«
»

Millipede

Millipede on cut stump
Ophyiulus pilosus
Ridgewood Reservoir, Queens County, 2007-10-20

Millipedes on chopped stump

«
»

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 11:17 PM and is filed under Birding, Bugs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the Atom feed. You can make a comment, Digg this story, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Millipede”

  1. Ed and Megan Harold Says:
    January 19th, 2008 at 9:24 AM

    Uncle Rusty: The millipede is amazing. What are they on top of? How many legs does it have? Is it a type of Caterpillar? What color is it? Does it like flowers? What does it eat? Are they poisonous? How many types are there? Does it lay eggs? Are there different kinds of millipedes in California? Where can we look for some around our house?

    LOVE,
    Megan and Ed
    :-)

  2. Elliotte Rusty Harold Says:
    January 19th, 2008 at 9:51 AM

    These millipedes were found on top of the stump of a tree that had been chopped down. It’s not a caterpillar, but a type of arthropod of its own. You can read more about millipedes on Wikipedia. When handled it can emit a rather noxious, sticky substance; but it won’t bite people. Most millipedes eat dead plants, and a few eat living ones as well.

    You may find some in your back yard if you look in the leaf litter and under rocks. It’s in the same order as the doodle bugs you see around the sidewalks and porch edges. It’s also closely related to centipedes. The difference is that the centipedes have only two legs per body segment and the millipedes have four.

Leave a Reply