Habitat: Armored millipedes push their way through soil and decaying vegetation with ease. Under piles of leaf mold or in damp crevices, millipedes can be found resting by day or feeding at night. There are also some species that climb trees to feed on vegetable matter caught in the branches.

Food and Feeding: Unlike centipedes, with which they are often confused, armored millipedes do not hunt living creatures. Instead, they eat the leaves and other matter that fall from trees and decay on the ground in their tropical forest habitat. Millipedes may also attack crops planted by humans. But they are unlikely to be a principal source of damage. Their jaws are simply not strong enough to pierce anything that is not already damaged or decaying.

Defenses: Because armored millipedes move slowly, they are vulnerable to attack. As a result, they have developed several means of defense. One defense is the armor itself. Many species, such as the pill millipedes, curl up into a ball when attacked. Some species become as large as a golf ball. Another defense is poison glands. In most cases the poison is constantly secreted to give the millipede a toxic coating. Some larger species can spray their poison as far as three feet. Other defenses include bright markings to warn off predators. A millipede that lives in the sequoia forests of California is even luminous.

Breeding: Armored millipedes may mate for several hours. The male winds around the female and holds her with his front legs. Fertilization occurs within the female’s body. Depending on the species, she may lay up to 300 eggs. Unlike earthworms and most insects, many female centipedes and millipedes tend their eggs. Some disguise the eggs by coating them with excrement. Others build an intricate nest and coil themselves around the eggs. Various kinds of nests are built. The usual materials are soil and excrement, although some millipedes spin a nest of a silklike substance. When it hatches, the armored millipede may have only a fraction of the adult number of legs. It gains more legs every time it molts, or sheds, its hard outer shell. After elaborate leg waving courtship rituals, millipedes may mate for many hours.

Key Facts:
Sizes:
Length: The largest millipedes can reach 1 foot in length. Other species frequently grow to 8 in.

Breeding:
Mating: Male and female may embrace for several hours. Fertilization takes place within the female’s body.
Eggs: Depending on species, may lay up to 300 eggs.

Lifestyle:
Habit: Nocturnal
Diet: Leaves and other decaying vegetable matter on forest floor. Some species forage in trees

Related Species: There are 8,000 species of millipede worldwide.

Distribution: Found in the United States and in tropical forests around the world.

Conservation: Armored millipedes are not directly threatened. But, like other inhabitants of tropical forest, they are at risk from the continued destruction of their habitat.

Special Adaptations of Armored Millipedes:
Color: Species may be brightly colored or striped to deter predators and indicate that the millipede is inedible.
Motion: Legs move in a ripple down the length of the millipede.
Segments: Each snugly overlaps the next and houses two pairs of powerful, jointed legs.
Defense: The millipede curls into a spiral, exposing only its hard armor plating to an enemy.

Did You Know: 
Millipedes first appeared about 400 million years ago.
The name millipede means “1,000 legs.” But millipedes rarely have more than 200 or 300 legs.
One species of millipede was once ground up and used to poison arrowtips.
Some millipedes spit a fluid that can cause blindness in humans.

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