body segment while millipedes have two. This difference in number of legs is seen in their names also! “Centi” is 100 in Latin, so their name means “100 feet” instead of 1,000. Another difference is in diet; millipedes are detritivores and fungivores, meaning they eat dead plant matter, detritus, and fungi. On the other hand, centipedes are carnivores. To help their hunting centipedes are also venomous while millipedes are sometimes poisonous, but never venomous. Both centipedes and millipedes have some similarities too. The most obvious one is just the shape of their bodies and the number of legs, but the similarities don’t stop there. For another both are commonly mistaken for insects. However, while they are arthropods just like insects, having segmented bodies, breathing through spiracles, and having exoskeletons, centipedes and millipedes are not a type of insect. This is because all insects only have 6 legs and 3 body segments, while the ‘pedes certainly have a few more.
As mentioned, earlier millipedes are detritivores, meaning they play an important role in the environment by helping to break down plant matter and recycle it back into the soil. This is especially an important role for deciduous forests like Ohio where lots of new plant material is added to the soil every year in the form of fallen leaves. With millipedes playing such an important role, it’s no surprise Ohio has several species of them; over 50! All these species mean quite a bit in difference between how they look too. Some are shorter than an inch, while others can get over four inches long! Others look dull on the surface, while others are eye catching with their bright colors. While we only have space to talk about one group of them I’ve added a link to an ODNR field guide on millipedes at the end of the post if you’d like to learn more.
Perhaps the most well-known group of millipedes in Ohio are the cherry millipedes. Cherry millipedes are named for the fruity surprise they use as a defense mechanism. While most millipedes roll into a ball and use their hard exoskeleton for protection or will flee underground when threatened, cherry millipedes secrete a small amount of hydrogen cyanide when they’re threatened. This small amount smells like cherries and is where they get their name. Don’t worry though, the small amount they secrete is only effective against small animals, and is harmless to humans, though if any gets on your hand you should wash them soon after.
Since they feed on dead plant matter the best place to find these millipedes is under leaf litter and dead wood. However, recently at Gallant Woods Park we’ve been seeing a lot of these colorful creatures on the trails themselves where their bright colors are easy to spot; I saw 4 of them on just a short hike of the Acorn Loop and Tree Frog trail! We’d all love to see you out at Gallant Woods Park finding them for yourself!
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Field Guide on Millipedes of Ohio
