Litinsects

Litinsects #40: Millipedes   The level of disgust for an arthropod often increases proportionately with the number of legs it has. Well I’m here to tell you: you don’t really need to fear millipedes! What is a millipede? Millipedes and centipedes (more on them to come) both belong to a group of arthropods called the MYRIAPODA. Why? Because they have a myriad of feet! Myriapoda are one of the four arthropod groups, the others being arachnids, crustaceans, and hexapods (aka insects). Millipedes are known as DIPLOPODA from the Greek “diploos” meaning double and “pod” meaning foot. Have a look at the close-up photo and see if you can guess why... With the exception of the first four body segments behind the head, every other segment of a millipede is actually two fused segments, known as a DIPLOSEGMENT, so it appears as though each one has TWO legs attached rather than one, hence the name!   Millipedes are some of the very earliest animals to colonize land, around 450 mill...