Have you known that every arthropod you see is its own species?  The Arthropoda I’m doing a report on is called the Tachypodoiulus niger.  It is known as the white-legged snake millipede or the black millipede. It lives in leaf litter, bark, and in moss.  This report will hopefully give you some more information about this harmless bug.
 
If you have had any questions about millipedes this paragraph will answer them.  The black millipede has a black exoskeleton and white legs.  It has learned to live in leaf litter and avoid predators.  It can vary in 15 centimeters to 39 centimeters long.  It can live up to 9 years long.

The black millipede lives in the British Isles, France, Spain, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic. They live in leaf litter, in moss, or in tree bark.  They don’t stand out too muck in the leaf litter, it is a common place where they would be found.

Female millipedes lay 20 - 300 eggs in the soil.  Those young millipedes will take a few weeks to develop 3 pairs of legs and no more than 7 body segments.  They get larger each molt until 2 - 5 years when they are fully grown.

This millipede feeds on leaf litter and other dying plants around it.  Scorpions, mongooses, dormice, hedgehogs, birds, skews, and toads feed on millipedes.  They are near the bottom of the food chain.  Millipedes defend themselves by getting into a spiral form and evade in small holes where the larger predators can't fit.

A few of the interesting facts I learned from this report are that the millipede can grow up to 39 centimeters long.  Also, that it can live up to 9 years.  All millipedes can spray a smelly juice when they are threatened.  Most millipedes are herbivores, but a few are meat-eaters.

Author: Sammy S.
Published: 4/2013