Common VA millipedes mating
Hi,
Tons of these have been crawling around my house lately. They were so small that I couldn’t tell how many legs-per-segment they had until we got this photo of a mating pair. They’re not as showy as many other bugs on the site, but they’re still pretty neat. Thanks,
Emily

Hi Emily,
Your photo has the distinction of being the only photo we have received of mating Millipedes.

Update: (01/20/2008) Millipede IDs
Here are ids. for the millipedes on the millipede page. Most are quite old; don’t people submit new ones more often than this? 6/26/06 Oxidus gracilis (Koch). They are not, however, mating as the posture is totally wrong; they would have to have ventral surfaces together to be mating.
Rowland Shelley
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Science

Flat backed millipede riders
Hi,
I know this is a flat backed millipede, but what are those mites riding on it? Maybe you could ask Barry M. O’Connor for me? I snapped this photo on 06/11/06 in Port Orchard, WA – he’s about 2" long. Many thanks,
Kevin
PS – that big bug from ‘toe biter’ that you never identified – the bug in a jar that died at school? It didn’t die from the stress of being at school, but probably from the stress of not being in water as it is a water beetle.

Hi Kevin,
We will post your letter and try to get the answer you requested. We can’t seem to find the letter you cited. Please give us a page and date.

Barry OConnor Responds:
Hi Daniel – The division of the dorsal plate on the back of the mites on the millipede, and the smaller size of the posterior part indicate that these are deutonymphs (last immature instar) of the family Parasitidae. Despite their name, parasitid mites are not parasitic, merely riding on their host from place to place. The name dates to an 18th century misperception by the French naturalist Latreille who observed these mites on a beetle and thought they were parasitic and named them “Parasitus”. The rules for naming animals require that the first scientific name given to an animal is the one we use, even if it turns out not to be appropriate. These mites normally inhabit rich but patchy sources of organic matter like manure or carrion where they feed on nematodes or fly eggs/larvae. It’s rather surprising to see these on this millipede; they’re much more commonly seen on scarab, carabid & silphid beetles that frequent such substrates. Others are specific inhabitants of the nests of small mammals and bumblebees, and their deutonymphs ride on those hosts. Other parasitids live in the soil and prey on other microarthropods but don’t use other animals to disperse since their habitat is more continuous. Glad to help – you always have cool pictures!
All the best! – Barry

Update: (01/20/2008) Millipede IDs
6/12/06 . Port Orchard, WA. Probably Chonaphe sp. (Polydesmida”: Xystodesmidae), as they seem too wide to be the ubiquitous Harpaphe haydeniana .
Rowland Shelley
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Science

I promise this is the last…
I promise this is the last thing I will send. I was going to ask what this gorgeous guy was. I found it at Jacks River Fields while camping. Jacks River Fields is located close to where Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina come together. It just outside of Blue Ridge, GA in North GA. It was July, and it was just hanging out next to our camp site.
Thank you again!
Starr Elliott

Hi Starr,
We believe this is a Pill Millipede in the Order Polydesmida. Its pink coloration is new to us as we are used to seeing photos of yellow specimens. They can secrete cyanide as a defense mechanism.

Correction: (05/10/2006)
WTB, you guys have a wonderful site! Something I really admire about you guys is that you’re more than willing to post corrections to identifications you have made. The pink millipede that was posted on your site is not a pill millipede. Pill millipedes are much shorter and are called such because they are able to curl up into a nearly perfect sphere resembling a pill ( http://www.intenseherp.com/images/SH0001_3.jpg ). I was looking to ID the pink flat-backed millipede and came up with this: http://bugguide.net/node/view/37831/bgimage Hope this helps. Thanks for the great site!
Nick

Thanks for the assistance Nick.

Update: (01/20/2008) Millipede IDs
6/3/06 Jacks River Falls ,GA. Sigmoria sp. (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae). Can tell species from photo.
Rowland Shelley
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Science

millipede
Hi,
Can you help me identify this millipede?i found it under a rock in Mt. Spil, Manisa , Turkey. I think someone has the picture of the same specie from Lesvos, Greece.
Serhan

Hi Serhan,
We were never able to identify the Lesvian Millipedes. Now that your photo has arrived, we will put renewed energy into trying to find an accurate identification.

Update: (01/20/2008) Greece millipedes
While scrolling through sites tonight, I came across yours, and I can answer many of the questions, though it is late. Anyhow, there are two pictures of a lovely black millipede fro, Greece with bright yellow spots down the midbody and yellow-spottwed margins. This is a species of Melaphe (order Polydesmida: family Xystodesmidae).
Rowland Shelley ,North Carolina State Museum of Natural Science