What’s this centipede/millipede?
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
November 7, 2010 8:37 pm
Hello! I’ve lived in the same house for 3 years now and just started seeing these bugs around in the last year. (S. Florida, Ft. Lauderdale) I think it’s odd that I did not see them for the first 2 years we lived here. The largest ones are about 2-2.5 inches long and about the diameter of a pencil. They curl up into a ball when startled but will also crawl over my hand easily. I grew up in this area and don’t recall seeing them in any other house I’ve lived in. I live in a single family home in a well-maintained residental neighborhood. We do have a canal in the backyard (but so did other houses I lived in). Thank you!
Signature: Jen from S. Florida
Rusty Millipede
Hi Jen,
We did not have an opportunity to post your letter on the day it arrived, and we decided to try to research your questions this morning. We learned on BugGuide that this is a Rusty Millipede, Trigoniulus corallinus, and that it is an imported species from Asia according to a comment by Rowland Shelley on BugGuide. We would like to research this a bit more to find out when it was introduced and how far it has spread in North America. Right now, BugGuide only reports it from Florida. Though we do not have access to the entire article, BioOne indicates that an article entitled INTRODUCTION OF THE MILLIPED, TRIGONIULUS CORALLINUS (GERVAIS, 1847) (SPIROBOLIDA: TRIGONIULIDAE), IN FLORIDA, U.S.A was published in Entomological News in 2005.
Rusty Millipede
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As an interesting note on this post, I live in Gravenhurst, ON, Canada. Part of the Muskoka, and while working on the East side of Miller Island, I saw this exact Millipede. I was cutting some rock and after having been stopped for a few minutes, this Millipede crawled out from a large crack running through the rock and on to a deck. I scooted it out of my way and let it be on it’s merry way. Unfortunately, didn’t have the time to snap a photo.
Omg I love millipedes! I have bunch of these in where I live right now! You can find these around humid places, where they thrive. Aren’t they so cute? Look at their faces up close!
I remember stepping on a black millipede before (I had no idea) I felt it under my shoe and it made a loud crunching noise (it sounded very crunchy, as if you were stepping on a potato chip). If they are in your house, it is probably because of the humidity or maybe you have other insects that are attracting them into your house, so you might want to check your house for other bugs 
I don’t think they bite at all. I’ve touched them numerous times and they are harmless to humans. You can just pick them up from your hand, wait ’till they unroll and let them crawl around your hand. If you see one and would like to get rid of it, please don’t squish or step on them. Just simply get a broom and dust pan and place them somewhere else that is far away from your house. Or, you can use the paper method. Place the paper in their direction and let them crawl onto it. Then, you just let them free.
Thank you for your perspective on this.