Millipede, Many Humans Misinterpret These Animals

Millipede, Many Humans Misinterpret These Animals

Millipede, Many Humans Misinterpret These Animals. Everyone must know this beast whose name is millipede. Animals are also known to have a distinctive appearance that makes them easy to distinguish from other animals.

Its body is long like a worm, but equipped with small legs on the lower part of its body. As a result of this appearance, ordinary people often mistake the difference between millipedes and centipedes which happen to have a similar appearance.

Millipede, Many Humans Misinterpret These Animals

Millipedes have a number of important differences when compared to centipedes. The first difference is that millipedes have a round body shape, while centipedes have slightly flattened body parts.

Another difference, millipedes have four legs on each segment of their body, while centipedes only have two. When walking, millipedes flatten out their feet symmetrically like rowboats. On the other hand, the centipede raises its left and right leg alternately.

The alternating physical appearance and mode of movement of the centipede allow the centipede to move faster than the millipede. However, there is no difference between the two. If millipedes are predominantly herbivorous, then centipedes are carnivores that hunt by relying on their poison.

Both millipedes and centipedes also have a pair of antennae on the front of their head, but the centipede has an additional pair of antennae on the back of their body. There are about 10,000 species of millipedes known to man and all of them belong to the Diplopoda class.

Millipedes have a varying number of legs. But unlike the name, no millipedes species number in the thousand. Each species also has a different body length where the largest species of millipedes in the world is the African giant millipedes or in scientific language Archispirostreptus gigas which can reach 30 centimeters in length.

Creatures that eat organic waste

The majority of millipedes are decomposers which means they live off eating plant debris. Millipedes have an important role in keeping the forest floor clean and improving soil fertility because the dirt they remove helps increase the nutrient content in the soil which can eventually be utilized by plants.

Apart from plant debris, millipedes also like to eat moss and fungus. Some species of millipedes also have omnivorous characteristics, aka plant and meat eaters, where the meat they eat is the flesh of small animals such as insects.

Millipedes use spiracles, aka holes in their sides for breathing, which amount to four in each segment of their body. Because millipedes cannot cover their spiracles, millipedes can lose a lot of moisture from their bodies and die from dehydration if the ambient temperature is too high.

Millipede, Many Humans Misinterpret These Animals

To avoid this, even millipedes choose moist habitats as their habitat, for example on the forest floor. As a further form of anticipation, millipedes are also more likely to come out at night.

Like small animals that live on the ground, millipedes are also susceptible to predation by other animals. Some examples of predatory animals from millipedes are birds, mice, frogs, turtles, centipedes, and beetles. However, millipedes are not defenseless animals at all.

As their most basic form of defense, millipedes rely on earth-like colors to make them difficult to find. When resting, millipedes will hide in places difficult for their enemies to reach, such as tree gaps.

If the enemy has caught it, the millipede will roll into a ball and use its tough skin as a shield.

But if the enemy still insists on attacking, the millipedes will emit a variety of liquid effects, ranging from pungent odors to those that can scald insects.

Several species of millipedes that live in Central America, live in colonies of army ants and receive protection from members of the colony. In exchange, the millipede in question helps to eat a parasitic fungus that can harm the ants.

Have Many Feet And Lay Many Eggs

Millipedes are animals with two houses, which means that millipedes can only have one sex: male or female.

Male millipedes have special feet called gonopods whose function is to accommodate and channel sperm into the genital holes of female millipedes.

After mating, female millipedes then lay their eggs on the ground where the number of eggs released can reach up to 2,000. Some species of female millipedes can mate and lay eggs many times, while others can only lay eggs once and then die.

The newly hatched millipedes have a pale body and only 3 to 4 pairs of legs. But along with its growth, baby millipedes will experience molting and an increase in the number of their feet. Millipedes baby food is basically no different from adult millipedes.

Young millipedes also often eat their own skin after molting. Since millipedes vary in size between species, their maximum ages also vary.

A. gigas species as the largest species of millipedes in the world has a maximum lifespan of seven years. Millipedes are not dangerous animals for humans and should be allowed to live if they do not interfere because of their important role in maintaining the fertility of the environment.

But in reality, these animals are still often killed on purpose. Either because humans are afraid and disgusted by their appearance, or because the humans who killed them cannot distinguish millipedes from poisonous centipedes.

Millipede, Many Humans Misinterpret These Animals

Although the fluid secreted by millipedes is usually harmless to humans, it sometimes leaves marks on human skin if not washed immediately.

For some people who happen to have allergies, discharge from millipedes can also cause itching and burning. In houses that have yards, millipedes can sometimes be seen running into their homes avoiding the rain and seeking shelter.

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Several species of millipedes are also considered agricultural pests because they often damage crops. For example, millipedes of the genus Spirostreptids are reportedly responsible for the destruction of pea and cotton crops in Africa.

In other cases, millipedes can also endanger land transportation activities because when experiencing a population explosion, millipedes can obscure local railway lines so that trains that pass through them can slip and have an accident. These cases have been experienced by countries such as Japan, France and Germany. By: Ochie

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