No Small Feet...(Correction) Lots of Small Feet
How do you tell the difference between a millipede and a centipede?
Look in their closets and count their shoes.
Well, not exactly. Firstly, neither of them actually wear shoes (it would be too expensive). And secondly, counting just the number of feet won't help much. Despite their names, centipedes do not have 100 legs and millipedes do not have 1,000 legs. Even the leggiest millipede, Illacme plenipes, has at the most 750 legs. It's only about an inch long though, so it is still quite impressive.
If you aren't freaked out by tiny feet and creepy crawlies, the best way to tell the two apart is to hold one close and count how many legs are attached to each body segment. Centipedes have one pair of legs for each segment; millipedes have two pairs. Just look somewhere along the middle or back end, because the first few segments of a millipede only have one pair each.
If you are a bit squeamish and would rather not get your dainty fingers dirty, just watch how it moves. Centipedes are quick darty little buggers. Millipedes are slow. And for good reasons.
Millipedes are detritivores. They like to gently munch on dead leaves and such. Centipedes are vicious killers. They come out at night and speed after tiny prey. Or not so tiny. Some centipedes, with the help of a poisonous bite, have been known to eat reptiles, bats and even birds.
Both like dark places, so get out and about and flip over a log or stone or two. See who is lurking underneath. And if you use your highly honed science skills, you can tell what kind of pede you got--centi or milli.
This is one of the several species of giant millipedes found in Madagascar. I found this leggy fellow on a rock near Ibity. (Yes, I know my hands are dirty. I'm a science teacher and a carpenter. It's hard to keep them clean.)
When you live in the dark, whopping big antenna can be quite handy for "seeing" around.
Proof of two things. One, this is indeed a giant millipede. Two, I'm not the only one who likes creepy crawlies; that is my wife's arm.
3 comments:
Julia B in Ms. Rabner's class:
I would like the turtle that you brought for Madagascar night. It was sold out by the time I went back to buy it. They were in a can. And I really wanted it. Is there a way I can buy another one?
Why is body black but the feet red? From Maddie S. in Mrs. Gargione's class
Maddie,
Excellent question. I don't know the answer though. Black is usually a good camouflage, so that makes sense. I didn't see anything around that the red legs would blend in with though. Red can also be a warning to predators that this would-be-snack is toxic, but I don't know of these millipedes being poisonous.
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