Colorful centipede
March 25, 2010
I found this guy about 6″ underground while planting pine trees in Western PA. It’s about 1 1/4″ to 1 1/2″ long.
James
Pittsburgh PA
Hi James,
While they share many physical similarities with Centipedes, your creature is actually a Millipede. They are distinguished from Centipedes by Millipedes having two pairs of legs per body segment. Based on photos posted to BugGuide, we believe this is Sigmoria latior which is a member of the family Xystodesmidae, which BugGuide characterizes as “Many are brightly colored and all have stink glands.”
Based on comparison photos on Nadiplochilo, this looks more like Apheloria virginiensis corrugata, whose little red sides secrete cyanide.
Thanks so much for your correction and links.
Still a member of Xystodesmidae either way though, and cyanide is of course stinky.